Insertion of Permcath

From renal failure to my first dialysis session was a whirlwind. It was Monday the 29th of August 2016. I had lost my mom the week before. I went to see Dr Dawood to tell him I wasn’t well. He ordered blood tests, got the results the next day, booked me in for the insertion of a permcath on Wednesday and the first dialysis session took place on the Friday evening.

Dr Dawood had been warning me to get the AV Fistula inserted a few months prior but I thought I had time so I put it off. Little did I know that the stress my body was in was killing me quicker than I thought.

Dr Kadwa inserted the permcath, he did it under local anesthetic because it was not a major operation. This was my first operation since 2005 and I can tell you it was not a pleasant experience. You could hear the staff talking and feel every tug and push as they inserted the tubes into my chest. Below is a picture of a permcath.

The insertion of a permcath. (Ref. https://bit.ly/2YBWG1C )

The next operation was a week later. This was the insertion of the AV Fistula. By this stage I knew I was going to be on dialysis for a while so I went with the AV Fistula because it is safer than the permcath.

Catch my next post to find out about the AV Fistula and the pros and cons of both dialysis methods.