How to keep a chest-catheter without unfortunate incidents?

[kristina]

Hello,
I am wondering how to keep my chest-catheter without unfortunate incidents? I am very careful when washing around the catheter-area
and I make sure it could not get wet, but on all the other areas I take a careful shower.
How are you washing yourself every day if you have a chest-catheter?
I am also wondering what sort of dialysis-clothes I should buy to make my chest-catheter “easier accessible” on dialysis-days?
Unfortunately I have never bought any “low-cut” blouses or "low-cut" T-shirts to wear, because it is not quite my style,
but I realize now, that I should have a few lowcut blouses/T-shirts etc. to wear on dialysis-days.
If you also have a chest-catheter, what so you wear on dialysis-days?
P.S. I think it would be more appropriate to call it "livealysis" instead of “dialysis” ...
Many thanks from Kristina

[dublin]

Hi kristina being a male just pull up the tee shirt or for ladies i see and talk with they wear a blouse open a few buttons and thats it you can not see anything other than the line and then with the line you can throw a jumper over your chest or bring a small blanket with you i used to have a shower when i had the line in a shower top that comes out into your hand away from the wall its nearly impossible to not get it a bit wet always make sure you have dry dressing to cover after a wash hope this helps you happy new year kristina hope its a good one for you i am starting my transplant work up now so hope it is quick with all the tests good luck.

[Simon Dog]

I wore a bathrobe at dialsyis because it was warm and comfortable.

A couple of hints:

- The korshield (www.korshield.com) works great for showering.   I even took a hot shower right before dialysis and showed up for treatment with a totally dry bandage.

- You will have a small scar after the cath is removed.   You can tell people it was from a .22, and you took Apu's advice and took it in the shoulder (Simpson's reference)

[cattlekid]

I stuck with tub baths and washing my hair in the sink when I had a chest catheter.  Of course this does work better if you have shorter hair.

As far as clothing, I was never one for low cut blouses either.  So I had a few blouses with buttons and a couple of twin-set sweaters where the under layer was a tank-top style and the over layer had sleeves.  This way, I could be buttoned up for work and then expose the catheter as needed when I got to dialysis later in the day. 

The other wardrobe staple I had was scarves.  I would always throw on a scarf (even a thin one) because it would hide the lump the catheter would make under a more form-fitting top/blouse.  I still have all my scarves and now I wear them mostly for warmth.

I had three different catheters over time and now I have three sets of the scars that Simon Dog mentioned.  It does look like I took a load of buckshot in my shoulder.

[kristina]

Many thanks dublin, Simon and cattlekid for your kind advise and share of your own experiences,
which is very helpful and assists me a lot to get sorted. Your kind advise also gives me a lot to think about and work out.
Thanks a lot for all your kind suggestions,
Many thanks again from Kristina.

[Charlie B53]

Not familiar with the type and position of youor cath.

I have a PD Cath that exits about mid-way between the center of my breastbone and my left nipple,  on a horizontal line about two inches above the nipple.

Sometimes I get very tired of wearing the elastic 'band' with a pocket to hold the connection fitting.  I have cut about a half inch slot in few T-shirts inside the pocket.  I can poke the fitting through this hole and curl the hose/fitting inside the T-shirt pocket.

Don't know if this is an option for your cath.

Good Luck!

[jeannea]

I used v-neck tops when I went to hemo with a catheter. I used those tops only for dialysis as they did get stained. My catheter was pretty easy to ge to then. For showering, I used Glad Press n Seal to cover the catheter and used a hand held shower head to strategically wash. I don't know for sure but you probably have a similar product in England. It's not regular plastic wrap. It's supposed to really stick on its own

[cattlekid]

Good point on the staining.   I bought most of my dialysis tops at a second-hand shop.

I used v-neck tops when I went to hemo with a catheter. I used those tops only for dialysis as they did get stained. My catheter was pretty easy to ge to then. For showering, I used Glad Press n Seal to cover the catheter and used a hand held shower head to strategically wash. I don't know for sure but you probably have a similar product in England. It's not regular plastic wrap. It's supposed to really stick on its own

[kristina]

Thanks for your thoughts Charlie B53, jeannea and cattlekid, it is very much appreciated and I am still have to learn a lot every day.
Unfortunately your option would not work for me Charlie B53, because the nurse applies a new dressing at each dialysis
and also applies a new dressing around the exit-site of the tassio-leads and the area needs to remain “uncovered”.
I have a tunnel-catheter and the tassio-leads have been tunnelled under my skin approximately four inches.
At first I could not even look at it, but I am slowly “coming around” and naturally I have become very protective about my new life-line.
At the end of each dialysis-session the nurse wraps my catheter carefully in soft tissue
and after that she wraps some medical sticky-band around this wrapping to keep it safe. I very much appreciate this care
and I also have become extremely careful every morning about my washing/showering
and always carefully first wash around my catheter with a not-too-wet flannel
and the rest of my body I carefully shower with a hand-held shower.
I take great care and take my time because I don’t want to take any risks about my life-line.
Thanks agian from Kristina.

[cdwbrooklyn]

Hello,
I am wondering how to keep my chest-catheter without unfortunate incidents? I am very careful when washing around the catheter-area
and I make sure it could not get wet, but on all the other areas I take a careful shower.
How are you washing yourself every day if you have a chest-catheter?
I am also wondering what sort of dialysis-clothes I should buy to make my chest-catheter “easier accessible” on dialysis-days?
Unfortunately I have never bought any “low-cut” blouses or "low-cut" T-shirts to wear, because it is not quite my style,
but I realize now, that I should have a few lowcut blouses/T-shirts etc. to wear on dialysis-days.
If you also have a chest-catheter, what so you wear on dialysis-days?
P.S. I think it would be more appropriate to call it "livealysis" instead of “dialysis” ...
Many thanks from Kristina

Hi Katrina,

I currently have a chest catheter until I get another fistula or the current one working again.  Yes, I shower with my chest catheter everyday as I don't like to smell bad but it is seal with a clear plastic 5’ by 4’ bandage on top of the white 4’ by 3’ bandage. It gets a bit wet but does not affect the white bandage as the clear plastic bandage sticks well. The water cannot remove it but easy when I am taking it off by hand. I quickly wipe the water off as soon as I get out the shower.  I only change my bandage twice a week which works great for me.  I am very diligence when it comes to cleaning the area the catheter was entered and changing my bandages.  I use all the disinfected products that are provided to me.

I'm a home patient so I change into my house clothes before I get on the machine.   When I am getting on, I use a white disposable wash cloth that is provided to me by my supply company.  It has about 25 white wash cloths.   When I am getting off, I use the blue chuck, which I receive 20 in a pack.   Although I find is very easy to get on the machine with the catheter, I truly miss my arm.   It's less risk for an infection and I can sleep on my stomach.   

Hope this helps

[kristina]

Hello cdwbrooklyn,
Thank you very much for your helpful explanation, I do appreciate it very much
and it helps me a lot to find my way with my new catheter.
Thanks again from Kristina.

[noahvale]

*

[kristina]

Thanks for your thougths noahvale.
My husband and I were told by the nephrologist, that the reason for my chest-catheter 
is because by the end of this January our transplant preparations start in earnest.
Our preliminary check-up has shown us, that unfortunately our blood groups do not match
and because of that, the nephrologist wants to match-us-up with another ESRF-couple,
where the blood-groups happen to be "the other way around", so that a match between the four of us
can take place ...  We have no idea yet, when our transplant takes place exactly,
but our preparation starts in earnest at the end of this January for a possible chance in February.
The nephrologist has already told us that he does not want me to be too long on dialysis,
but he wanted to make absolutely sure that I am strong enough for the transplant-operation.
Because I was fighting for so many years to remain pre-dialysis, I did not really notice,
that my body was actually getting very weak and because of that I needed to start with dialysis
so that my body could become strong enough again to become fit for a transplant.
Hopefully everything goes well.
Thanks again and best wishes form Kristina.

[noahvale]

*

[kristina]

Hello again noahvale, just quickly to answer your question:
... By the time I needed access for dialysis the matter had become an utmost Emergency with capital "E", so to speak...
... and because of that, there was no more time to wait patiently for a fistula to mature.
My kidney function had deteriorated all of a sudden very rapidly practically overnight...
... There is a very good, very recommendable surgeon (the very best!) at "my" hospital and he undertook
the placement of my catheter so that I could start with dialysis only a few days later...
... I should also mention, that the nurses at "my" dialysis centre always take the utmost hygenic care that my catheter remains very clean
and disinfect. There are also many provisions everywhere at the dialysis-center for patients, nurses and doctors to disinfect their hands
and the centre itself is of the utmost cleanliness. I am pleasantly surprised about the great hygienic care at "my" dialysis-centre
and it makes every patient there well cared and well provided for...
Of course, there are always unforeseen risks, but that is life... or, as the French say: C'est la vie...
Best wishes and thanks again from Kristina.

[SBeardsley]

Kristina,

If you still have your chest catheter, you may have found that the nurses often will cover them with gauze and tape after dialysis.  This starts out comfortable but usually ends up making your catheter a sticky mess.  There is an antibacterial cover that you can use which totally covers the catheter and without any tape.  It's actually quite comfortable.  The only problem is it can be hard to find since a lot of dialysis clinics don't want to pay for it.  Some clinics are using it already, especially hospitals maybe because they can make their own decisions.  The product is the Roo Defender and you can read about it at their website which is Roohealthcaresolutions.com.

Slbeardsley

[Michael Murphy]

There is a company that sells dialysis garments that have strategically placed zippers on sleeves for fistulas and on chest areas.  If you are handy with sewing it looks easy enough to sew a zipper in over your cath site in a old sweat shirt or hoody.

[Simon Dog]

I have great luck with the Korshield (www.korshield.com) when I was on a catheter.  I could take a shower right before dialysis and show up with a totally dry bandage.

My clinic (FMC) offered tegaderm as an alternative to traditional tape, however, it required an MD order since Tegaderms cost about $1.00 each.

[kristina]

Many thanks again for all the wonderful information and I am very grateful.
Fortunately I have not experienced any problems with my chest-catheter and I shall definitely look into the "Korshield"...
... but ... to be quite honest, I am not quite "ready enough" for it and feel I need to give it a little bit more time...
... Many thanks again from Kristina.