WTF moment... Transfer set came apart while in my PD belt...

[HouseOfDialysis]

Sometime between 5pm and 7:30pm, my transfer had come unscrewed from the rest of the catheter. I was washing dishes and I'm sloppy with the water in my shallow sinks, so I didn't pay mind to the fact my gut area was wet. I went about my evening, playing with my kid and whatnot, then I went to get my cycler set up and clean my exit site. I got my cycler set up and when I took my shirt off, I noticed the PD belt was soaked and something seemed wrong. I went to take the catheter out of the belt and... Wow, that's odd. It's in two pieces... SHIT! I reached for the first clamps I could find and clamped off at the base of my gut and the tip of the exposed catheter. Then, I actually screwed the catheter back together. My logic was I had 23 miles to drive to the ER anyway, so why bother getting everything else in the world to fly by the tip of the catheter when it can be sealed?

I called my Neprhology Dept and paged the resident on call. Dr. Salazar called back and told me to get down to the ER and she would meet me there. Twenty minutes later I pulled into the hospital parking garage and waltzed into the ER. I got checked in quickly, that was a shocker, and they brought me back to my exam room. My patient tech took my BP but not my temp. My ER Nurse took my symptoms and medications, and she told me to sit tight.

The ER doc came in, young lady, and she asked to see my catheter exit site. I politely declined  and told her the only people who would examine transfer case or my exit site would be Dr. Salazar or another nurse or doctor from Nephrology. Well, I may need to work on my delivery as I'm sure I offended her.

Our next conversation followed as such:

ER doc: Why are you on dialysis?
Me: Kidney failure.
ER doc: (a look of irritation) What caused your kidney failure?
Me: Alport Syndrome.
ER doc: I heard of that once in med school, but I can't recall what it does.
Me: It can lead to vision loss, kidney failure and hearing loss.
ER doc: Do what?
Me: *snicker*

ER doc: I'll contact our Dialysis unit...
Me: *cuts her off* Dr. Salazar is on her way here to the ER.
ER doc: Oh, she knows you are here. I'll page her to alert her, then.
Me: Thank you, ma'am.

ER doc came back a minute later to inform me a renal patient had crashed and Dr. Salazar was trying to stabilize the patient. She would be over as soon as possible.

In the half hour that passed,  nurses came into look at my fistula and catheter who were curious. I don't mind showing and giving them a feel of the thrill. Another doc had her granddaughter shadowing her in the ER and she used my presence to teach her about a dialysis for ten minutes. That was fun, actually.

Then Dr. Salazar arrived and took me to the Dialysis Unit which was just down the hall, actually. It turns out I am only the 4th PD catheter she's repaired. She smiled when she said it. It put me at ease.

But myself and the Nephrology Nurse chit chatted about Baxter/Fresenius. Guess what the hospital used? The Fresenius stuff just seems needlessly complicated. Bags and clamps are all you need for manuals.... Anyway...

They had me patched up and filled with antibiotics done by 11:30pm. I got back to the ER by 11:45pm. I was supposed be summarily discharged a few minutes later but for some reason, I was not. TWO HOURS LATER....

The new shift doc comes back and says he was waiting for the labs to come back before they release. I tell him no labs were done because there was nothing to sample because there were NO LABS DONE.

Two minutes later, I'm gone.

I know it wasn't intentional, but damn... Nurse told your staff I was good to go...

But so far, no signs of Peritonitis yet, but time may tell... Let's hope I dodged a bullet.

[willowtreewren]

Argh!

 

Good story, though, especially the dialog! 

I won't be praying, but I do hope that you don't get that nasty infection! 

Aleta

[boswife]

oh goodness!!  i hope ( well i pray )    that all goes well and indeed you have dodged a bullet..  Great story, too bad it has to be true 

[lmunchkin]

Man, I hope that you are lucky enough not to get peritonitis or any other infections. Very smart that once you realized what had happened, you had the foresight to immediately clamp it. It happened not once but twice to my husband and I freaked out!  Way to go HOD!

Hopefully you got to it in time!  Will PRAY absolutely!!!!!

lmunchkin     

[Kong]

Wow, and I thought it was bad when the mini cap fell off of my transfer set. Hope everything turns out alright for you.

[HouseOfDialysis]

My 8am drain this morning was clear, nothing cloudy yet!

[Willis]

Good luck! Hope your preventive measures kept the bugs out. 

 

[WishIKnew]

Hey House hope you dodged the bullet.  Loved your story!  I have learned that there is real time and there is hospital time......

Have a good day and may clear bags be in your future!!!!!

[billybags]

Well what a thing to happen. Our connection gets changed every 6 months and our nurse wraps lots of micro tape around the joint, it keeps it secure. try it.together

[Alisa]

Happen to me once. I had to drive 3 hours to my unit.  Aghhh, took about 8 hourse to get it fixed.  Here the nurses do the replacements at the unit.  No infection ever occured.  Good luck and remember to tighten it everytime you shower, I do!

[HouseOfDialysis]

I certainly will be more proactive in checking the integrity of the transfer set.

[CHeatherS]

Well, I have to admit, after reading this earlier, I have had a few short "nightmares" as I think about it.  So glad that you have passed through this one unscathed!!! 

[BigSteve]

That sounds a lot like the time my PD unit came apart. The ER Dr. knew nothing about PD catheters. The hospital that I was at has a contract with DaVita for a number of PD nurses on call for inpatients or ER. So after some time
one came down and changed by transfer set. My unit's instructions on this type of problem is to immediately tell the ER admitting your are a PD patient and call the on call nurse. Now I carry a small clip with me, and of course the transfer set has never come apart again.

[HouseOfDialysis]

I always have two sets of clamps with me. At the house, in my truck, etc. Just in case. It worked this time.