Infected catheter (again).

[Sara]

Joe is having surgery on Friday for his permanent access and I think to move his temporary catheter.  This will be his 3rd temp cath in 3 months - doesn't that sound strange?  Is there anything else we can do to keep it from getting infected?  He covers it when he showers, but it's possible it could be getting wet.  The center changes it weekly (something I think should change to every session) and they put some sort of antibiotic disk thingy under the clear bandage.  Could it be because he sweats under the bandage?  Could it be it's going to get infected no matter what he does? 

[Epoman]

Joe is having surgery on Friday for his permanent access and I think to move his temporary catheter.  This will be his 3rd temp cath in 3 months - doesn't that sound strange?  Is there anything else we can do to keep it from getting infected?  He covers it when he showers, but it's possible it could be getting wet.  The center changes it weekly (something I think should change to every session) and they put some sort of antibiotic disk thingy under the clear bandage.  Could it be because he sweats under the bandage?  Could it be it's going to get infected no matter what he does? 

Shower less, have it changed after every session. NO it's not normal to be getting infected so often. I had one of mine in for several months (like 8 months). I think it's either the shower or the sweat but I lean toward the shower being the cause. Try spongebaths. What's going to happen is he's going to keep getting infected and they won't be able to put one anymore, then they will have to put it in his groin, and I'm sure he doesn't want that. So I reccomend you DEMAND that they change it after EVERY session, and limit the showers.

- Epoman

[Rerun]

I would tape (silk tape) Saran wrap over it and when I got out of the shower I would take off the saran wrap and pat the Catheter dry and finish drying off wrap my hair (what's left of it) in a towel and then BLOW DRY the area. 

I had mine in for 6 months.

[susie q]

I have had my catheter for 2 years now.. attempts at a fistula so far have failed... I've never had an infection... bandage is changed every run.... take baths.. not showers... 

[kevno]

Sara

Really same as sussie q. I have my lines in since October 20003. Never take showers, just baths. I have had three infections in the lines exit site.  But they all cleared up with a antibiotics tablet and a antibiotic cream.  The nurse took a swab from where the line was infected.  Then sent the swab the lab, so at least you know which antibiotics will not work for that infection.  Plus which antibiotics are the best to fight the infection.

Kevno

[Sara]

When you say take baths not showers, do you mean full immersion in the tub type of baths, or little "bird baths" as we call them.

[Epoman]

When you say take baths not showers, do you mean full immersion in the tub type of baths, or little "bird baths" as we call them.

  Come on Sara you're smarter than that. 

Sit in a bath, but DO NOT get your chest under the water line of the tub. wash your upper half with a sponge or wash cloth.

Yeah Sara we are telling you to tell Joe to not take a shower BUT it's OK to fully immerse his body underwater. 


 

[susie q]

I put a baggie over the lines... keep bandage above water...
Lol epoman!! 

[Sara]

Are you calling me dumb?  I think I'm gonna go pout.


(In my defense, I AM 1/2 blonde.  Also, when someone says bath, I think bathtub   )

[Rerun]

Ya know really NONE of us probably know how to take a bath properly.  Or it is a lost art.  WE ALL take showers.

Personally, I don't see how you can be clean when your BUTT is sitting in the same water that you wash your face in.

SORRY!  I'm a Shower Kind of Girl~   

(I can't wait to see what Kevno has to say)   

[kevno]

I suppose some people would not know which way to sit in a bath Because how much rubbish some DOCTORS talk, you would think they were talking out of there butt.

I suppose if we did a poll we would know how many blonde's had signed up to the site 

BATH vs SHOWER


Better not say much my sister is a blonde, if i  write to much about blonde's she will Kill Me.
Blonde's are smart, clever,( buttiful) oops! Meant beautiful. Right that should be enought to keep my sister happy.


I say Baths for all patients except those who are Blonde
Even so, I do have a quick shower when I am in a hurry. My hair is not Blond.


Kevno

Don't worry, Be happy

[Bajanne]

These semantics are interesting to me from a cultural/linguistic point of view.  In the English-speaking Caribbean, a bath is anything you do in a bathroom to clean yourself with water and soap.   We call a shower a bath.  We call a bathtub a bath. We call it a sponge bath if it is with a washcloth at the sink or with a basin.  If it is just cleaning some important areas, we call it a 'cowboy'.    Ladies have a PTA (pumpum, tits, armpits)

[Sara]

I'm cracking up about the "cowboy" and "PTA" 

[susie q]

cracking me up Baj!!!   

[kevno]

Unfortunately PTA can be used for a few different sortend names, Parents Teachers Association(PTA). In this case PTA is the sort version of the name of the drug. I will Post Later with the full name of the drug for you, so you do not get confussed

I know how easy it is for some people to get confussed

If you are not sure about any Words. Look in a English dictionary

Bath,
1 a large container that people SIT in to wash their bodies.
There are more but that is the first definition of bath

Shower,
1 a wash under a SPRAY of water.
As with Bath there are more definitions but that is the first one.

Please don't worry if you get confussed again , This site is here to HELP you with any questions to do with a renal patient.


Hope that helped TTFN (Ta Ta For Now)

Kevno

[Bajanne]

I hope that you guys understand my explanations.  'Cowboy' and PTA are both only used in emergency situations when time/logistics do not support a proper bath.

I think 'cowboy' came from the popular old westerns where cowboys always seemed to only wash their faces in a stream when they woke (fully dressed).  You never saw them having a total bath.

You see, a regular bath is very important in the Caribbean culture.  Two baths per day, preferably a shower, is the absolute minimum.  And the lower the class, the more they bathe!  In some of the Windward islands which have many rivers, the river is the bath place.

[Bear]

I would suggest, rather than an immersion bath (with the old argument mentioned
that you're washing your face in water your arse is sitting in  ), you need a shower
like some people in the U.K. or OZ have put in over a tub bath, the type where the
shower head is mounted on a pole*.  These are great if you don't want wet hair, or in
this case a wet neck cath., as you can adjust the head down so that it points at your
belly (or lower). You can then carefully sponge any area above the belly & miss the
at-risk area(s).
*like a sort of side-on towel rail

[Rerun]

Or those shower heads that come off and are attached to a hose.  That way you could control where the spray went. 

Wish I would have thought of that when I had my catheter!!   

[susie q]

I have a handheld shower thingy, and I use it if I'm in a hurry, but now I kind of look forward to a nice soak in a hot tub... and I wash my face separately...

Sometimes I wonder if I'm absorbing water thru my skin... I swear I don't drink THAT much.. Lol..

[meadowlandsnj]

My doctor recently told me to get a prescription for Bactroban--an ointment.  He told me to put it in my nose with a Q-Tip before dialysis.  Most people have the Staph germ in the nose which is easily spread to the catheter area even though we wear masks.  There have been studies done and it cuts down on infections in dialysis catheters (which I have also).   

[Rerun]

Whowe...... up the nose?  That is interesting.  Worth a try!