Stupid PD Mistake

[Whamo]

I made a big mistake yesterday.  I was changing my PD site dressing, and I couldn't get the gauze off, so I used scissors.  I cut the tube, and water spilled out.  I clamped it with my hand and gauze, and water continued to leak.  I clamped it with my hand, and found a clamp, and rushed to my dialysis center.  After waiting awhile, a nurse fixed it, but I had to drain a sample for the lab, and fill my belly with a liter of anti-biotics.  That was an extra liter that hemo had to take off.  All this happened after a trip to the dentist, where I learned I had gum disease, and now face six sessions at $265 a clip that my insurance won't cover.  On top of that I had an EBAY hassle.  When things go wrong, they go big.  It's still dark, and I'm wondering what my new lawn looks like.  Last night my wife passed out 720 candies to the zombies who trick or treat in the country club neighborhood.  Every year they leave a big mess.

[JLM]

Crap happens....!!!!!!!!!!!!

[billybags]

 Whamo I can not believe you did this. That would have been so scary for you. Did you cut it right near your exit site, how the hell did they repair this.

I hope every thing is Ok germ wise. As you say when things go wrong, they go wrong.

[Whamo]

How did they repair this?  Evidently, accidents similar to mind happen every once in awhile.  They have a process.  First, the nurse gets a doctor to sign off the procedure.  Then, they cut just behind the cut.  Then, they drain some fluid into a bag for a lab test.  Next, they add an extension to the tube.   My tube is a little shorter than it used to be.  If your accident happens to close to your belly you have to have surgery.  Then, they fill your belly with anti-biotics.  From now on I will carry a clamp with me everywhere.  I've heard the bugs usually attack quickly, within hours, but some bugs take a day or two to show.  Hopefully, I was lucky.  My fluids were going out, not in, and I closed the hole quickly.  Twenty hours later, I'm good, so the quick acting germs aren't the problem.  If the slow germs got to me, and past the anti-biotics, the lab test will identify them, so the doctors will know how to react.  My regular PD nurse was doing community nursing, and she returns today.  She's going to give me grief, and I deserve it.

[Joe]

My PD nurse told me nothing sharper than a Q-tip within 6" of my catheter and thats kept me ok, at least up until now. One thing I was told is to always have a clamp with me, just in case something drastic does happen. I carry a plastic hemostat for just that reason. Hopefully with you having fluid on, you had positive pressure outbound and any bugs that were around got flushed out instead of being able to get in.

Good luck!

[MaryD]

Whamo - Shock!  Horror!  The stuff bad dreams are made of.

For a month or so after my PD catheters have been installed, the skin right next to the exit site got irritated and formed blisters because of the catheter lying on it.  This time I decided to put a sterile swab under the catheter with the dressing on top.  I only did it once because I had to use scissors to get the whole mess off.  All the time I was waving the scissors around near the catheter, I was waiting for my hand to give a sudden jerk and the scissors to cut off my catheter.  Never again!  I put up with the blistering.  It has taken two months each time for my skin to harden up.

Bet your blood pressure went up!

[smcd23]

Whamo - Tony ripped his PD cath before. While doing some HVAC work for a friend. He was sweaty, disgusting and lord only knows what other sort of muck he had been through moving the equipment around and whatnot. They gave him a dose of antibiotic right away when they repaired the tube, and he didn't get an infection. I think if you were able to catch it quickly and get antibiotics in you will be okay. It appears what happened is more common than you might have believed.

[Whamo]

My PD nurse has been telling me stories about similar episodes.  One kid cut his tube with fingernail clippers.  One guy was shaving his stomach, and he cut his tube.  She said the area just above the extension site frequently tears from bending too much.  She also told me the average patient gets one infection a year, although some patients have never gotten an infection.