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Had to visit my local renal ward today for the guided tour and lots more info on different types of dialysis etc,had swabs taken from my nose and groin to check for MRSA which is telling me that when i go and have my bloods done on monday and see the unit i will be getting a date for my PD tube to be fitted,,they have also started me on binders they aint too bad and taste orangy,they also gave me a powder that i have to mix with water and drink it tastes bloody awful its to remove some of the potassium which has shot up recently.
On another note i had a chat with my employer last week and told him what is and will be happening and as i have only been there just over six months i was expecting the elbow to be honest,they where really sympathetic and supportive and mentioned that when i go back to work after getting my treatment up and running they should be in a position to offer me an office job so i wont have the risk of hernias etc through heavy lifting so that has taken at least one worry away.
Diagnosed 2006 at stage 3
ESRF May 2012
APD May /Sept
Home Heamo,AV Fistula
Waiting for that call one day.
Never argue with an idiot,they will drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.
When you have an understanding employer its a massive weight off your mind. Even better when they will change your role to adapt to your condition/needs.
Once you recover from op and get settled onto APD you will feel much better with more energy. Good luck
Now 35 with Alports and I had my first kidney-versary 18th feb 2013....I hope to have many more.
My living donor and his family are doing all well.
if the powder is calcium resonium, then try mixing it with a drop of milk, much nicer than with water, so i have been told.
I am a nurse and always try to find milk to mix it with rather than water, so it is safe to do so.
Hope commencing on dialysis goes well
We are the way we are, if we werent, I wouldnt be me and you wouldnt be you!
Went to have some bloods taken today the nurses said they only do PD insertions on a Tuesday and the list for this week was full so i informed my work i would be going back in for the rest of the week then less than ten minutes after speaking to my boss the hospital phoned and said there was now a slot for tomorrow,
Dreading it to be honest but at least its come at shortish notice so wont have too much time to dwell on it,going to have a nice soak in the bath later as it will be my last for a while.How do you get on with bathing with a PD catheter?are you allowed to go swimming?
Diagnosed 2006 at stage 3
ESRF May 2012
APD May /Sept
Home Heamo,AV Fistula
Waiting for that call one day.
Never argue with an idiot,they will drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.
Best of luck - good that they had a space for you.
I'm amazed how understanding some companies are. I'd not even made it through my probation at work, when I had to sit them down and tell them I would need to have 3 months off for a transplant, and they were really good about it. Having heard other peoples' woes with employers, I feel very lucky.
26/11/12 - Live donor transplant from my dad
6/1/13 - Discharged - Rejection episode over
7/1/13 - Getting on with life
24/9/13 - Left Radical Nephrectomy of Native Kidney due to cancerous tumour
14/10/13 - Back to work, getting on with life
At my hospital you are not allowed to bath with a PD catheter at all, you need to shower and then immediately change your dressings.
I was not allowed to shower until four weeks after my PD catheter was inserted, as I was in a queue for dialysis training, which included training to change the dressings over the catheter.
Once you have actually started PD, you are allowed to swim in chlorinated water in swimming pools, but not rivers, canals or the sea (again at my unit, others may have different practices).
Apparently, you need to get special waterproof dressings for this........ haven't tried it myself, but I know others on the forum have, and will be able to advise you.
Good luck for tomorrow! It's good that you don't have much time to think about it. It isn't nice but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It is weird to have a tube but you will quickly get used to it.
Having a bath is what I miss most of all! You can have a bath with the waterproof dressing too but I haven't bothered in case I'm allergic to it (I'm allergic to a couple of the dressings).
I hope the catheter insertion has been ok for you today. Not a nice experience.
With regard to having a shower, as no baths are allowed, immediately post op I was told no showers until my training had commenced. To me this was completely unacceptable so I broke the rules. If you use cling film, which I sealed using micropore, to cover all the dressings and catheter. Boots is the best micropore I found but don't use a supermarket own brand, and make sure it's doubly sealed and that it is completely water tight. It is great in the shower. Have your back to the fast flow of the water. I can't tell you how nice it is to feel the water washing the hospital smells off you and to wash your hair. The CAPD team were not pleased i did this but it was too late to change it when they found out. I did it after all 3 catheter ops without any problem. Psychologically it was very good for me.
I really hope all goes well for you with the dialysis. It's all a big learning curve but we all get there in the end.
Well the tube is in and im in a nice lttle side ward with a nice view and my own tv enjoying a tub of ice cream.Sitting waiting to go to theatre was a pain made worse by the person on the next bed who sat there making a will ffs.
Diagnosed 2006 at stage 3
ESRF May 2012
APD May /Sept
Home Heamo,AV Fistula
Waiting for that call one day.
Never argue with an idiot,they will drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.
Glad to hear that you are on the road to recovery. Did the Nurses/doctors mark the exit site with a cross? I had a blue cross on my belly for about three weeks, even then it took a week of showers to get it off!
It takes a little bit of adjustmet to get used to it, but after just over six months I think I have come to terms with it. Depending on swelling/dressing you may be able to feel tube running under your skin, freaks people out when they touch mine!
Now 35 with Alports and I had my first kidney-versary 18th feb 2013....I hope to have many more.
My living donor and his family are doing all well.
Great news that the tube is in and your employer is being understanding!
As for washing - the advice is very different in each unit so I would follow your own unit's advice or at least discuss with them before doing anything different.
I would never, ever risk getting an fresh wound wet - there are bacteria in shower heads etc etc so it is just not worth the risk to me. Infection of your PD line could give you peritonitis and whilst I never had it there are enough stories on the forum to make your hair curl ...
They will train you in how to safely change your dressing and once they have done that then it opens up all sorts of options. I happily had baths, showers, swam in pools, the sea, went scuba diving and to water parks. BUT I always changed my dressing after any 'high risk - i.e. public' swims and also if it ever felt in the slightest bit damp plus regularly changing it regardless. I used tegaderm dressings - I got 20 a month with my PD supplies and another 20 pm from my GP so I always had enough and I made sure they were sealed before getting wet. That being said sometimes they leaked (usually my fault) and I would just change my dressing as I mentioned earlier and I never had any infection issues in 6 years (an element of luck there I am sure but I increased my chances of 'luck' by being near fanatical about hygiene, whilst still doing pretty much as I wanted). Other units don't require a dressing even once the wound has healed so there are lots of ways it can work.
One comment post transplant was that PD patients are happy to change their own dressings and don't get infections precisely because they are taught the proper hygiene so a small consolation there too!
I´ve found resonium acceptable to use mixed up with yoghurt and upon that things like corn flakes and müsli, only a reinforced breakfast ! To drink the powder/water mixture is less enjoyable.
Cheers for all the advice,my unit told me not to touch the dressings at all and no bathing or showers,got to go back friday to have it checked,it turns out one of the nurses on my unit is related to the wife so we had a chat and when it came to toast time i got real butter instead of the usual rubbish.
I cant see any markings as its all covered up with dressings at the moment,when i got home from the hospital yesterday i went to bed and slept right through until 8.30,,am up and about today god i forgot how rubbish daytime tv is ,only been off work a few days and missing it already.
Diagnosed 2006 at stage 3
ESRF May 2012
APD May /Sept
Home Heamo,AV Fistula
Waiting for that call one day.
Never argue with an idiot,they will drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.
When they took the dressing off the first time I couldnt even look at the exit site!
Was only when I was trained at home to clean the exit site that I mustered up the courage and had a look/took a snap http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pho ... =1&theater
Now I dont have a problem, just dont like it when it gets checked/cleaned at the hospital on visits.
Now 35 with Alports and I had my first kidney-versary 18th feb 2013....I hope to have many more.
My living donor and his family are doing all well.
