So I can't really see where anyone put a step by step account of the PD experience on here since DAF1234 put comments in 3 years ago. So I'll document as best i can this experience.
Last Monday (Week 1) I had the PD catheter placement surgery.
Today, I had an appt at the Fresenius Dialysis Center where one of the PD nurses removed the original bandage that was applied by the Surgery team who placed the PD catheter. The bandage was fairly large (about 12 inches wide by 6 inches tall with LOTS of tape holding it in place) and contained both the incision wound for the catheter, but also covered the small incision areas toward my right side where the surgeon inserted the camera he used for positioning the catheter. There was also a fair amount of addition bruising further around my right side that the PD nurse said she hasn't seen before. So not sure what happened there??? Looks like someone gave me a good kick in the side while I was down. Maybe I offended one of the nurses while under anesthesia? Who knows. Once the original bandage was removed I could see where my little "alien" came out of my tummy. There was also some kind of ring around the tube at skin level. It was like a small rubber band. The nurse peeled this away after removing the bandage, so it was made out of something like plumber's putty. I assume this helped seal the area around the tub next to the skin, not sure. I was actually fairly amazed how quickly all the incisions were healing. There was a slight bit of redness just around the tube, but the nurse said it wasn't anything to worry about. Before removing the bandage, she prepped the area by having me pull up my shirt (but not off) and unbutton my pants and pushing them down a ways, then draped sterile pads over my shirt and pants. She had used bleach water to clean the table where she would put supplies as needed, that included gauze 2x2's that she sprayed with liquid germ killer (ExCept is the name). And she washed her hands and put on new gloves between each and every step. Boy did she go through a LOT of gloves and washed her hands many times and used hand sanitizer a good bit as well. After getting everything set up, she demonstrated the hand washing technique I would learn where you wash the palms, the tops of the hands, between the fingers (counting to 10 for each step), each finger individually, and under the fingernails. She then rinsed her hands and dried with paper towels, not a bath or hand towel, and used a paper towel to turn the water off. Then she donned real surgical gloves before removing the bandage. After removing the bandage, she changed surgical gloves again before beginning the process of cleaning the area around the incision and the tube coming out with 4x4s soaked with ExCept antiseptic solution (Kidney Coach told me the name). Then she applied like a large bandaid type bandage that was like 4x4 with adhesive around the edges. She placed this with the incision in the center and the catheter tube going toward my right side. She then put two 4x4s on top of that bandage and used tape to secure those down. She used a LOT of tape. Oh, before she put the 4x4s on top, she took a piece of tape and taped the tub down to my side about an inch away from the edge of the initial new bandage. She created an "anchor" with that tape, she said, to hold the tube so it would not be pulled easily. Then she put a regular size bandaid on the camera incision location. She then coiled the remainder of the tube around and used tape to secure it on top of the last 4x4's she applied. It was under the bandage on the original surgical bandage, but she taped it on the outside. So I can undo that tape if i want to display it to my freinds (NOT :-). At that point she removed the draping and I could pull my shirt down and refasten my pants and belt which falls just below bottom of the bandage. I wore pants with stretchable side panels that I had ordered from a policeman's gear site called Galls. They seem to work well. I'll see if they still work once my tummy is full of PD fluid. This all took about 40 minutes. It was done in one of the 4 PD training rooms they have on location. So that was it for week 2. Next week, she will repeat this process with the current bandage, but will also put some fluid through the tube to do a "flush", then drain it out. Will report on that next week.
I would totally screw that up I'm sure. 
Peritoneal Dialysis
Peritoneal Dialysis
