swimming with a PD cathether - share your story

[lunadatura]

I have a PD catherter in my belly. I went to Hawaii and I swam in the ocean  - its the only place where it is relatively safe to swim because of the salt water. I wont swim in public pool or take a bath but the ocean was awesome - every day sometimes twice for two weeks w/o any problem - infections dont seem to have a chance in salt water. One of my PD nurses says that was fine but another said its way to risky - its up to you but it was wonderful for me - I wish i lived there!!.   

[MooseMom]

This is the reason I don't want to do PD...I love to swim.  I buy a pass to our park's pool each summer, and it is the one thing that really helps me with stress.  I can feel the anxiety wash away as I slide into the water.  I couldn't bear to give that up.  I had no idea, though, that it was possible to swim in the ocean.  I bet that was wonderful for you!  I'm so glad you enjoyed it.  Hawaii is so lovely!

[jennyc]

Ha, "ve haf ways to make you svim!"

You can get a good 20-30 mins of swim time by using a pediatric urinary collection bag. You carefully snip the inside to make the hole bigger, place your catheter into the pocket and use the self adhesive glue section to stick around the exit site. They are quite water proof and i used them numerous times and over the course of 7 years i've NEVER had peritonitis.

[Brightsky69]

Hawaii is nice and not being able to swin there would be criminal....it's so beautiful. I wouldn't risk swimming in the Atlantic ocean here in VA. Every summer there is always a bacteria bloom at one of the beaches and it's not safe for anyone to swim. Now they are thinking about drilling for oil off our coast. I can't imagine swiming in oily ocean water with a PD cath.

[djgaryb11]

I went on a trip last year to the Florida Keys and Key West, and I swam every day in the ocean with my PD Catheter, and even went on a snorkel trip in Key West and swam ....no problems at all.  I used this waterproof tape by "Nexcare" and it did a really good job and kept my catheter secure and in place for a full day of swimming.     As soon as I got home from my day at the beach or swimming I took a shower and then did my exit site care.  My Doctor and PD nurse said its fine to swim in the ocean or a well maintained private pool.

[looneytunes]

When hubby was on PD we used ostomy bags (similar to the pediatric bag shown in JennyC's post) and it worked well.  We also love to kayak in the local rivers and using the ostomy bags enabled us to do it.