I was talking to Ronzone about his catheter and he thought I should post this....
His catheter sounded different than mine so I asked him to send me a picture of his ( not on his tummy) but one he found on the web. Turns out it is different than mine. I found out that his exit site has a scab. Mine does not and will not. According to my PD nurse, mine will not close ever. Don't know if that is because I am diabetic or just the way the surgeon inserted it. So I have to keep a bandage on it forever and not get it wet.
What does your exit site look like and do you have to keep it covered and dry?
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Blackmidnight
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My hubby had a PD catheter in his lower abdomen which was completely dry and skin closed nicely around it. He didn't need to bandage it - he simply slipped the catheter into a belt he wore around his waist. (My hubby's skin is sensitive to the adhesive and ripping action of bandages.) Like you, my hubby also lost his kidneys to diabetes. He has since received a transplant, so I can't send you any pics. Directly prior to the transplant, I do remember his surgeon carefully examining the entry/exit site, satisfied there wasn't any infection there. Later, wound healing re the transplant incision site was on their mind, too, but it all went well. I personally think some surgeons are better at placing PD catheters than others. We were just so fortunate that we ended up with a great one - our dialysis center supplied a list of surgeons, then our PD nurse stepped forward and tapped on one and quietly told us to wait until he was available. Apparently, some can't clean their site well because of placement issues, others have pain from poor internal placement, etc. Thankfully, my hubby had no issues while on PD. I truly hope things are uneventful for you, too, and that your situation is simply nothing more than another approach. Truly, life is complicated enough as it is.
I'm kinda thinking maybe your skin simply didn't heal and tighten enough around your catheter since you mention your area is "dry" and has no scab. Maybe a stitch was needed or didn't work. My hubby's looked just like the pics online of a normal healing and he's able to shower with it exposed and all. I'd love to hear RonZone's or other's experience.
I thought you saw this post where I put photos of a "sample" catheter like was used in my surgery. The PD nurse had this sample and I took a photo of it while she held it:healthunlocked.com/nkf-dial....
Blackmidnight's experience doesn't sound "normal" with the exit site still open. But what do I know. Hopefully others will comment. There's probably a lot of versions of this out there.
Yes, I saw your pics of the cath you received. But I was simply wondering how "tight" or snug the tissue is around your exit site of the tubing. In retrospect, I shouldn't have brought that up that since you're still healing. Blackmidnight's seems to have healed with the area being quite open so bandaging is necessary long term to keep out contaminants. I simply I find that to be unusual. And I wonder why that's the case - hopefully the nurse has justification for it. My hubby's was very snug after healing - it was exactly like the pics of normal healing found online. We don't remember how it got that way - perhaps there was a stitch involved deep inside, perhaps it was promoted by the design of the catheter, perhaps he was lucky not to catch an infection in that area (always a concern for diabetics), etc. Who knows. But it all worked out fine - he could shower unrestricted, etc. I sense you will be fine too since your PD nurse gave you the "all clear" for showers. I hope, too, that Blackmidnight will be able to do so too down the road.
In reflection, you might want to bypass your nurse (some seem a bit controlling) and ask your nephrologist to check the site to see if it's truly too exposed for showers and so forth. Unless it's obvious, it just might be fine!
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