Good day.
It's Friday in this side of the world and it's 6:37 in the morning. Looks like I woke too early in which this is not the regular time I used to. I had my session last night and I am thankful despite the machine keeps alarming because of my arterial vein keeps dropping down.
By the way, at last, my new AV fistula (Arteriovenous) is used last night. But only the arterial vein. I was very nervous when the nurse said that I need to use my new AV fistula so that I can rest the old one. I have my old fistula for 4 years now and the veins are getting huge which is needed to condemn. And for the meantime, will use the new and the old one first before getting rid of the old fistula for good.
Question.
What is an AV fistula?
AV fistula or Arteriovenous fistula is the gold standard for hemodialysis access. Hemodialysis cleans blood by removing it from the body and passing it through a dialyzer, or artificial kidney. The dialyzer is a filter with two parts: one for blood and another for dialysis fluid called dialysate.
See the picture below.
This is how it looks like.