PD cat goes in Tuesday - couple of questions...

[GeeWillikers]

I get my catheter placed Tuesday morning.

I'm pretty tough, but was curious - how painful is it?

They have me slated for a full day of cycler training on Wednesday morning, and I was wondering what kind of shape I'm going to be in the day after the surgery.

How long before you folks were up and moving like normal (or relatively normal?)

how long do you think before I can get back on my motorcycle?

The waiting and not knowing is driving me crazy.

Thanks..

Bob

[Red from Canada]

Hi Bob,  It was a 20 min procedure with local anesthetic and I was fine afterward.  I don't know about the bike though,  You will be fine for your cycler training.  Goodluck!

[vivisfab]

Hey Bob. I chose to do general anesthesia. The pain is not too bad afterwards. They give you pain killers. Also, if you are anything like me, the shock of having this done kept me in "autopilot mode". The training was a little tough for me as I was really weak and very sleepy those first few weeks, I agree with the previous poster and would not ride the motorcycle for a bit. I find the more you take it easy the quicker you recover. Good luck with everything!

[billybags]

GeeWillikers, Good luck with your catheter on Tuesday, you will be in and out in no time, a little soreness but nothing to shout about. Dont know about the bike though.

[peleroja]

Both times I found it to be more annoyance and discomfort than painful.  They gave me Vicodin, but I controlled whatever pain there was with plain old Tylenol.  I had trouble with my left arm for about a week and chose not to drive.  Other than that, piece of cake!

[Ken Shelmerdine]

I had a full anaesthetic and the wound was a little sore but nothing that paracetemol wouldn't ease so I didn't need strong pain killers.

Recovery from the anaesthetic was the biggest problem for me as I felt very tired and lost my appetite for about 4 werks thats why it surprises me that you are starting PD training so soon after the placement of your catheter although the hangover effect from aneasthetic varies. Some people recover quicker than others. I did not drive my car until I was sure I could do an emergency stop without too much pain which was about 4 weeks.

[Jie]

I had very little pain and did not take any pain medicine after the surgery. I went back to work the next day. As the training, it seems it is a little bit too early. Ideally, the training should start about 2 weeks after the surgery so that the cut has been healed. You should not put in too much solution in the belly before the healing is completed.

[Brightsky69]

This is my 2nd time on PD. The first time was 17 years ago and they put the catheter in right there in my hospital room with a general. Very scary to me at the time.
I started PD again about a year ago and was put under to have the cath put in this time. It didn't really hurt at all. Pain medicine makes me sick as a dog so I took regular Tylenol. I had to wait till the cathater was healed before I started dialysis. In the meantime they stuck me on Hemo....that totally sucked!

[jeannea]

I had mine with general anesthesia.  The first night I hurt but after that it got better pretty soon.  But they told me I couldn't start until it had healed at least 10 days.  I'm surprised you're training so soon.  You may feel some pain with the fills if your surgery is that recent.  Be honest with your nurse if you feel pain and maybe she can give you less volume at first.

Jeanne

[-Lady Noir-]

My partner had a local, catheter was inserted radiologicaly. It was uncomplicated. Had a dose of antibiotics, which he continued at home.
He was up & got to go home half a day later. Dialysis started about 2 weeks later.

He had to be on pain meds for a week or so. And of corse, laxitives for about 2 months afterwards.

Good luck!

[GeeWillikers]

It's in, and done, and no big deal.

Unfortunately, the first fill was today - less than 24 hours later, and it didn't go well.

Lots of pain filling and draining, and I was only using about 750ml of saline.  Hopefully it'll get better with time.

The procedure wasn't a big deal, but I didn't react well to the Foley and have had trouble going to the bathroom for the last 24 hours.  Haad to have another Foley and another round of tests today to make sure the bladder wasn't harmed in the install yesterday.

Luckily that part of it went well.

Tomorrow is another day.

[jennyc]

First fill a day later??? WHAT takes at least 2 weeks for it to be healed enough so that the fluid definately wont leak. what was their reasoning behind using it so soon? i got into trouble becuase both times i was up and walking the day of the surgery, movement makes the pain go away quicker ( i learn't that after my c-section, i was bed ridden for 2 weeks and the pain was horrid, but after every other surgery including transplant i got up as soon as i could and moved around and the pain goes so much faster).

anyway good luck.... they aren't going to start solution use for a few weeks though are they? you need time to heal and form a barrier around the catheter before they start filling you up.

Also, once your healed the pain wont be so bad. you may get a suction pain at the end of draining but that's not too bad you just stand and it drains quicker and it's over and done with. you would have hurt fillling becuase your bruised and tender, you most likely wont have that problem when your healed.

[-Lady Noir-]

Foley? What is that?
Glad to hear it went well, apart from being filled so soon.. what's that about?! 

[Joe Paul]

It takes time to get used to that hose coming from lower belly.

[GeeWillikers]

They're workng with me because I need to get going - my labs are to the point that they're worried more delay could allow me to crash.  Despite my horrible labs, I still feel good - just a little weak.  PSP has my potassium back under control somewhat, but creatinine and other levels are still way too high.

There is a new "low and slow" process that allows the catheter to be used almost immediately - it isn't uncommon anymore.  My first flush was very clean - no blood or gunk - it was very clear - just painful.  My surgeon went in laprosopically to do the placement and it looks great - no leakage, no blood, no drainage around the site - very good so far.

A Foley catheter is what they use to access the bladder when they place your catheter - they run a hose up your hoo-hoo (not fun at all).  The first one was while I was knocked out, but the one yesterday I was wide awake for.  Let's just say I don't want to do that again - once is enough.  That area seems to have corrected itself though - I'm back to almost normal when it comes to going to the bathroom.

Right now the plan is to do low volume fills .5 to .75 L with very short dwells (about an hour or so)..  I'm going to be using the Baxter, but yesterday we were doing manual bags..

I'm not llooking forward to today's session - I'd like to take a day off to just rest.

[-Lady Noir-]

hoo-hoo

  South Park much?

Hmm, you deserve a day off. Esp considering you hardly got to rest after the surgery! I'm just glad to hear it's going okay.
Do you know how high your creatinine is?

[monrein]

   Just having a laugh about the assorted indignities we suffer with this kidney business.  The removal of the stent after a transplant is also a huge barrel of fun...and you get to watch it on a monitor.  There's a thread on here somewhere about that particular "procedure" and let's just say that a sense of humour is a real asset.

Glad things went well with the placement of your catheter.

[GeeWillikers]

First session with the Baxter went well.  First drain wasn't anything to write home about, but I'm still pretty tender from teh surgery methinks...

Three fills and drains, only 600 ml and a 1.5 hour dwell.  I'm off today and will do my first session at home tomorrow with the machine.  I'll be going every other day until I'm healed (probably about a month or so) with the fills growing in volume as I go.

Last creatinine was 13.7.  Potassium is down to 4.0 now - the PSP Suspension is doing it's job.  Phosphate is still high - will be eating more phosphate binders now - three per meal I guess, and see where that goes.

All in all, it's coming along.  Belly is still pretty tender.

[loopywinks]

Wow!!  It sounds like things are coming along, but that seems like a tough way to start.  I had my catheter in for almost two months before I started the training (had it flushed once a week).  I was pretty well healed and there was still some cramping and pain associated with it.

You ARE tough..   A creatinine of 13?  Wowzers!  Mine was not that high when I started.

Best of luck to you and take care of yourself. 

BTW.. you might want to be really cautious about riding the motorcycle.  I would think that the extra fluid could affect your center of gravity LOL

Loopywinks (AKA Tracy)

[-Lady Noir-]

Last creatinine was 13.7.  Potassium is down to 4.0 now - the PSP Suspension is doing it's job.  Phosphate is still high - will be eating more phosphate binders now - three per meal I guess, and see where that goes.

True! Your bloods are very similar to my partners. Glad to hear its going well! 

[paul.karen]

I'm surprised they catheterized you for such a small procedure. This is the first time i have heard of that.  Not saying it isn't normal just haven't heard of that.