So I posted that I had my PD Catheter placement surgery yesterday morning and I felt pretty good all day. Didn't even have to take the pain med I was given. Then last night about 5:30pm, I noticed an uncomfortable feeling and a bit of pain in my bladder area. I tried to pee and even though I felt like I could, not a single drop emerged. I tried for over an hour. I had had two cups of water to drink that afternoon, so I knew I had fluid in me. So I left a message for the after hours on call nurse at Fresenius to give me a call. She called about 8pm. I explained my situation, she said I would need to call the surgeon's office, which I did and left a message. Well low and behold the actual surgeon called me back (I was impressed by that). He said I needed to go to the ER and have a Foley catheter put in to drain my bladder. So I drove to the ER, explained my situation, filled out all the paperwork, and then a nurse came in with the catheter and put it in place. That was NOT fun, let me tell you 
For anyone who's ever had that done, I have great empathy for you! They left it to drain for an hour or so, then sent me home with it still in place with instructions to see my urologist the next day. They said that this was common after anesthesia used for surgery. If it was that common, I'm wondering why my home pd nurse, nor the surgeon, nor any of the hospital surgical staff, nor any of the paperwork I was sent home with (20 or so pages) didn't even mentioned that this could happen? So last night was a tad rough. I made it through the night without pain meds for my surgery incision, but then the discomfort from the Foley catheter kept me awake a bit and I had to sleep sitting in a recliner, though I didn't much sleep, and I had to empty the foley catheter bag that was strapped to my leg a few times which meant getting up, which meant hurting more where my incision was. So not a fun night. I called my urologist at 8am and got an appt shortly after noon. At the appt, my urologist said I needed to keep the Foley catheter in place until thursday, just to be sure everything was working. He said I didn't want to have to go through that again by taking it out too soon. I definitely agreed with him on that! So it's still there. Fortunately, it's not as irritating as it was last night, and I'm still not having to take pain meds for the surgery (trying to avoid the constipation folks on here say is associated with those pain meds. I'll probably help things a long with a little milk of magnesia to get bowels moving again--urologist said that was ok to do). And the nurse at the urologist office gave me instructions on how to remove the Foley catheter myself, so I don't have to go back to their office for that. Just drain the water inside the balloon part that's holding it in my bladder, then once all the water is drained, yank it out (yeah, sounds like fun, huh?) Saying a prayer that plumbing works fine after that event! I feel pretty good overall though I walk like a Walker in the Walking Dead show But I assume I'll get faster after Thursday as things heal and get back to normal in the pee dept. So that's the update for the day, probably way more info that anyone wanted to know about, but I didn't remember seeing a post about this particular issue before. Hopefully this will help someone prepare should they meet this situation. (Just when I thought I was totally prepared, this issue popped up out of the blue-or yellow in this case!). But I did still hit it head on and took care of business. That's what we CKDer's do!
Peritoneal Dialysis Catheter placement sid... - Kidney Dialysis
Peritoneal Dialysis Catheter placement side effect - Can't pee!
Wow RonZone nothing is straightforward is it 😳😳😳😳. Fingers crossed thats you on the mend. I sometimes think I should have done peritoneal dialysis, for the sheer convenience. However after reading your account and crossing my legs, im glad i didn't. I don't understand why medical staff omit to telling you important stuff. Its like arm fistulas..do not drive for 2 weeks 🙄. Thats another hurdle crossed 👍👍👍..take care and keep us updated.
Yeah, this hit me blindsided. I mean it's very doable, just not a part of the process that I had expected or planned for and thought others might need to know that it could happen. I know the medical staff can't think to tell everybody everything, but they could have added it to the document I got for post operative care. I'm definitely going to put it in their suggestion box. They should add the not driving for 2 weeks to the fistula post op info sheet as well, but give it to you a month before your surgery. I don't think I'll regret doing PD, but again, this is all trial by experience. We'll see how it goes!
Thanks for sharing this important information about a possible side effect. Continue to recover and best of luck as the process continues. Keep us posted.
Wow, there is nothing worse than a health crisis at night. It seems the hour amplifies the panic. Hope things come out OK... pun intended. ( Hope that made you smile)
Yeah, nighttime is the worst. After I got home I just sat on the recliner in the "up" position for hours. It hurt my surgery area to try to lie down and sitting was the most comfortable position with that Foley. So it was a long night. The next day, I decided to lean the recliner back a tad and put my feet up and got a little sleep that way. Then last night I tilted the recliner back all the way and was able to sleep pretty good till 4am when I got up to empty the "bag". Then back to sleep till 8am. And yeah, things are coming "out" just fine. And yes, it did make me smile I appreciate the humor in all this. Today my incision pain is barely noticeable except when I get out of the recliner and it stings a bit, and I can walk without being quite so hunched over. So hopefully I'm over the worst of it.
How are you doing today? I just spent a week sleeping in the recliner due to the coughing part of Covid. As a female I can't even imagine what a catheter feels like to a male. Ouch.
Hey, thanks for asking. Doing pretty well. I plan to remove the foley myself tonight or tomorrow morning (based on instructions the Urologist gave me). That part has provided more discomfort than the PD catheter incision, so hopefully after it's removed I'll feel like getting about more. Right now I mostly sit so as no to disturb it (the sleeping dog lie approach), cause moving around much causes more of a burning irritation for sure, yeah, in other words "ouch!"
Hey Ron! You're having "a time". God bless you. I didn't experience anything like what you've gone through. I think that this is just training for the realities of being a dialysis patient. Stuff comes up all the time and you just have to deal with it head on. It is what it is. Stay strong, buddy!
Hey, I'm glad not everybody goes through this, but yep, take it as it comes!
I had exactly the same thing!! Had my surgery, went home, that night couldn’t pee. Nobody ever said a word about it to me, didn’t make me pee before leaving. Had to go to ER to get Foley. Urologist next day. He said let’s leave in a while longer. I asked for other options because it was too big for me and hurt. He told me I could do a straight cath every time. They showed me how and I was in heaven! I totally relate to your situation. I was not a happy camper. That’s a horrible feeling. It was caused from anesthesia. Of course the surgeon screwed up my dialysis catheter and it had to be redone. That time I refused to leave the hospital til I had peed!
Oh wow, so someone else DID go through this. I don't feel so odd man out now. But hate that you also had to go through this on top of the surgery. Thanks for letting me know. Again, they should put this on the post op sheet they give out as something to be prepared for. Supposedly I had the "best" PD catheter placement surgeon in our area, so fingers crossed he did this right. How did you find out that your placement was screwed up? Just curious what signs or symptoms to be looking out for. If you've posted it before, sorry for making you repeat. Hard to remember everything in all the posts on here.
Well I replied, don’t know where it went!! I had to laugh because my nephrologist said the same. I’m sending you to the best surgeon 😂😂 Well during training I had so much pain and no one knew why, they’d never seen it before 😂😂 even went back to surgeon, he’d never heard of such a thing. Finally as I sat crying one day from the pain in training, the nurse sent me for a CT. The catheter had migrated to my right side. Had to go back to surgery and have it again only tacked down. It always hurt even after that. But I just had to take the pain. I will say when I was in the hospital and they used a different brand of machine than mine, I had no pain so that makes a difference
Hey, I replied back to you again too and now it's not here. Not sure what's going on with out posts. I really hate what you had to go through. Seems there's no way to predict exactly how this journey is going to go until you get there. I got the Foley out this morning (took it out myself), so that helped a ton. The PD catheter incision isn't bothering me much at all today. Now just waiting to totally heal up and then will start training and see how that goes. Will post more as it happens.
Yes that healed quickly and 2nd surgery they started pretty quick, maybe too quick I thought but my GFR was 2 so they we’re probably scared I’d die on them.😂😂
I can pee! whoo hoo!
I'm so very, very pleased with your outcome! My hubby also had POUR (postoperative urinary retention) immediately after his PD catheter placement. Like you, we had no idea this could happen! Apparently it's quite common and it happens to both men and women - anesthesia apparently interrupts the signals between brain and bladder. And undergoing surgeries in the lower abdomen also isn't helpful. My hubby was placed on a Foley cath, too, which they left in for too long. Overtime, he developed a nasty uti which was treated by intravenous and regular antibiotics and then those antibiotics produced the nasty superbug known as c-diff. So I'm beyond happy that you weren't cath'd too long and that everything turned out well.
Oh my gosh, I was feeling sorry for myself until I read your post about your husband. Yikes! No UTI that I know of. Not sure if one will develop. Guess I'll find out over the next few days. It never amazes me how many things can go wrong once you start messing with stuff. Tell your husband I can empathize (a little) with what he went through. NOT FUN.
Glad you were able to sail through your first hurdle . Hopefully you are still doing well with pd and you are becoming a pro.thanks for sharing .
Uh, becoming a pro. I doubt it, but I'm sure learning a lot as I go. I'm still green around the gills with all this stuff. But as the saying goes, experience is the best teacher. Though some experiences I could do without Just take it as it comes. Thanks for the note. I appreciate all you guys.
Really happy for you!
Jayhawker
Thanks. So my journey into dialysis finally begins. I HOPE you never get to this point! Stay the course.
I saw that you are starting dialysis. You’re in my thoughts.
My kidneys are still handing in there with eGFR of 18-19 and electrolytes in normal range without BP meds or diuretics. The longer this goes on though, the more it seems to wear me down…
Hope your journey into dialysis leads to you feeling and functioning well.
Jayhawker
What brand machine did they haw in the hospital?
Jayhawker
I had that issue but finally peed. The nurses made me stay at the hospital until I could go.That cath is bad because no shower until totally healed! Took me a long time. Best decision though. Manual PD is the way to go!
I just packed up went wherever I wanted.
Actually I'm sorta glad to know I'm not the only one who experienced this. I do wonder if I should've stuck it out and just kept trying to let nature take it's course rather than get the Foley put in, but it was getting painful and a tad scary to be totally honest, even more so cause it was at night. Everything seems more serious at night time. But all in all, I came through it ok, so no use Monday morning quarterbacking on it. And the surgeon said do it, so I decided to follow his advice. I'll be starting manual PD in a couple of weeks I guess. So we'll see how good I get at it. But the cycler I chose is the Baxter Amia which is more portable and hopefully will make traveling feasible if that works out. Good to hear others make traveling happen even with manual PD. How long have you been on it? What's next on your game plan after PD? (if you don't mind sharing).
With manual no electrical nothing but gravity. I tried the overnight machine but hated it. Over filled and kept me awake at night. Gravity is the best on your body if you plant to get a transplant. You can always change if it does not work for you. I like to be in control.
Hi RonZone,So happy that it worked out for you and you were able to address this in time. My son now has a transplant but was on PD for a few months. His first catheter had shifted so had to get another one put in which was definitely not helpful. You are right about not all being included in post OP care information. This must change, My son also had a rough month or two on PD before things settled down and improved. In the first week or two he ended up in the ER with seizures from fluid imbalance or electrolyte imbalance ( actually I have still not received any good explanation for this). The nephrologist kept telling us that this was rare but fortunately for us the ER doctor referred him to a neurologist who mentioned that this can happen to patients on dialysis and she typically prescribed a mild anti seizure medication for this. This was really helpful for him and he did not have any issues after this. The medications were stopped post transplant. I wish we were advised of this possibility to be better prepared🙏You can imagine what a night mare it must have been. While I pray that it may not happen to anyone else, I thought I will, like you, share this experience just in case…🤞
I think the nephrologist pretend everything is rare! Mine kept telling me you need more fluid you can take it. I kept saying no I’m small, I can’t. Ended up in hospital with fluid in my lungs, dialysis fluid. After that I flat out told him no on anything I didn’t want to do. You have to take charge for sure
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