I remember having the operation to have the catheter
inserted, I was so scared. The first thing I remember doing after waking from
surgery was trying to look at this tube now hanging from my side, I remember
feeling instantly ugly. What guy/girl would want to date me with this? I hated
it! “It wouldn’t be forever” I’d get told, How are they meant to know? Are they
psychic? They aren’t the ones with a tube hanging out of them!
CAPD ( continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis ) works by
fluid exchange; 4 times a day, everyday.
I would heat up a bag of fluids for an hour before setting up (the
coldness would give me unbearable stomach cramps) I would have to drain out
fluid from the previous exchange and then replace it with the fresh fluid. This
would attract the water and waste from my body that my kidneys couldn’t get rid
of. I would have to keep an eye on my weight, how the discharge looks ( any
cloudiness, blood or anything floating was bad news! An infection of the
abdominal lining called peritonitis is common) and how much I drained out to
determine the strength of my next intake.
1litre -3litre bags and different strengths helps with keeping the body
hydrated.
Unfortunately, I had to give up work. Due to not being able
to drive, I was unable to take the equipment with me to work. The fluids took
45 minutes to heat up and the process itself would take no longer than 30
minutes, but it was impossible to be out of the house for long due to needing
to be back just to set everything up. It wasn’t long until my friends would
stop seeing me, I became very trapped,
and soon started developing depression.
I would get a delivery every 4-8 weeks, up to 50 boxes
(sometimes more) just full of the treatment, then up to 10 individual boxes
full off all the adapters, equipment I needed. The house soon started looking
like a hospital. Mum at times would often get annoyed with it, or would make a
comment if I ask her to put on a bag on heat for me, I would keep it out of the
way as much as possible and would never bother anyone for help as they never
seemed bothered.
After talking to my renal support, they suggested I tried
APD ( Automated Peritoneal Dialysis )
It works just like CAPD just through a machine, the process
would take 8-10 hours. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough room in my
bedroom for the machine and all of the
bags that I had to use, delivery would contain more stuff and there was just no
more room. The machine settings were hard to set up in the right timings, I
would have to get the hospital to recode a little disc that comes with the
machine but I could never settle. When draining out, to know that there is no
fluid left, unbearable pain would happen, I can only describe it as a shooting
cramp as my insides are sucked out, a pulling sensation will shoot across my
whole tummy, so having to get up to stop the machine was too much!
I took it upon myself to do it manually overnight. I would
do an exchange before bed and then wake for 5am to do another. I would wake and
do my final exchange around noon. This meant I could work and be out of the
house keeping myself busy and not just have my health and depression bringing
me down. Whilst going through the different styles of CAPD I had a lot of
problems with the exit site, I can’t remember now what the correct term was
used but where the tube was inserted, my insides had started growing on the
outside of my body and on the tube. I used many creams before having to have it
all zapped off.
