My PD Nurse isn't very happy with me!

[Charlie B53]

My PD Nurse isn't very happy with me.

I used to be a pretty big guy, as in had a bunch of excess weight.  Well,  I am a pretty big guy, just not so much weight now since loosing over 100 pounds, but I STILL sweat, even just standing still.  Monday I had a pretty good day.  Didn't feel half bad.  Actually got out in the Barn and did a few things, stayed busy most all day.  Sweated a LOT.  Keep water bottles in the refrigerators, both house and Barn so I can always get a mouthfull every hour, more or less.

All good.

Evening I come in and set up my Cycler, have a bite to eat and start to hook up and discover that the tape that I had holding my catheter coiled to my chest had failed, sweat.  I won't wear the chest pocket/band thing in warm weather.  It is just too hot and itchy.  I'll never understand how some women can wear a bra.

The tape failed to hold against my skin, but it sticks to the cath hose, and itself extremely well.  This has happened a number of times before.  It is a whipping to get it apart and off the cath.  Sometimes I have to resort to cutting with the scissors, VERY carefully sneaking the blade alongside the hose, under the tape, and snip it open.

WELL..... evidently I wasn't careful enough this time.  I got the tape off. i DIDN'T cut the hose.    But I did somehow manage to poke a little hole in it, so it leaks.

Qwap!    Fortunately my Son was still here so I had go out to the Barn and get me a roll of electrical tape out of my toolbox.  I didn't think any of the 'medical' type tapes that I have would be near suitable as most have 'holes' or made out of paper.  Electrical tape, good, solid, stretchy, and sticky.  Now THAT should hold water.

So I clamped off the Cath, dried cleaned, cause adhesives are sorta like paint, preparation is everything.  Wrapped a couple of tight layers, removed the clamp and tensed up my chest and abs really hard, trying to raise the pressure on the cath as much as possible while checking for leaks.

NO LEAKS!!!!     Great, this is going to work just fine.  Finished connecting to my Cycler and went to bed.

Tuesday morning.  My regular monthly Dialysis Clinic is this Thursday.  I KNOW this tape will work, and if it does fail, I'll just put on a new piece.  No big deal.

Ran my errands.  The blower motor in the furnace/A/C had died Saturday and Wife wasn't very happy about it as the house was a tick over 80.  And I had to stop by the NAPA Part store and order a belt for my mower that I killed Sunday just as I was finishing the yard.  Errands that HAD to be done.

I tried to call Nurse kim while in my truck in between stops.  She was out on a home visit.  No problem with me, I'll wait til she gets back.

She called me about 10"30 and asked what I needed.  So I told her and said I could wait until Clinic on Thursday.  She didn't even let me finish.  Told me to GET IN THERE.  No uncertain terms there.  O.K.  I guess I'll just have to finish fixing the A/C later.  Got on the freeway and headed West, for an hour.

She didn't yell at me, but she talked bad to me, for an hour, while she cleaned me, the cath, draped a sterile sheet over my chest.   Sterilized the cath, cut it off just above the pin hole I'd pokedd in it.  Then put on a new nut/connector and a new end hose set, which I was due for a change at our next clinc anyway.

Then she did a manual drain and refill after loading the new bag with a few small bottles each of a couple of different types of antibiotics.

She lectured me long, and hard, about bacterial infection from the tape I used.  I said I didn't think so,  The tape was clean,  I keep it in my oily greasy toolbox, ain't NO bugs in there.  And I regularly wipe it down with carb cleaner when it gets too greasy.  THAT chemical will sterilize anything!

She wouldn't agree.  And tried to make me promise NEVER to do it again.

As IF.  When I spring a leak I patch it.  When I start to leak blood while in the Barn I immediately grab a paper towel, a new clean one, not one of the dirty ones, fold it up neatly to make a 'sponge' and grab the electrical tape, making a perfectly good wimp sticker.  It stops the bleeding, sometimes takes a couple of paper towels cause I bleed real easy because of the 20 odd years of constant aspirin use. 

I did agree to at least CALL her if or when my cath leaks again.

[Simon Dog]

I used to be a PD patient.   If my RN has pulled out a roll of electrical tape from the maintenance person's oily greasy toolbox regularly wiped down with carb cleaner to fix a pinhole and told me it was "fine, no bugs in there" I would have refused that repair and had my MD paged.

You took a real chance, and the vanco/ceftaz coctail (which is what she probably gave you) may have saved her from having another case of peritonitis on her record.

[Charlie B53]

What can I say?  I am a guy, we sometimes do a stupid thing even with the best of intentions.

My immediate concern was to stop the leak so I could get on with my Dialysis.

Electrical tape because it is rolled upon itself is sealed from outside 'influence'.  As it is a petro product and made at very sterile temperatures I wasn't worried a bit.  Pretty much the same for the chemicals used to make the adhesive on the tape.  The only real possibility for ANY bacterial or viral contamination would be during that brief time during air exposure during the application.  Which was minimal, and I did also ensure both the hose and my hands were both clean and dry, using alchol wipes to clean the hose of the residue from the old tape and hand sanitizer.

I may have to concede her point, but I can assure you I did take care to minimize the risk of infection.  Although I have not yet had a PD infection, from what I have read from some of you it is not anything I take lightly.  So while I may jest that my big red roll-around tool box may have some grease and oil spots o or inside in places, I can assure you that all the bright shiny chrome inside is regularly cleaned off with a solvent  so deadly that NOTHING can survive contact with it.  The water-based cleaning solvents are a total waste of time and money,  if the chemical cannot desolve minerals on contact there ain't no way it will effectively clean anything.  I am always bumping, nicking my hands and bleeding, after repairs and often during I clean my hands with a clean towel soaked in this solvent.  Burns like fire, but I have yet to EVER get even the smallest infection.

So while mine may not have been THE best decision, I feel it was done as safely as possible.  Depending on the situation would I recommend someone else try it?  I doubt it,  I do not know them much less how they do things.

So like at lot of disclaimers you see out there,

Do NOT try this at home!

Your results may vary.


As always,   Take Care,

Charlie B

[PrimeTimer]

Gotta tell ya, I like your "can do" attitude, Charlie B53!
When I was in my 20's and still in good shape, I wanted to go hang gliding. Dad said "no, that's too dangerous". So I went skydiving instead...

[Whamo]

Dude, you took a big chance.  I avoid PD type errors, but know someday one will happen.  Knock on wood.  Just this hook up, when I popped off the top my cath head bumped into my skin.  It left a brown stain from the antiseptic.  That doesn't concern me.  What scares me if it's going to flare up an infection.  I had to make a decision whether to start over or hook up.  Since I was going into a drain mode I went ahead.  I should be okay, but there's always the chance I'm screwed.  Sometimes things happen so fast you don't make the right decision.

[charlesc]

Charlie
You Da Man.
That is exactly what I would have done.

CCC