A swimming question

[bevvy5]

Well, hubby had his catheter "installed" on June 1st with a large hernia repair.  He was scheduled to start dialysis training in mid August but his GRF tanked to 9 and the rest of the blood work was not good so even though he felt "fine" he was trained over two days and is now in full swing.

My question relates to a week-long houseboat trip we have planned for Sept 5 to 12.  Yes, we are nothing if not ambitious.  We are going with four of our closest, dearest friends and the jokes have started about using Greg's catheter to blow him up and float him behind the boat a la Macy's parade.  It sounds cruel but the normalcy of it is reassuring and we are looking forward to it.  This has been a bi-annual tradition for 10 years and we'll be damned if we give it up.

My question relates to swimming.  He is determined to at least "get wet".  His PD nurse seem to have no major problem with it with the right precautions.  She has suggested using an ostomy bag.

When we asked at the pharmacy, they asked, "what size?"  "Size?  There are different sizes?"  Who knew?

Anybody know?  We have the dressings from Baxter that will be provided but his PD nurse (whose husband has some sort of ostomy) seems to think that the ostomy bag will be a better bet.  We'd like to get one, maybe try it out and see which works best.

Thank you in advance.  We are keeping our sense of humour and forging on.  I know there will be suggestions he's crazy to swim so soon (or at all) but I only have so much control and he is determined to do it.



Bev

[Chris]

Forgot what post it was, but swimming was talked about and what people did. I would have to search and post the link.

[Yvonne]

Hi the Urostomy bags are cut to the size of the wound, so you could ask your friend that has the stoma bag to try one out. If I lived nearer I would send you an uncut one. They make a small specail size just for swimming. My husband John has an Urostomy and still at end stage renal failure, we have quite a selection of urostomy bags. If you are still having trouble obtaining a bag write to me personally by email with your address and I will send you one.  Yvonne the wife.

[twirl]

my nep doc told me it was fine to swim in a pool -
never a pond. lake, ocean or river -
we have a pool but I went with a fistula

[paul.karen]

Swimming with PD access.

Discussed many times here.  Seems the majority are told that a Private pool if maintained well is ok.  A public pool is a big NONO.
Ocean is ok--depending on who you ask.

Lakes and rivers are a NEVER SWIM in.  And i am quessing the houseboat will be in a lake.

From here it is up to you to decide if the chance of Peritonitis is worth a dip in the water.  I hear it is very painful and it may make the peritonitis lining to weak to use for doing PD>
Thus if infected you would need an emergency cath in the neck/shoulder area until a fistula was to be made and matured.   

best of luck on whatever road you decide to take.  Hard to stay out of a pretty lake on a hot day.

[billybags]

Bevvy5, Please be very careful, in fact I would say "don't do it" You do not know what is out there lurking in the water.Having peritonitis is no joke, I should know because my husband is just getting over it, after a month. He had to have his catheter removed.and is on hemo. He too misses out on swimming but our nurse would go ballistic even if he had a bath. Tell him to paddle, or look after the beers.

[okarol]

This is from: You Can Live: Your Medicare Guide for Living with Kidney Failure
To help stay healthy, keep your access clean and dry and keep the
tube taped to your body. To help with this, taking a shower is
better than taking a bath. A bath exposes your access to germs
that have washed off your body. Also, you should not swim in
lakes, rivers, ponds, pools, or spas because of the chance of get­ting
an infection. If you want to swim, ask your kidney doctor
about ways to swim in the ocean or in clean, chlorinated swim­ming pools.

www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/02119.pdf

[bevvy5]

Just an update.  I showed hubby the responses and I think he's rethinking the logic of lake swimming.  At least he's not thinking I'm a meanie and trying to wreck his fun.

The indirect approach sometimes works better than a whack upside the head.

Thanks to all of you.  We have a great team with his doctor, nurses, and everybody else, but none of them actually have walked the walk.

[Hanify]

I'm really interested in this urostomy bag thing though.  I use two 'tegaderm' plastic things if I swim.  Like the others, I stay out of lakes - sorry.  But I do go in the sea, and I have the occasional bath.

[texasstyle]

I can't believe how much I've learned here in the last week. Questions I've always had in my head have been answered, and things I never knew have been brough to light. What a great bunch here!

[bevvy5]

Just a quick update.  We got home yesterday from our houseboating holiday.  The weather wasn't great so not swimming wasn't as much of a hardship as it might ahve been.  He did go out in his small blow-up type boat a few times to fish.  He make sure to wear an Opsite over his catheter, etc., just in case he ended up in the water and made sure he had one on during his showers as it was lake water.

Although we had to rent a small U-Haul utility trailer to get his boxes of solution up there, everything went super.  We're looking forward to our next trip in January/February - three weeks in Palm Springs area with three days driving on each end to get there.  Our daughter, her SO and our (then) 9 month old grandbaby will be joining us for a week. 

I am so lucky that he is refusing to implode because of dialysis.  We go in for cycler training on Tuesday, he's feeling good and it can only get better from here.

Thanks for everything - this site is so helpful to newbie support people like me.

Bev

[Hanify]

Great!  Travelling is even easier with a cycler.  Especially if he's allowed to used extraneal or nothing during the day.  Good on you.  Keep planning trips.

[spacezombie]

I was told I could swim in private, well chlorinated pools only. No lakes, oceans, etc. I did meet a girl years and years ago (in the early 90s) who was on PD and also enjoyed surfing. But I was never able to speak with her again to ask about infections, etc.

Even when I would swim in a pool, when I was done I'd immediately clean the exit site really well.

[bevvy5]

That's his plan in Palm Springs when we go this winter - keep it as dry as possible and change the dressing as soon as he comes out.