PET test

[KICKSTART]

Ok so the hospital have just rung me and want me to go for a PET test, i have not had one before while doing CAPD for 2 yrs now.So the questions are ..why now ? what will it tell them? will i have to make some changes? Didnt have time to go through it on the phone , just told me to turn up next week with my samples! Great i love it when they dont think you need to know why and what you are going for 




EDITED:  Moved post to proper thread "Home Dialysis" - Goofynina/Admin.

[Joe Paul]

Not to sound like a dumbell, but are you talking about the chemical stress test for the heart?

[angela515]

Ok so the hospital have just rung me and want me to go for a PET test, i have not had one before while doing CAPD for 2 yrs now.So the questions are ..why now ? what will it tell them? will i have to make some changes? Didnt have time to go through it on the phone , just told me to turn up next week with my samples! Great i love it when they dont think you need to know why and what you are going for 

A PET test will tell them tons of things. First and foremost it tells them wether your a high transporter or a low transporter. Those determine how fast you absorb fluids while dwelling, which in turn tells them if you need a short or long dwell time. Things like that to allow for you to get better dialysis.

[KICKSTART]

Hmm thanks angela515  seems a bit late in the day for that , seeing i have been doing CAPD for 2 yrs now , i wonder why they are doing it now , One thing for sure , i aint doin more than 4 exchanges a day ! 

[angela515]

They should of done it within the first few months of starting PD, however they do do them like every 6 months to a year b/c your peritonium changes.

[goofynina]

Yep, they are supposed to do them every 6 months, When i first started i was on CAPD but we found out i was a high transporter really quick like so i trained on the cycler, loved it, i was doing 8 hours, dwelling 2,000 for an hour, it was easy peasy lemon squeezy, UNTIL, i took that friggin test,  UGH, my easy peasy lemon squeezy turned to freaken torture (but i am used to it now)  now i am on the maching 11 hours with dwells of 1 hour 45 min. and fills of 3,000,  , I KNOW     But hey, it still beats going back to Hemo (shivers at the thought)  (sigh) i dread the day i have to go back, so that is why i am living it up as much as i can now, WOOHOOOO 

[MyssAnne]

They are SUPPOSED to do it every 6 months, as Goofynina says, but I've only had it done once, which was a pain in the patookie!

[angela515]

When I was on PD, I had mine done every 6 months as were supposed to... and yes, they are an annoyance to do.

[KICKSTART]

I have always been on 4 exchanges a day (CAPD) and always 2,000 , so does this mean the possibility of more exchanges? or worse still more volume of fluid? I find even after 2 yrs the fluid is very noticable , sits heavy on my stomach and on bad days my appitite is very poor because of that bloated feeling.

[JerseyGirl]

PET tests are to be done when you begin PD and then after peritonitis or if it is suspect that your membrane characteristics have changed.  It is my understanding - and I am a Home Training nurse, that Adequacy testing is done q 6 months, not the PET.  Actually I do adequacy testing on my patients every three months as that is our company policy.  The PET is done by having the patient stay with me for 4 hours, testing a effluent sample @ 0,2 and 4 hours, and a blood test @ 2 hours. Adequacies are done by collecting the specimens from the prior 24 hour period, along with urine and blood.

[KICKSTART]

Thanks Jerseygirl, interesting to know when you do them , seeing i have been on CAPD fo 2 yrs and NEVER had any sort of tests done , also NEVER had peritonitis either , thats why i was so interested to know why someone had decided to do any tests now .It seems like it is a combination of both they want me to do , 24hr samples plus morning stay to check samples while doing an exchange. Oh well i had better take a good book !

[JerseyGirl]

Yikes!  No adequacy testing either?  FYI... goal is 2.0 for CAPD, 2.2 CCPD - KT/V, that is.  Glad to be of assistance!

[goofynina]

DUH!!!  Damn, do i feel dumb, that is right, sorry folks, got the two mixed up, it is the adequacy test not the PET test,  thanks for clarifying that Jerseygirl 

[KICKSTART]

Yikes!  No adequacy testing either?  FYI... goal is 2.0 for CAPD, 2.2 CCPD - KT/V, that is.  Glad to be of assistance!

Er dont even know what that is !!!! ?? Maybe we have something different in England ? Whats the 2.0 etc ?

[angela515]

PET tests are to be done when you begin PD and then after peritonitis or if it is suspect that your membrane characteristics have changed.  It is my understanding - and I am a Home Training nurse, that Adequacy testing is done q 6 months, not the PET.  Actually I do adequacy testing on my patients every three months as that is our company policy.  The PET is done by having the patient stay with me for 4 hours, testing a effluent sample @ 0,2 and 4 hours, and a blood test @ 2 hours. Adequacies are done by collecting the specimens from the prior 24 hour period, along with urine and blood.

It's not the same everywhere. My unit did PET test's every 6 mo -1yr, depending if they suspected your prescription needed a change.

[rookiegirl]

Well, I'm scheduled on 12/14/07 for my 1st PET test.  I don't look forward to it.  I guess because I'm scared of the possible treatment change.  Also, the pain of draining.  I still have it.  Anyway, I was told the night before, I should start my drain @ 11PM with the 2.5% 2ltr and do not drain in the morning until I get to the clinic.  They will do the drain.  I have told them that as soon as I feel the cramp, I stop.  They told me I have to at least drain for 20 minutes to make sure evey fluid is out.  So this mean I will be tortured for 10 minutes of cramping/pinching.  You would think since it's been over 1 month on dialysis, this has gotten easier.  I really think my cath is hang low on some nerves.

Right now I do 2 exchanges.  Morning I carry 1500ltr of 7.5% ICO.  At night 2000ltr of 2.5%.  I really like this treatment.  I don't want to change it.

[KICKSTART]

Rookiegirl
 Dont worry about the PET test its nothing. One thing i DONT agree with is your draining out ! If i were you i would try to speak to someone else. Who told you that you have to drain for 20 mins and get it all out ? I have problems with draining ,even after 2yrs (because my catheter is in the wrong place!). When i did the pet test i explained that as soon as the pain kicked in i would be shutting the drain off and no one bothered. Also i drain in less than 20 mins. Now what i find interesting is that i have been told different things by different people, my doctor told me that you NEVER drain out all the fluid , its impossible, yet a nurse told me you need to get all the fluid out !If i were you when its time for your test , i would just shut off the drain as soon as the pain kicks in ( i did) and if the nurse has something to say ,tell her you cant put up with that pain and WONT ! Good Luck but like i said the test itself is nothing ..just boring !

[Laurie]

I agree with Kickstart. My nurses told me as soon as I feel the pain to shut it off.
Best of luck to you. I hope they listen to you and don't make you sit through 10 minutes of torture.

[KT0930]

I'm on the cycler and it is programmed to do 20 minutes drains, but if the amount coming out stops coming, then it automatically switches to the fill. Sometimes my drains are 10 minutes, sometimes I have to do another 20 (because I've reabsorbed, and it thinks I need to drain more...I usually bypass at that point). My point is, if the machine has a setting to bypass the last ten minutes of the drain, then certainly it's ok to do. Not to worry, rookie!

As for PET and adequacy tests, I have been on PD for 13 months now, and done one PET test, at the very beginning. I've done I think five adequacy tests. One every three months, plus one a month after I switched from CAPD to CCPD. (By the way, gotta share, my kt/v last week was 2.4!! Yippee!!  )

[rookiegirl]

Rookiegirl
 Dont worry about the PET test its nothing. One thing i DONT agree with is your draining out ! If i were you i would try to speak to someone else. Who told you that you have to drain for 20 mins and get it all out ? I have problems with draining ,even after 2yrs (because my catheter is in the wrong place!). When i did the pet test i explained that as soon as the pain kicked in i would be shutting the drain off and no one bothered. Also i drain in less than 20 mins. Now what i find interesting is that i have been told different things by different people, my doctor told me that you NEVER drain out all the fluid , its impossible, yet a nurse told me you need to get all the fluid out !If i were you when its time for your test , i would just shut off the drain as soon as the pain kicks in ( i did) and if the nurse has something to say ,tell her you cant put up with that pain and WONT ! Good Luck but like i said the test itself is nothing ..just boring !

Kickstart,

You are so right.  I was told by my Dr. the same way.  He told me if I time it right, go ahead and stop draining so I don't have to feel the pain.  But, what I have been doing for the last 3-4 weeks is just as soon as I feel the pain, I shut my port.  This has been very tolerable.  I can't understand why the PD Nurses are not more companionable and understanding of our feelings.  They are just straight from the book.  I would think if my Dr. said it's OK to shut-off then "damn it" I should be able to shut-off.  I hate to have to go in there and be a bitch.  Sorry, I don't mean to curse.  I just get so mad 

[KICKSTART]

Stick to your guns and dont put up with the drain pain ! Sometimes i think the nurses let power go their heads ! One once told me i had a very negative attitude, so i asked her how happy she would be doing this day in day out , and any time she would care to swap just to let me know!!! The PET test can still be done even if you shut off the drain when it starts to hurt , mine went ok, so they cant use that as an excuse. Best of luck , let us know how you get on ..you might even get a nice nurse on the day!!

[rookiegirl]

Pet Test went well.  They didn't force me to drain for a long period.  As soon as I felt the cramp, I was done.  I'm a little confuse though.  After the session, I was let go.  Are they suppose to call me back to tell me the result of my test?  It's been over 2-3 weeks now and still no response about the test.  I guess no news is good news?

[goofynina]

Hey Rookiegirl, great to see you back    I always call on any test i take (i am a paranoid person)   But like you said, no news is good news, i am sure if there was something wrong they would've called you immediately, at least i hope they would've  

[KT0930]

My clinic calls me within a week of labs to tell me all the results. As for "no news is good news", you're absolutely right. The PET test is used to determine if you're a high, low or medium transporter. They use that to determine your PD prescription. If they haven't called, your prescription hasn't changed.

[KICKSTART]

Ha ha results .. i didnt hear anything back from mine either. When i had my next appt at the clinic about 6 weeks later , i had to insist on being told what they where ,as the nurse didnt want to be bothered looking them up on the pc !  Great and then you wonder why YOU bother giving up your time to do these things !!!