PD catheter surgery compications

[marlinfshr]

Well, I had my PD catheter put in yesterday and now I have complications that I'm worrying about. I have been on HD for the past several month's and have been making urine as if I have no issues. I guess one of the possible side affects from anesthesia is that you can't pee. My bladder was full and I could not drain it so I went to the ER and they put a catheter in and drained a bunch out. They wanted it left in for at least 48 hours but gave me the option to have it removed if I wanted. Of course I chose that option and felt confident. I then started drinking some tea to take my meds and get rid of this dry mouth from the operation and now I have to pee again---of course I can't. Now the surgeon wants me to have a catheter placed for at least 48 hours.

Is this common? I am pissed because I chose this operation to have a better life and now it seems destroyed. It looks like I'll miss the fishing tournament next week which was a way to make some money for my mortgage. This whole ordeal is beginning to suck.

On top of that I have a bloody gauze about 3 inches above where they placed the catheter which I believe means the hole was initially cut in the wrong place. as well as that they placed my catheter up towards the center of my chest instead of around my belt line and the surgeon tells me it can't ever get wet. Another reason for going with PD instead of having this chest catheter for HD was that it could get wet-----and be hidden by my pants. Oh well

Since it is a "university" hospital, I'm wondering if a student was the one doing the operation. I am really unhappy how this is going and my quality of life has taken a sudden downhill turn and once again it sucks because up to yesterday afternoon (before surgery) I was always feeling great and was only reminded of dialysis from my catheter and going to the clinic every other day and being hooked to a machine for 4 hours. The only time I ever would feel bad was when they took more fluid off then bare minimum.

[Sydnee]

I had PD surgery last Wednesday. Yes I had a very hard time peeing. That first day I had to pull out all of my tricks to get myself to pee. And still I was sitting on the toilet waiting for a long time. But I wasn't about to go to the hospital andget cathetered. The pain meds also made it hard to pee.

As for the incision I'm not sure how they put your catheter in. For instance I just hard the tape removed from my catheter it was taped outside my body on the surgery day. The cath covered up 5 different incisions. My cath comes out about 3" below my left breast.  But my hubby got his PD catheter over a year ago (different surgeon)  his 1 incision was an inch to the left of his belly button and an inch below his belly button. His catch was left under the skin until the surgeon cut it out (office visit) it came out left side at belt line.

 I'm still healing I have a spot that stings horribly. And I am bothered by the fact that there are metal parts on my catheter ( I'm allergic to most metals).
But Ed has healed well so I have hope.

[Joe]

I didn't have a problem peeing after the surgery, but I also didn't take pain meds other than the first day. I did have an incision above my PD cath exit site, when i asked the surgeon about it, she said it was the access to place the catheter inside my peritoneum. As for getting it wet, after the first two weeks, I shower with it every day. I do my exit site care every time I get it wet and have not had any problems with it. My Neph said I could go swimming in a pool if I really wanted to, but he wouldn't recommend it. I haven't as yet, but there are several folks around here that have and they have not had any issues.

Hope things settle down for you soon. I think you'll find that PD is a relatively easy method of performing your dialysis.

[MaryD]

I was told not to get my exit site wet for two weeks - since then I have showered as normal with no problems.

To encourage peeing, try sitting on the loo with a tap running gently and some silly game to play on your phone while not even thinking about peeing.  Best of luck.

[Weggy]

Well, I had my PD catheter put in yesterday and now I have complications that I'm worrying about. I have been on HD for the past several month's and have been making urine as if I have no issues. I guess one of the possible side affects from anesthesia is that you can't pee. My bladder was full and I could not drain it so I went to the ER and they put a catheter in and drained a bunch out. They wanted it left in for at least 48 hours but gave me the option to have it removed if I wanted. Of course I chose that option and felt confident. I then started drinking some tea to take my meds and get rid of this dry mouth from the operation and now I have to pee again---of course I can't. Now the surgeon wants me to have a catheter placed for at least 48 hours.

Is this common? I am pissed because I chose this operation to have a better life and now it seems destroyed. It looks like I'll miss the fishing tournament next week which was a way to make some money for my mortgage. This whole ordeal is beginning to suck.

On top of that I have a bloody gauze about 3 inches above where they placed the catheter which I believe means the hole was initially cut in the wrong place. as well as that they placed my catheter up towards the center of my chest instead of around my belt line and the surgeon tells me it can't ever get wet. Another reason for going with PD instead of having this chest catheter for HD was that it could get wet-----and be hidden by my pants. Oh well

Since it is a "university" hospital, I'm wondering if a student was the one doing the operation. I am really unhappy how this is going and my quality of life has taken a sudden downhill turn and once again it sucks because up to yesterday afternoon (before surgery) I was always feeling great and was only reminded of dialysis from my catheter and going to the clinic every other day and being hooked to a machine for 4 hours. The only time I ever would feel bad was when they took more fluid off then bare minimum.

I urinated normally (well, what little I urinated) after my surgery. I didn't take any pain medication at all because I hate taking medicine. I would give it some time to see if you will urinate normally. It has only been a couple days.

As for the incision, they do make an incision to install it in to the peritoneum. Mine was about 3-4" to the left of my exit site. As for where the catheter comes out at, I was given the option to put it where ever I wanted to place it at. I told my surgeon where I wanted it.

As for the showering, I started to take one about 2 weeks after it was installed. After all, you have to keep everything clean so you do not get an infection. It is part of your routine care of your catheter and exit site.

[marlinfshr]

Thanks for the reply's. Things have settled down and my nephrologist prescribed some medication to open everything up. Right after I took the first pill I started to pee, of course it was too fast to be the medication but at least my plumbing works now. I was really worried this morning because my bladder was beyond full. I was scheduled for a stress test but had to go cancel it instead and because of being full I had to go to the ER to get it drained. I was miserable.
As far as pain, I feel like I am getting by fine. I was prescribed percosets but never picked them up because Tylenol is doing fine.

My catheter comes out on the lower center part of my abdomen (about 4 inches above my belt line). A couple inches above that (almost in my chest) I have a bandage over where I suppose is a hole that was mistakenly put there. He never mentioned needing another cut but who knows---I was asleep at the time it was done. Below my catheter along my belt line looks to be a long incision (about 4 inches of bandage). I'm assuming that is where he needed to actually go inside and tie the catheter to whatever it is inside me they connect it to. That is where I am the most uncomfortable. Of course to be expected because it is on my belt line and that gets moved every time I turn or bend.

The catheter exit site isn't covered up very well and I can clearly see where it leaves my body. There is no bleeding or redness there surprisingly. I am surprised they basically left that open though. Perhaps it is impossible to cover. I keep trying but with the weight of the catheter it keeps pulling the tape off and it is basically completely opened. I have dialysis tomorrow so I'll see if I can see the PD nurse to see how to secure my catheter. I would think how it is now it is wide open for infection. Especially since my chest catheter for HD I need to wear a mask at all times when the exit site is exposed.

I guess that is where the surgeon stated it could never get wet. Because water will run down the catheter into my body so he said I'm always going to need to just take a bath and never get it wet. That's why he placed it so high on me, so I could sit in a tub. Hopefully he is just being overly cautious because I really wanted to get back into boating and get a small kayak or canoe for crabbing, fishing and exercise. I would do a lot of wading in our coastal bays as well.

[MaryD]

It would be worth checking about the 'not getting it wet' thing.  I have heard it is best not to swim in public pools or grotty rivers - ever.  But after catheter  insertion - I was told to keep it dry for a fortnight till it had 'sealed'.  Your PD clinic could advise you.

[jeannea]

The other incision is not a mistake. The surgery is usually done by laparoscopy. They need other holes besides the surgery site for camera(s) and air. When I got my PD cath, I thought the camera hole hurt worse than where the cath was.

Don't get the site wet until it's healed. Consult your nurse at dialysis. Then you should be able to get it wet. I showered with it uncovered all the time.