So my journey begins. I had surgery this morning for placement of my PD catheter. I arrived at the hospital at 5:45 after showering with antibiotic soap and donning comfy clothes. They took me right in, got the paperwork finalized, did the prep (which included shaving my entire abdomen which they had not mentioned before :-), gave me happy juice through an iv to totally put me to sleep (general anesthesia), and after that I knew nothing until I got home. I barely remember getting in the car and my driver announcing that I was going home. I don't even remember putting my clothes back on (which I obviously did or I would've been arrested Once home, I refilled the cup of ginger ale that they have given me with some I already had at the house, sat up for a little while, then took a nap on the couch for about 3 hours. After I woke up, I ate a little jello cup and had a little more ginger ale. I was sore, but on a scale of 1-10, the pain was about a 2. I walked around a little just to work the kinks out. Getting up off the couch was the worst event that caused pain. Just lying there or sitting there, I felt very little. I just tried to use the restroom (5pm) with no luck. Felt sort of like I needed to go, but no results as of yet. Will try again later. So now I'm just texting friends, watching Netflix and Amazon Prime and being worthless. I should be able to work tomorrow since my work is done sitting in a chair in from of a computer, just like I'm doing now. I'm fortunate in that regard. I'll update this post if the pain worsens. The surgeon gave me a prescription for Norco which I won't take unless the pain get's worse during the night or tomorrow, though I remember folks talking about the "third day" pain being the worst day. I'll find out. I contacted my pd nurse and she said there's not much to do until I go to her next monday and get the dressing changed, unless I notice blood or other seepage coming out from under my bandage, or if I get a fever over 101. So it's going to be a "chill" kinda week for me. Oh did I mention that I tried eating half a little cookie a few minutes ago and it tasted like cardboard. Probably from the anesthetic. So I won't be eating much today other that possibly some jello cups. We'll see if that goes away by tomorrow. Not sure what to eat tomorrow. Don't want to create a constipation issue. Any suggestions are welcomed since none of the info the hospital sent home had any specific suggestions.
So all in all, so far this ain't bad at all. We'll see what the night and tomorrow bring. But my journey into the world of dialysis has officially begun! Whoo hoo! I may copy this and post some of it in other areas of the site for others to read who are in the general CKD list, so I apologize for the duplication to those in both groups.
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RonZone
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You got lucky. They 'forgot' to tell me about the whole NPO 12 hours thing, so they couldn't (well, wouldn't per-lawyers) give me general anesthetic. So my procedure was done in full awareness with only lidocaine.
It wasn't acutely painful, most of it, but it was really uncomfortable - I was stunned at the amount of force & pressure used to emplace the cath under my skin. For a while there, I'd have sworn that the surgeon was kneeling on my chest..
It hurt for a couple of days, as the tissues stretched out and things settled in. It hasn't been much trouble to live with, and its never gotten wet as I can't shower anyway.
I think I've had it for about 120 days - and it comes out later today, about 12hr from now. Good thing, that.. take it out *before* it becomes infected!
I've had fistula access since I began dialysis a few years ago. It worked fine for a good while but eventually I developed an aneurysm which broke out on the surface and threatened to bleed me out.
So repairs were made and a graft was installed, but while that was healing I had no use of the graft. So the cath was inserted in the meantime so I could continue dialysis.
Hey Ron! Welcome to the otherside! It sounds like your PD cath insertion was quite different from mine. I was awake throughout my procedure and gave feedback to the doc who was inserting my cath. It was kind of surreal. You'll probably have swelling for a few weeks and, as you discovered, getting up is probably the only time you'll feel any real discomfort. My cath was in for about 6 months before I actually needed it. So, hopefully, you will have time before you put the cath to use. With PKD they cannot accurately predict when you will go into failure. I guess we are a bit unpredictable. Best wishes on your journey.😊
Hey, thanks for the welcome and wishes! Supposedly I will start manual dialysis training in three to four weeks, then cycler training a month or two after that.
Hi, congratulations on a successful catheter placement. I saw that your post from 3 years ago when you were at 13%. I am there now and was interested to find you are just now starting dialysis. WOW! I hope I can wait that long. I and following your posts. Good luck on this next chapter in life.
hey, thanks! Yeah, I was able to "D" kick the can down the road a ways and even got in a trip to England and another snow ski trip this past winter, so I was happy about getting to do those before starting. I did what a lot of folks on here suggested. Lost 35 pounds (I hear you gain weight on PD), ate mostly plant based with some chicken, egg, occasional piece of fish, kept active so I got regular "natural" exercise just by doing things outdoors. And by sheer luck, I didn't get any of the "symptoms" other folks talk about--swelling, water retention in lungs, nausea, metallic taste, etc. I just feel a bit more tired now than I did 3 years ago. So I get things done at a slower pace with more rest periods. So I'll be curious to see if I "feel" that much better after I've been on PD for two or three months. Time will tell. I hope and pray you can kick the "D" can as far down the road as possible, just be careful not to get into an emergency situation. That's why I started now, at eGFR 5.8 and Creatinine 10.4. And because it was a good "time" when I don't have much going on at work or otherwise. Hopefully I'll have it down pat by the time a busier fall hits.
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Once home, I refilled the cup of ginger ale that they have given me with some I already had at the house, sat up for a little while, then took a nap on the couch for about 3 hours. After I woke up, I ate a little jello cup and had a little more ginger ale. I was sore, but on a scale of 1-10, the pain was about a 2. I walked around a little just to work the kinks out. Getting up off the couch was the worst event that caused pain. Just lying there or sitting there, I felt very little. I just tried to use the restroom (5pm) with no luck. Felt sort of like I needed to go, but no results as of yet. Will try again later. So now I'm just texting friends, watching Netflix and Amazon Prime and being worthless. I should be able to work tomorrow since my work is done sitting in a chair in from of a computer, just like I'm doing now. I'm fortunate in that regard. I'll update this post if the pain worsens. The surgeon gave me a prescription for Norco which I won't take unless the pain get's worse during the night or tomorrow, though I remember folks talking about the "third day" pain being the worst day. I'll find out. I contacted my pd nurse and she said there's not much to do until I go to her next monday and get the dressing changed, unless I notice blood or other seepage coming out from under my bandage, or if I get a fever over 101. So it's going to be a "chill" kinda week for me. Oh did I mention that I tried eating half a little cookie a few minutes ago and it tasted like cardboard. Probably from the anesthetic. So I won't be eating much today other that possibly some jello cups. We'll see if that goes away by tomorrow. Not sure what to eat tomorrow. Don't want to create a constipation issue. Any suggestions are welcomed since none of the info the hospital sent home had any specific suggestions. 
And so it begins......home dialysis
