My PD tube op

[Mike]

Hi

I went into hospital on monday and had my pd tube op tuesday morning. I've just got out today!

It was anything but routine for me despite what everyone told me, I went in about 9:30 under general anaesthetic and the next thing i remember was waking up in recovery unable to breathe and coughing really badly, I though and felt like I was going to die as I didn't know what was going on and didn't realise that I had been in and out of theatre by then!! They wouldn't let me have much morphine and what they gave me did virtually nothing for the pain!

I was pretty out of it for the first day and only being given paracetamol which barely took the edge off it and then suffered really bad constipation and was unable to pee so I had to have a catheter which was very uncomfortable and I have been pretty miserable but so glad to be out! I could barely eat anything until this morning and what food there was was really terrible but not really a surprise there! How is it that everything in a hospital taste so bad even the water and somehow they managed to ruin my breakfast cereal as well.

I was on a cardiac ward so they didn't have the first clue about anything to do with renal matters which didn't help but they were very kind and did their best and I was surprised how small and neat my PD tube actually is.

I am dying to have a shower but I'm not allowed to for 2 weeks, I got the constant taste of paracetamol in my mouth and I caught a cold while in there just to make my experience that much better I'm coughing so that hurts so much.

why is is that thing never run smothly for me? the last time I was in was for my biospy and that was so painful and I had a terrible time then too.

I can't believe that some of you were in and out the same day after what I've just been through! Anyway I am home and hopefully will start to feel better soon and I will start training in 4 weeks.

mike

[Elaine]

Sooo sorry hear u had tough time Mike sounds VERY similar circumstances to my daughter she too was climbing the walls in pain.- not pleasent experience at all. Having discuused with unit after most kids anyhow are offered morphine pumps for pain relief they did an udit to monitor post op - pain p/d cath insertion. Sadly my daughter was 1st to be audited but at least they hopefully have learnt by their mistakes!! I know that every1 is different etc but its not a nice experience for those who feel in absoloute agony when in 2days modern day medcine there is no need to be in soo much pain. Many times it lack of communication etc my daughter was suppose to have ssen pain team prior to op but staff forgot to inform them!!! I make sure from now that our voices are heard and that adequate analgesia is offered. I even asked anaethetist to prescribe more morhine for post- op only to be 'fobbed' off sayin yeh yeh ward can 'sort' it..... 3 guesses?? yupp u right didnt get 'sorted' only offered paracetamol overnite when shes use to codeine/paracetamol regualarly on a daily basis anyhow!!. Where is the logic I ask????????

Hope that u can put this behind u Mike and good luck with starting u p/d

best wishes Elaine

[Bruce]

Hello Mike:

Sorry to hear about all of your trouble. Maybe it's the difference between the UK and the US. Over here the health insurance companies--for cost reasons--won't let you stay overnight for that kind of surgery, therefore no general anesthetic. Everybody I know has been in and out in one day.

Anyway, hopefully the worst is behind you. PD is not hard and, for me at least, there has never been any pain involved. It is sometimes inconvenient, so I'm probably going to switch to the cycler, but it has never been painful.

Best of luck to you. I know you will feel better on dialysis--we all do.

Bruce

[amanda in CA]

Hi, I live in the US and I had my catheter inserted under general anaesthetic and stayed in overnight, so I guess it varies. Amanda

[Anne in Va]

I live in the US and had my catheter inserted under general. I was given the option of going home or staying overnight. I was given pain med before coming round and was sent home with Percocet. My surgeon, who was also my transplant surgeon, believes in patient comfort. It seems there is variation between facilities and doctors. Maybe the difference is between doctors who have experienced surgery themselves and those who have not!

Mike, is it possible you are sensitive to morphine since you had trouble breathing? I was and had to be monitored very carefully after transplant as it caused my blood oxygen to fall dramatically. Therefore instead of using the pump myself, it was rationed by the ICU nurse. Could also be the effects of the cold you have since it was obviously just about to attack.

Hope you recover well now the initial hiccups are over.

Best Wishes, Anne

[Andy]

I can remember the day i had my od tube inserted, it hurt an awful lot.
I had already had about 12 operations so I was prepared- or so i thought! But i wasnt the day after my op I had to go to have dialysis- i could not yet sit up but the dialysis unit only had parkanol chairs, so i had 2 go from my bed to a wheel chair- back to a parakanol chair. and Gosh that pain it did hurt some what!! i cant remember what type of analgesia I was given but i dont think it was that much!!

Good luck with your PD training and Pd altogether- if you have any further questions or queries just let us know and we are all willing to help and support

Love
Andy

[JMan]

Hi mike..

I haven't done much PD stuff but I sympathise with your agony.. Nothing hurts a sore abdomen so much as coughing, sneezing or laughing (ouch)..

Something I try when I really need it is 'paramol'..

**Make sure you ask your renal unit if you can take it safely.**

Its basically paracetamol but with a bit of codeine in as well. I find it does a much better job than paracetmol on its own. Its available over the counter.

[wing]

I have to say that I too was surprised at how painful it felt coming round from the anaesthetic having had my P.D. tube inserted. For some strange reason, I had thought that this would not hurt at all (though common sense should have told me that it can't be possible to cut your abdomen, punch a hole in it, stick a tube in, and thread it thought the muscle and fat without that causing some discomfort).
I also had problems breathing when coming round from the anaesthetic. I could hear the anaethetist telling me to breathe but my chest muscles just would not respond to the messages I was desperately trying to send them. I think that this must just be some sort of short time delay in metabolism -from having the anti-dote to the muscle relaxant that they give you with a general anaesthetic, before it takes effect.
I was given 1 shot of morphine, with almost immediate effect. I was given co-codamol to take home for pain relief thereafter, and I found this fairly effective though it made me sick after a couple of days so I stopped it. You can buy this over the counter, but, as it contains codeine, it does make you constipated - NOT recommended after any abdominal surgery!
I slept for about 4 days after this experience!
It does get better though - honest!
I can now clean and dress it quite happily without any discomfort whatsoever - something that I couldn't imagine in the early days.
Good luck with it all.

[Mike]

Hi,

thanks very much to you all. I did wonder whether I have some kind of sensitivity to morphine as the p;revious time I was given it I passed out but I put that down to the fact that my blood pressure was very high just before and dropped dramatically after being given it.

The pain seems better today and I think like some of you said it is best to avoid codeine as I am constapated anyway so best not make it any worse. I'm on docusate sodium so hopefully that will be better in a couple of days.

I woke up this morning with a slight temperature but it is only 37.4 and my exit site looks ok so I don't think I have got an infection and I feel like I have a cold again!!

I'm just getting bored of being in bed now I've watched so many films and being playing PS2 so that has helped pass the time but I'm going to be off work for at least another week so not sure if I can find things to do for the rest of the time? I'm fairly busy anyway next week as I have to go to the hospital on monday for monthly bloods and I'm seeing my dialysis nurse on tuesday then at the clinic on thursday so at least I will be outside some time but it's a bit cold for me to stay out too long at the moment.

It seemed a couple of days ago that it would never get better but I can almost stand up straight today with only a little pain in moving so I'm much happier than i was. It still hurts to cough so dont tell me any jokes as it hurts to laugh as well.

I am still having problems with peeing, did anyone else have any problem with this post op? at the time they put a catheter in they said there was a obstruction but they thought it could be a blood clot or as a result of the general swelling and constipation? It's driving me mad as it takes so long to go and it hurts as well. Could that be a sign of an infection there? it would explain why I have a temperature?

anyway thanks to you all for your support

mike

[wing]

Hi Mike.
Any sort of infection will cause a rise in temperature.
37.4 is not too bad - may be due to your cold symptoms.
You do say that you're bored of being in bed. I would strongly recommend that you get out of bed and move about as much as you are able to within your limitations. Lying in bed causes all sorts of problem and won't help your constipation at all.
Constipation can make peeing difficult, but the fact that you say that it "hurts" could be indicative of a urinary tract infection.
If your medical condition permits, you need to drink plenty of fluids and some people find cranberry juice is good for relieving symptoms with urine infections.
Simple Paracetamol (if you can take this) is good for relieving discomfort, not causing constipation and lowering a temperature - all at the same time!
Hope you are feeling better soon.

[Hal]

Hi Mike,

As you can see from people's responses on here your experience is pretty commonplace. Personally I was affected badly by the anaesthetic which made me feel like crap. The fact that a took morphine for pain was probably a bad thing because this added to the slowness of my bowels 'waking up' again and I had terrible wind pain.

Take Care,

Hal