Marc Berman reports Wade Phillips is taking leave

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by Fox

Dialysis patients usually use large bore catheters or 'perm caths' in their internal jugular or femoral veins. They don't place those catheters in the subclavian because it can cause stenosis of the vein (which can be a detriment to the future creation of fistulas or grafts, see below), and because when they remove the catheter the collarbone makes it difficult to hold pressure over that vein.

Long term dialysis patients get fistulas (surgical connections of arteries to veins, usually in the arm) and grafts (synthetic connections of arteries to veins, either in the arm or leg).

Maybe the bruising is just from IV sticks / blood draws.

Your post is pretty well factually correct.

I noted a large bruise of his right forearm below the level of the elbow on the volar (under) surface of his arm. There was no apparent incision there consistent with fistula or arterio-venous graft placement. I never saw a large bandage as described elsewhere in this thread. A bruise like that could be explained by a simple blood stick or IV access, especially if the person has recently taken in any blood-thinning substances like anti-inflammatories (aspirin, Motrin, Advil, etc) or alcohol (a common celebratory medication).
Of course, we really don't know exactly why the bruise was there. But you can take for granted that if you are told that he was "ill" prior to the decision to proceed with 2 surgeries, that in the diagnostic testing/workup and/or treatment and preoperative "preparation"..........he had plenty of opportunity to end up resembling a well-used pin cushion.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by GP

I noticed he had a very large bandage on his left forearm about halfway up the arm, in the Jacksonville game. I'm talking somewhere in the range of like 4 inches by 3 inches in dimension.

I also noticed on that same arm, during the Atlanta game...he had several red marks on the forearm near where that bandage was in the Jax game. It looked like I.V. sticks to me. About 3 or 4 bright red spots all in the same area.

When a patient has dialysis, don't they normally do this in the subclavian vein and not in the arm? I'm not saying it was dialysis, just asking if anybody knows about dialysis being conducted elsewhere other than the subclavian.

Just wondering if the thing with his arm is connected, even a bit remotely, to what else is going on with him. Or, maybe he just had a boo-boo and there's no further story to it.

Sorry, slow news week. Just talking about my observations of him from the Jax game, to the Falcons game, and then to this week with the reports of him being out for awhile.

If the left arm bandage was to cover the surgical site of an AV fistula , you can't start using an AV fistula access for dialysis before 6-12 weeks which is required for "maturation" of the fistula.......and it doesn't follow the given timeline of when the "stick" marks were noted. On the other hand, an AV graft can be accessed between 3 and 4 weeks following the surgery. If he had that surgery during the beginning of the BYE, then bandages until the Atlanta game when the "stick" marks were noted, then the timeline could be fulfilled.

BUT, remember, people can live and have totally "normal" function even with only one kidney. If his kidney function was that bad to have these type of procedures, it you would have to surmise that both of the kidneys must be in trouble........and that permanent dialysis is what is planned. Not good news for Wade if so. Possible? Yes. High on my list? No. And not likely that it would stay a secret for too long.

[GP]

Originally Posted by Fox

Maybe the bruising is just from IV sticks / blood draws.

That's what I was leaning toward.

It could be something totally unrelated to the major issue he's taking leave of absence for. Thanks for the great input on the situation, btw.

Thanks to CND, too, for pointing out the ins and outs of this stuff.

[Texan_Bill]

Originally Posted by CloakNNNdagger

If the left arm bandage was to cover the surgical site of an AV fistula , you can't start using an AV fistula access for dialysis before 6-12 weeks which is required for "maturation" of the fistula.......and it doesn't follow the given timeline of when the "stick" marks were noted. On the other hand, an AV graft can be accessed between 3 and 4 weeks following the surgery. If he had that surgery during the beginning of the BYE, then bandages until the Atlanta game when the "stick" marks were noted, then the timeline could be fulfilled.

BUT, remember, people can live and have totally "normal" function even with only one kidney. If his kidney function was that bad to have these type of procedures, it you would have to surmise that both of the kidneys must be in trouble........and that permanent dialysis is what is planned. Not good news for Wade if so. Possible? Yes. High on my list? No. And not likely that it would stay a secret for too long.

But Doc Jean, you have to remember us medical marvels that have 3 kidneys AND 2 livers!!! It's an Irish thang... You wouldn't understand.

[jaayteetx]

Looks like Wade is stable after surgery...
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slu...exans-phillips