catheter removal

[glitter]

My husband has had the Dr who is removing his catheter cancel several times now-the outer stitch is already broken-what could happen if he just pulls it out? He has threatened to do it himself at dialysis wed. coming.

[LT514]

That wouldn't be a good idea. Have your husband talk to the doctor about why it is not being removed. Is his access working? They may want to keep the catheter in a few days so they can run through the fistula/graft. I am guessing the catheter is in his chest, in the sub-clavial artery. If he pulled it out, there is a high likelihood that an infection would happen. This artery is also close to your heart, and that may become infected. Not good in any situation.

[glitter]

I know it is not a good idea,the thing is- its ready to come out-the kidney center and the neph. says okay fistula is fine-but the Dr who put in the fistula is supposed to remove the cath and you must wait 4 to 6 weeks for appointment-
believe me I would not pull one out of me,but I am taking care of a very big,bullheaded guy-who was never sick a day in his life-until now-never had to even know any of this stuff-dialysis and diets,his frustration level is way up there. And someone told him he wouldn't bleed to death...lol I know it isn't funny,but it is like dealing with a kid sometimes

[Animal]

My appointment is Oct. 11-I can wait that long.....

[angieskidney]

Ya I just had mine out. It didn't come out as easy as i thought. Please wait for the appointment

[Panda_9]

Tell him to stop being stupid and wait. If he takes it out himself well thats his problem. He could not only cause infection, but he could bleed. Its not just a simple matter of yanking it out. It needs to be done by someone who knows what they are doing.

[angieskidney]

Especially since it is so close to the heart!

[glitter]

I did ,actually tell him not to pull it out-but in any case he had it out today and in the process saw how involved it was and realized his foolishness.
   However,in his defense,when the stitch broke-the dialysis nurse said he had to keep a tagederm bandage on it,and she indicated it could fall out.Not one time did they explain how far into his body it was-or that it had that little cuff that your skin grows to.The staff he is dealing with doesn't want to give much information,and we are just learning the right things to ask.And even when we ask,we don't always get a straight answer.

[angieskidney]

I did ,actually tell him not to pull it out-but in any case he had it out today and in the process saw how involved it was and realized his foolishness.
   However,in his defense,when the stitch broke-the dialysis nurse said he had to keep a tagederm bandage on it,and she indicated it could fall out.Not one time did they explain how far into his body it was-or that it had that little cuff that your skin grows to.The staff he is dealing with doesn't want to give much information,and we are just learning the right things to ask.And even when we ask,we don't always get a straight answer.

The problem with staff at times is they don't realize how little you know. So they don't know to tell you. This is why it is best to research everything on your own and ask questions here and to the docs

[billable]

Usually it isn't that the staff is trying to keep things from you.  They don't know themselves.  But that is OK.  Why should they know the details of how a double lumen catheter is inserted or how the cuff is designed?  They are trained on how to hook up to it and to practice safe techniques to prevent infection.  Just because someone is very good at driving a car, doesn't mean they need to know how to rebuild an engine.  Same here.  You, however, have this contraption hanging out of your body and need to educate yourself on every aspect of it that you can, which is what you are doing by asking questions here.  God job.

The good news is that we are no longer dependent on our doctors and nurses for all of our information regarding our health.   For example, this is the information on the catheter that my wife has.  http://www.arrowintl.com/pdf/literature/canii-c0406.pdf.  The internet has helped level the playing field as far as access to information access.  There are many times that we will have much more information than the nurse we are dealing with and quite often, maybe even more than the doctor.  That doesn't mean they aren't good at what they do.  They do this to make a living.  You do this to live.  Your motivation is more than theirs.

[angieskidney]

Usually it isn't that the staff is trying to keep things from you.  They don't know themselves.  But that is OK.  Why should they know the details of how a double lumen catheter is inserted or how the cuff is designed?  They are trained on how to hook up to it and to practice safe techniques to prevent infection.  Just because someone is very good at driving a car, doesn't mean they need to know how to rebuild an engine.  Same here.  You, however, have this contraption hanging out of your body and need to educate yourself on every aspect of it that you can, which is what you are doing by asking questions here.  God job.

The good news is that we are no longer dependent on our doctors and nurses for all of our information regarding our health.   For example, this is the information on the catheter that my wife has.  http://www.arrowintl.com/pdf/literature/canii-c0406.pdf.  The internet has helped level the playing field as far as access to information access.  There are many times that we will have much more information than the nurse we are dealing with and quite often, maybe even more than the doctor.  That doesn't mean they aren't good at what they do.  They do this to make a living.  You do this to live.  Your motivation is more than theirs.

WOW that is a GREAT post!

(that link is what is the best part!  )

That catheter looks so much nicer than the one they used for me Nice!

I didn't know it went THAT far into the heart!! I was told it was like on top or something ..

I see that pic from the pdf is 2.2cc while mine was 2.0cc.  Why are they all different?

Also it says that the one  you displayed can flow at 400cc/min while mine was much slower.

[billable]

Denise's catheter is 2.4 and 2.6.  The length of the catheter determines the volume.  I think it is .3cc per cm. or something like that.  It is posted somewhere on their website.  I don't remember where.  Also, did you see the video of the catheter insertion?  It requires registration, but then you can see an actual procedure of how it was inserted.

[angieskidney]

Denise's catheter is 2.4 and 2.6.  The length of the catheter determines the volume.  I think it is .3cc per cm. or something like that.  It is posted somewhere on their website.  I don't remember where.  Also, did you see the video of the catheter insertion?  It requires registration, but then you can see an actual procedure of how it was inserted.

What is the link? All you posted was a link to the pdf file. Is it free to register? It would be interesting to view. Also it looks like in the pic that one is 2.2 and the other is 2.4cc.  And you said Denise's was 2.4 and 2.6. Both my ends were 2.0. Is it common to have 2 different ones?

[billable]

Denise's catheter is 2.4 and 2.6.  The length of the catheter determines the volume.  I think it is .3cc per cm. or something like that.  It is posted somewhere on their website.  I don't remember where.  Also, did you see the video of the catheter insertion?  It requires registration, but then you can see an actual procedure of how it was inserted.

What is the link? All you posted was a link to the pdf file. Is it free to register? It would be interesting to view. Also it looks like in the pic that one is 2.2 and the other is 2.4cc.  And you said Denise's was 2.4 and 2.6. Both my ends were 2.0. Is it common to have 2 different ones?

Ok, the link is http://www.arrowintl.com/products/critical_care/videos/ASP-CD/default.asp. 

[billable]

I'm not sure about yours.  Arrow makes a double lumen catheter.  In other words, it is one tube that is divided into two sections.  The outlets are not together so you aren't sucking back in blood that has already been dialyzed.  You may have a Tesio catheter that actually is 2 separate tubes, I'm not sure.

[billable]

Oops.  Sorry, I forgot you posted that pic.  Here is the webpage of the brand you have.

http://www.cfdrc.com/serv_prod/biomed_dev/catheter.html

[angieskidney]

Oops.  Sorry, I forgot you posted that pic.  Here is the webpage of the brand you have.

http://www.cfdrc.com/serv_prod/biomed_dev/catheter.html

That is really cool info. Thanks! 

[Rerun]

Ya I just had mine out. It didn't come out as easy as i thought. Please wait for the appointment

What happened and did they put you out ??

[angieskidney]

Ya I just had mine out. It didn't come out as easy as i thought. Please wait for the appointment

What happened and did they put you out ??

Ah NOW I see this thread after I just made the other thread! lol

No they didn't put me out.

I just made a thread about it here: http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=1682.0