I’m going to have peritoneal dialysis very soon, I have many questions and would also like some advice and input from someone who’s “been there and done that”
Any info, advice, shortcuts, do’s and don’ts, or anything you might feel helpful. Thanks in advance! Looking forward to your responses
No shortcuts. Do as you are trained to do. It seems like a lot of work but you'll get your routine down in a matter of weeks.
Treat your exit site with care. Trauma to your exit site can cause an infection. You don't want that.
Ask questions no matter how silly you may think it is. Information can calm a lot of fears.
Are you able to swim? How about travel?
I can swim in private pools or the ocean. Travel-I can either lug my machine with me or do manual transfers. I had to cancel my summer vacation due to Covid19. I think I'd prefer manual transfers.
I have my catheter surgery September 9 so I am preparing and educating myself for what’s to come. I have a weird question. Do you have to have a line drain into the toilet or can it be a bucket in my room? I have three cats and they may chew the line, so I am going to have to do my dialysis behind closed doors to avoid any problems.
I use a bucket supplied by my PD clinic. The drain line is long and could be used in the toilet. I hope your clinic gives you this choice.
I did PD for a year before my transplant. It worked out great for me. I felt better after I started (less tired, more appetite, no more nausea, no more itchiness from excess phosphorous). Sometimes there was some cramping, but never horribly painful. When it did hurt, it was usually my catheter getting a bit "stuck" inside, and I would stop the fill (the flow of fluid into you peritoneum) and adjust my position. Then it would be fine again.
Life on PD is a new normal. You can still do a lot of what you did before, except now you have to adjust your schedule if you're doing manual dialysis during the day. You'll need to take time out every 3-4 hours or so to dialyze. Once I switched to night time dialysis, I found my day was freed up.
I was able to travel too, though I did pretty much road trips where I could bring some supplies with me while having the rest shipped to my hotel.
You can consider connecting with a patient who's been there through the NKF Peers program. They can share their experience with you. You can find more info at kidney.org/patients/peers.
Question about Setting a plan 
Starting peritoneal dialysis!!
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