2 Week vacation to the Florida Keys and Key West with PD

[djgaryb11]

I'll be traveling the next 2 weeks down to the Florida Keys ( Key Largo)  and Key West.  I am on PD ( Baxter Cycler), and I have arranged for my PD Solutions to be delivered to both of my destinations, and they have already arrived at both locations as planned.  I'll be taking my Baxter Cycler with me on the trip, I'm driving down from Atlanta. I'll also be stopping for one night in Orlando on the drive back to Atlanta  and staying at a hotel....I'll just be bringing the one night of PD Solutions with me for that stop over.   I also plan to do some swimming in the ocean and a pool.  I'll give you all a full report when I get back ! ....Gary

[willowtreewren]

this sounds like great fun. I can hardly wait to hear about it. 

[dwcrawford]

How fun!  And how brave and adventurous of you!

[Sunny]

Have a wonderful time. It is beautiful there.
I went snorkeling in Key Largo a few summers ago and it was marvelous. We signed on with a tour boat that took a bunch of us out to the reefs. Hope the dialysis goes well for you while your there.

[djgaryb11]

Well my vacation has been postponed due to car trouble ! :-( ...Why do cars always break down at the worst possible time....oh well....hopefully I can reschedule it for sometime later this year.....Gary

[Hanify]

Oh how disappointing for you.  Still, something to look forward to eh?

[Sunny]

Sorry about that. i hope it works out in the end, though.

[rookiegirl]

Oh man!  I hate that your having car trouble.  I love the Florida Keys, just beautiful.  My family & I vacationed there 2-3 years ago while I was pre-dialysis.  Hope all works out with your car.

[djgaryb11]

Update ! Ok...my car problems were not as severe as I thought...and only delayed my trip by 2 days...but i had to adjust some things for my trip...I ended up staying at my friends house in Key Largo for most of the trip, and only went down to Key West for the day one day....I still had a great time....I was able to set up my Baxter Cycler machine  at my friends house so it was within range of the toilet...to use the drain line....so that worked out great.....and all my PD fluids were already there, I just had to bring down my cycler machine and cartridges/tubing...and all the other extra stuff...minicaps, clamps, BP machine, scale, tape, gauze, etc....etc......While it did like 2 extra bags for me to travel with, it was not a big deal....As  far as swimming and the whole tape thing....I used the 3M Absolute Waterproof tape tape to secure my PD catheter, and it did a really good job.....I swam in the ocean probably 10 times each day ... for around 20-30 minutes each time....and the tape held up well and kept my PD catheter secure just about the entire time....by the end of the day it was starting to come up at some of the ends, but it held up really good for the most part......I also was in a pool a few times, and the tape held up great in the pool to.   I also went snorkeling out at the reef one day, and the tape held up great then also.....so overall, I was very happy with the performance of the 3M Absolute Waterproof tape ! I stayed at a hotel in Orlando for one night, and in the room all I did was reposition the night table closer to the bathroom, and placed my PD cycler on it and it was close enough for the drain line to make it to the toilet.  So my travel experience while on PD using the cycler, while it did take a little extra planning and some extra bags for supplies and stuff, everything worked out great !

[willowtreewren]

Hi, Gary!

You are a testament to the advantages of home dialysis! Yea! 

Sounds like you had a great time!

Hope you took pictures to share. (We all tend to live vicariously - hehe)

Aleta

[vivisfab]

Does Baxter deliver in the Florida Keys? It's my friend's 30th birthday in Feb. and I am supposed to go for the weekend. My pd nurse told me I'd have to bring all my bags! Also, i didn't know we could swim in pools on pd...did you put some protective covering over the hole, or is that not necessary? Any info would help. Thanks.

[djgaryb11]

Baxter did deliver all of my fluids to the Florida Keys...I had my fluids delivered to both Key Largo and Key West...I'm not sure if it was an actual Baxter truck that delivered it or if it was "common carrier" like UPS....but everything was there as promised and there were no problems with my supplies.  Baxter only delivers the Fluids...you will need to take everything else.   As far as swimming in pools, check with your PD nurse , since I have seen different views on this...so I would follow what your PD nurse says....My PD nurse and Nephrologist said it is OK for me to swim in the Ocean and also a well maintained private pool ( although the one pool I went in was not really a private pool but it was very clean and well kept)...I can not swim in a river or lake..... .  I did not put anything over my exit site....I just used a special Waterproof tape called "Nexcare"...and taped my Catheter to my body pretty good, and it stayed taped the entire day, even after several swims in the ocean or the pool.....I also made sure that as soon as i got back from the ocean or from swimming in a pool i did my proper exit site care and cleaning my exit site and applied my antibacterial ointment, etc.

[Sunny]

Yaaaay! Sounds like you are having a really good time on vacation.

[Jean]

That is not only wonderful, but very encouraging too.

[vivisfab]

Thanks for the info, I admire your sense of adventure. This weekend I am going on my first road trip since starting dialysis. I am taking a road trip to Savannah. Am really excitede. I am begining to realize that attitude is everything. As cliche as it sounds...I have kidney failure but it does not have ME!