A natural A/V fistula takes a minimum of 2 months to mature and be ready to use and is the most desireable access as it can provide good sevice for over 20 years if done properly and well cared for. Start exercising your non-dominant arm now with a squeeze ball and arm curls with light weights.
As far as planning to do things BEFORE you start dialysis -- that's up to you. If you do home dialysis with a portable NxStage machine (check out nxstage.com) you can travel any where and do almost anything you could do before. Also, a few months after you start home dialysis you will probably feel better than you do now. Dialysis is not fun but it sure as hell beats the alternative.
BTW, you should, if you think you will possibly consider a transplant, get listed on several transplant registries and think about if you want to start hinting to all members of your family, church, and community.
But, the first step is to find a good vascular surgeon who does several natural A/V fistulas every month.
The more educated and proactive you are the better your quality of life will be.
>I've had PKD for about 15 years and in Jan. 07 I
>reluctantly registered on a transplant list. I say
>reluctantly because I was in denial that anything was
>really wrong with me. When I registered my creatnine
>level was 3.9. Within the last three months my levels
>are now at 5.2. My doc seems to be very lax about my
>levels and everything I've read says at my function
>percentage, I should be getting ready to have an
>access put in for whatever type of dialysis I would
>prefer. Am I just being paranoid? I really like him
>but wondering if I should be more pro-active regarding
>my PKD? I’m also worried because I know I should be
>thinking about my future and start to do some things I
>may not be able to do when I go on dialysis, but
>again, I still think I’m in denial. Is that normal?
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