So this is the post I'm going to explain having my dialysis catheter fitted. Please be warned, I may go into detail that may be 'too much information' - But I think it's important that I explain the whole thing properly.
The blase attitude I was on about in my previous post about doctors and nurses pretty much carries on to the point of having your catheter fitted. They make it seem like the whole thing is a walk in the park.
Now whilst I am fully aware that everyone is different and everyone reacts differently and whatnot and somethings go smoothly for others. I wish someone told me what would happen if things went wrong. Unfortunately I was one of those unlucky people with complications and whatnot and if anyone had told me what I had to prepare myself for then I think I would have coped better.
Let me make this clear. I had my kidney removed in 2008 and it was painful. But having the catheter fitted was the most painful experience in my life and I would rather have my kidney removed 10 times over than go through the insertion of the dialysis catheter again! I genuinely mean that!
Now of course, I don't want to scare anyone who may be potentially going on dialysis if they're ever reading this but please be aware that there can be complications and things might not go as planned!
Having the dialysis catheter was meant to be a day surgery case. Come in at 8:30am and have the procedure done and then be on your way home by 5 - 6pm is what they told me. However... Mine ended up being a week long hospital stay and I was still very poorly when I came out of hospital and I can confidently say I was poorly for a good month or so afterwards.
I was having it done under local anesthetic, meaning the doctor would open me up, insert the catheter, stitch me up and "Hey Presto! You're done!" I was given a high dosage of IV paracetamol and lorezapam to make me feel mongy and I felt quite pleasant, I was nervous but I was off my face so all was fine with the world! I went to the procedure room where I was asked to lie down on a operation table and I was given local anestethic which pretty much kicked in and I was fine... Then the doctor cut a 2 -3 inch incision just below my belly button. I was awake, I didn't feel this at all. It was fine. Then he put something in there, this sort of tube (catheter I'm guessing?) and then started to fill the inside of my peritoneum with some kind of fluid. That's when the pain started. This apparently free of pain procedure was a lie! I was screaming and at one point I sat up, looked down and saw a 3 inch open gash on my stomach with tools/tubes in it. I freaked out and became almost hysterical. The pain was indescribable. I can't put it into words at all and the shock of seeing myself cut open was enough to send me over the edge. The doctor made a decision to quickly abandon the operation and stitch me back up. I was given something to calm me down and then told I would have to have the procedure done under general anesthetic as something wasn't right.
I was sent back to the ward, in pain and feeling very fragile and sorry for myself. My stomach was now swollen and rock solid and I couldn't cough or sneeze or bend my torso. I was told I'd be going in first thing in the morning for the general anesthetic procedure so I was just doped up on painkillers for the night.
So what went wrong? Well I'm not entirely sure as I'm not a doctor but something a long the lines of, the doctor didn't get into the peritoneum and was putting fluid in the wrong place... Also apparently, the younger you are the more sensitive your nerves are, therefore it's more painful - or something like that.
The next day I went down for my general anesthetic procedure of having my catheter fitted. I obviously wasn't awake for this so I was pain free up until I woke up. I was curious to know what they did so I asked my doctor if they could show me somehow and he told me to look on Youtube. I did.
Please be warned, the following video is pretty graphic and not really for the squeamish: Click here to view the video on Youtube. (it won't let me embed it for some reason)
.....
So that's what they did to me. I think the way I felt after the operation deserves a whole post of it's own so I'm gonna leave you with just this video.
Please note, I have been told that if the local anesthetic procedure (the one I was originally meant to have) goes ok, it's meant to be pretty pain free and less traumatic. But obviously I wasn't so lucky. I just want people to be aware that it does not always go to plan. Mine didn't. It was incredibly traumatic for me and probably the worse thing I've ever had to experience and deal with in my whole entire life. No joke
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