For the last 6 months or so, I have been placing my needles on the two crests of my fistula, for ease of access and to help keep my fistula arm relatively unencumbered (so I could type and generally do things with both hands). The total distance between the two points was a little over 6cm (2.5 in).
In the back of my mind, I wondered if this was a little too close and that maybe there was some recycling going on in the space between the needles. That is, clean blood from the machine entering by body via the venous needle was being sucked back to the machine by the arterial needle, rather than being circulated to the rest of my body. (more…)