SHOWERING

[Rania]

HELLO
AM WONDERING HOW YOU ARE TAKING YOUR BATH?? ARE YOU EASILY SHOWERING?
ME NOOOOO







EDITED: Moved to general discussion- dialysis topic-kitkatz,Admin

[Charlie B53]

Ditto.

Mostly whore bath.  In the sink.

Sorry if the term seems offensive.   It's a term I learned a very long time ago when still quite young, and it stuck.

[iolaire]

I have a fistula and I take daily baths in the AM, sometimes on the weekends I have two.   I do PM dialysis and do ok bathing the next day, however once and a while I feel the access point is not quite healed enough so I hold my arm out of the water and leave a Band-Aid on the scabs.

[kickingandscreaming]

I asked my PD nurse again about showering and getting the catheter wet.  And again she told me that she wants me to get it wet and just let the water flow over it and wash the area around it.  But to make sure I wash that area last in case some dirt from above needs to be removed.  I can't shower daily anyway as my skin would be way too dry.

[iolaire]

I asked my PD nurse again about showering and getting the catheter wet.  And again she told me that she wants me to get it wet and just let the water flow over it and wash the area around it.

Another reason why I'm happy to not have needed a catheter and a reason why I'm shy towards PD.  Nasty water in bathtubs are not good for those types of access ports where showers might be!

[Michael Murphy]

Actually I picked hemo because on a hot summer day there is nothing better than diving into a mountain lake to cool off.  Never going swimming in a lake stopped me.

[Charlie B53]

Actually I picked hemo because on a hot summer day there is nothing better than diving into a mountain lake to cool off.  Never going swimming in a lake stopped me.

I soo miss falling off the boat I may be working on when it is hot and muggy!   You go from almost dying to alive again!

[Simon Dog]

Mostly whore bath.  In the sink.

Thank you for expanding my vocabulary.

[Vt Big Rig]

Mostly whore bath.  In the sink.

We used to call it a "Horse Bath". Apparently cause it is kinda like taking a bath at a trough!

At our summer camp it was the lake or this  ...... I preferred the lake .. but when it got cold .......

[Charlie B53]

Horse, whore, there is a certain amount of similarity in the words.  Almost like a parlor game, wisper something to the next person, pass it around the room and see how much it has changed by the time it gets back to you.

I could be difficult to determine which, or if either was the original name.   One most likely is far more 'Politically Correct' for use within society today.  The other some may not have a clue what you are talking about.

[kristina]

  "Posted by: Rania
« on: March 24, 2016, 12:29:23 AM » Insert Quote


HELLO
AM WONDERING HOW YOU ARE TAKING YOUR BATH?? ARE YOU EASILY SHOWERING?
ME NOOOOO "

Hello Rania,
I shower every morning with great care in order to protect my life-line (which is on my chest)
and "everywhere directly around my life-line" I "tiptoe" very carefully with a wet flannel, again in order to protect my life-line...
... of course, all this may sound a little complicated and great care needs to be taken at all times,
but it all falls into it's true context when we consider what "a small price" it is in order to continue with our life safely ... 
Good luck from Kristina.





EDITED: Fixed quote tags error, removed bold- kitkatz,Admin

[Charlie B53]

I can 'assume' too often.  Many times I am right when those assumptions are based on facts, education, or experience.   But there are times when I am way off, wrong.

Training at my Clinic has taught me a lot.  Mostly aimed at preventing infections.  Sure, they teach the ins and outs of doing PD, but it is the small details that can make all the difference whether you become exposed to a nasty little germ, bacteria, virus, whatever.  Any one which can make you deathly ill, and if not treated properly AND timely can cause death.

Naturally I ASSUME that all Cliinics teach all patients very much the same preventative measures.   Wrong.

Which is of great surprise.    I have learned here that there is a differing opinion as to whether we can shower/bath without covering and protecting our cath from water.   Somewhere right around when I joined IHD a thread addressed the possible ways to cover or wrap our cath to keep them dry.   I was hoping to find a product much like a huge band-aid only not porous, a solid sheet of say a plastic material, adhesive, about 5 by 7 inches.  I was thinking I could coil my cath, lay it directly upon the 'site, cover and stick it all down with this adhesive 'patch'.   I still haven't' found one.


I did find that there is a patch sort of like that, except it contains lidocaine for pain control.  And it doesn't stick very well.

My Cliniic provides me with that medical bleach that starts with an 'A'.  I rarely remember it's name still.   Nurse tells me that is the ONLY liguid I am allowed to touch my cath and the fittings, I can wipe it down clean and never worry about and possible contamination.

She would prefer I keep my site dry but has relented to allow showering IF the rest of the cath is well wrapped, protected from the water.


Which is not what all Clinics are teaching.  Or so I am learning here.   This confuses me.

Like Kristina has stated.  This cath is a lifeline.  Without it I would have been dead three years ago.  You can bet that I will follow my Clinic's training almost to the letter.  I hardly cut any corner, and certainly not one that could lead to a contamination.

I learned once that it is often better to error on the side of caution.

[stayingalive]

Charlie....you are so right as to why different clinics say different things to dialysis patients.  I can get my catheter wet and in fact my Neph just last week told I could shower without worry.  I use the Dial antibacterial liquid soap and just shower as normal.  Pat dry,  place antibacterial cream on my entry site and bandage.  Then I use the Activas to wipe my entire hose off. then as if hooking up to machine the catheter connection gets the activas treatment and so does the end I hook to with the machine.  Of course I have a replaceable extended hose they replace every six months to avoid contaminate build up in the threads and getting in to do damage.  Oh well......You and I can keep on keeping on with our individual clinic rules as it looks like we both are doing very well with what we each have learned.  Hope you have a wonderful day!!!  Just goes to show...sometimes there two ways to slay a dragon........

[Charlie B53]

Dr, the Nurse and I had the conversation about changing antibacterials at this months Clinic meeting.  They were saying I should use what I have on hand, but once that is finished Dr will prescribe a different AB for my site.  'Bugs' can develop resistance to an AB so they want to change AB's regularly so prevent this.


It may be a good idea for us to do the same with the AB Soaps that we use.

I don't know what the active element is in the soaps but this may be a good course of study.  To find ouut what, or IF, the different AB Soaps are using one or a number of things.  Then create a list of those soaps so we can have a choice and perhaps schedule brand changes just as the Dr's are doing with our AB Ointments.

[Charlie B53]

I went on from here and Googled 'antibacterial Soaps'.  I was surprised at what I learned.  So surprised that I opened a new thread 'Antibacterial Soaps' and began posting a few quotes from selected sources.

You may be as surprised as I.

http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=33102.0

[Fabkiwi06]

Charlie, you want 3M Tegaderm. It's basically cling wrap with a sticky backing. They come in a few different sizes. I think other brands may make a version too, but these are what I use. I get them on Amazon. Only downside is that they are a bit pricy for everyday use.

[Charlie B53]

I looked up Tagaderm.  The Amazon box of 50 is an option and the price is much better than elsewhare which only have boxes of 10 at a far greater unit cost.

I did not know that Nexcare was a subdivision of 3M.  Unless Nexcare is leasing license ofr use of the name Tagaderm.  I keep some of the moderate sizes in the cabinet as being and outside kinda Guy I am often bouncing of of me, or crashing my body into something hard, scaping off patches of skin and reminding myself just how well I bleed, (a LOT).

I agree, Tagaderm is ggod stuff, but I wish I could find an even larger size.  More like a 5 X 7.  The 4 X 4 and 3/4 is great for larger wounds like I used to get when my calves would swell up and leak.  But I don't think it will fit well enough to cover my coiled catheter AND that large roller clamp connector.

That Amazon price of $28.63 divided by 50 brings the unit cost down to $0.57 each which really is not a bad price at all.   Since I am such a cheep S.O.B. I may have to write this down and take it to my Clinic next Monday, have a talk with my team.  If the Clinic can't/won't cover it maybe Dr can get the VA Hospital to provide them.

Then again,  I just looked in my box of goodies and see that I have some 4 X 4's from the VA, something labeled Duo-Derm.  The Wound Care Clinic gave me these, they are very special and IIRC they tried to convince me the unit cost was a few dollars each.  These are a very tough skin like material, all adhesive, no pad, and sticks so well that you MUST STRETCH it to release just like those wall stick pads for a hook.  You have to grab the tail and stretch it along the wall, only be stretching will it release, if you attempt to peel it off like you would any other type of tape it WILL peel off your skin.

I didn't think these would fit well enough over my hose and clamp, and far too expensive.  But the Tagaderm has promise if only available in a 5 X 7.   Maybe I'll drop 3M a note and make a suggestion, let them know there is a whole market of Dialysis patients on PD that may want to use their produce.

[Simon Dog]

The tape on my catheter (since replaced with a fistula) was irritating me, so I asked the clinic to switch me to Tegaderm which they stocked.   Since these cost the clinic about $1 each, the clinic required an MD order (which was easily obtained) before they could switch.

[Charlie B53]

Is this individual 'patches' as the ones I buy at Wal_Greens are a neat product, just nowhere near large enough for my need.

I sent pr submitted a message to the manufacturer asking if they have it available in 5 X 7's or even 5 or 6 inch rolls.  Hoping I get a positive response.  Will let you all know.  Fingers crossed.