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Peritoneal Dialysis

Caregivers | Last Active: 6 hours ago | Replies (10)

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@gingerw

@alicat60 Let me add my welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I have been on peritoneal dialysis since Sept 2022.

When you say his catheter is not working, is he not able to take in fluids to dwell, or not drain fluids out? The catheter might be wrongly placed, and butting up against his abdominal tissues. That would create an issue, and also possible cramping. As was mentioned, if his kidney function is really going down, he might need to get a port and do hemodialysis until the problems with peritoneal dialysis are resolved. When a surgeon does the catheter placement, usually there has been an ultrasound ahead of time to see if the patient has the "right" set-up for the catheter. That can mean little to no scar tissue [from previous abdominal surgeries] or omentum [fatty tissue in the cavity].

How is your husband feeling? Will you let us know what the doctor says next week, please?
Ginger

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Replies to "@alicat60 Let me add my welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I have been on peritoneal dialysis..."

Ginger, thank you for your response. I got really busy between my job and my husband care.
He’s having surgery again to fix the catheter since the surgeon doesn’t know exactly what the problem is. When he’s using the automatic cycler and starts draining, it stops draining about half way into it. They have ruled out other things like constipation. But the Dialysis Clinic found a way to do the manual PD at home. And that one is working much better. And he’ll continue to do it this way until his surgery on 3/26. So far, the manual is helping quite a bit. I was really concerned. We go back to Mayo for other evaluations the first week of April. I’m hoping he’ll be a candidate for a kidney transplant. Are you considering a transplant for yourself? Thank you for reaching out.