Questions Regarding Peritoneal

[Goofy]

What is the average amount of time you spend each day doing peritoneal?  Do you do it over night and also do exchanges during the day?  If you don't do it over night, how many exchanges do you do per day?  Would it be difficult to hold a job if you had to do exchanges during the day?

[billybags]

My husband did 4 exchanges a day. He would get up in a morning have a cup of tea, then do the first one, it would take about 30/40 minutes. He would do the next one at about 12pm or 1pm if we were shopping, the next at about 6pm and the last one about 10pm before bed. The times are not written in stone as long as there is at least 2 hours in between a bag. You can work it out to suit your life style. He would never miss a exchange out.

[paul.karen]

I am new to doing PD.  And i work fulltime.  I asked if i could go straight to the cycler which they were happy to do.  They did show me how to do manuels just in case i ever needed to.

I do four exchanges a night each exchange is 2500ml.  I dwell for about 1:45 minutes inbetween exchanges.  I am on my leash (machine) for 9 hours.  On at about 8 at night off at about 5  5:15 AM.

As i have never done manuels other then in training i dont think i would like them much.  And i wouldnt be able to do them at work.

[KICKSTART]

Yeah pretty much the same for me 4x exchanges per day 7 days a week ! You never get a day off !!! Or if you do the APD , overnight machine , set it up , hook up and do a minimum of 8 hours , but basically hook up ,go to bed and when you get up in the morning all done ! Some people go empty during the day when on overnights , others have one fill that lasts all day (extraneal)

[Jenabcd]

I also use the cycler.  However, I do a mid-day exchange - with the cycler - so that is when I set the machine up, and do my actual first exchange.  The exchange itself only takes about half-hour, but with the machine set-up, it's closer to an hour.  It's not even that it takes that long to set it up - all quite easy - it's just that once I do my part, the machine has to "prime" and do it's own part.  That's where the time is actually consumed.  Anyway, I unhook after my afternoon exchange, and hook up again at night, for 9 hours also.   

A guy who works with my husband did manuals.  The company was kind enough to keep one room especially for him, and kept it very clean, where he could go & do his dialysis.  I don't know how many he had to do at work, and I also don't know how many companies are nice enough to do that, but I was sure impressed!

PaulKaren,  do you dwell from morning until night? If so, do you ultrafilter with that many hours of dwelling?  Or are you dry during the day?   All these questions,  lol. 

[paul.karen]

Hey Jen,

I am dry during the daytime.  When i started i use to carry about 1500ML during the day.  But i noticed after the third day that the liquid would run south so to say.  And enlarge my boys.  I talked to my neph and nurses and they took me off my daytime fill.  My neph says i likely have a hole or tear where the peritoneal lining never connected fully while growing up??

My neph says i can have an operation to fix this problem.  But i like being dry during the day and at work i do alot of  (lifting) and bending so i prefer to be dry.  I just had my KT/V and all looks good so for now no day fill.

[Jenabcd]

Oh how nice PK!  As long as your clearance is good, then lucky you being dry during the day!  I hope that you can stay that way, and never need to have the surgery to repair that hole or tear.  Still, be careful of that lifting.   

[peleroja]

I do 10 hours a night on the cycler and one midday exchange.  Holding a job shouldn't be a problem, as by law  (ADA) dialysis of any kind is a disability, and the work place must make accommodations.  My friend did PD and they accommodated her by installing a hook in her office so she could do her midday exchange.  If you don't have a private office, you may need to ask for a private room in which to do it, or some other kind of accommodation.

[Slywalker]

When I was on PD I did the night time cycler - had to do 10 hours.  I was able to be empty during the day as I absorbed too much of the fluid. 
Good luck.

[dh514]

I spend about 15 to 20 minutes for the set up and then spend 8 hours on the machine. I work a full time job and do not do an exchange during the day.

I have read many of your posts and I waited until I was at 5 before I started. If I had known then what i know now I would have started much sooner.

[Goofy]

It just sounds so unbeliveable that people have to live the rest of their life like that; unless you are blessed enough to get a transplant. I'm not looking forward to it at all.