Nervous about catheter

hi again guys

as my day is coming neare, Im a little nervous about getting my catheter.
The only thing going through my mind is; WILL I GET USED TO HAVING A CATHETER IN MY STOMACH???
WILL IT LOOK WIERD OR FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE???

I would appreciate your feedback
thanxx guys
alex :slight_smile:

I hope that some PD patients respond to your email soon. I am not a patient, but have worked as a social worker with many patients – male and female – who had PD catheters placed. I’m sure that many of them had the same questions that you have and all of them came to accept that having a catheter was a minor inconvenience that gave them the freedom to enjoy their lives in spite of having to do dialysis.

In the meantime, people often worry about how changes in their body and appearance will affect what they and others think of them. You might want to read the module on sexuality on http://www.kidneyschool.org. It addresses body image and includes quotes from others on how they have coped with the changes in their body with dialysis.

Hi Alex -
I have a pre-sternal chest cath for my pd cath. I don’t even feel the catheter there. It hides easily in my clothes & depending upon what I wear, no one can even tell I have it. So no - you won’t feel “wierd”.
It has just become a part of me. Take care of it, (your cath) as you take care of yourself and it will serve you a long time. CJ

Hello,
I’m 36 years old and have had the catheter in my belly for nine months now. I started immediately on the Fresenius night time cycler since I work full time and had no place to cleanly do daily manual exchanges.

I don’t even feel or think about the catheter during the day anymore, I’m careful about it being pulled and I avoid lifting anything too heavy. I did switch to pants with elastic in the waist so there is no pressure to the exit site although I still use gauze and tape over it for protection. So I guess the answer I have is that you will get used to it and it won’t feel uncomfortable once it heals.

As for looking weird, I have to say that it still looks weird to me and probably always will, that may also be part of the reason that I always keep it covered with the gauze.

At first it was just the 6 inches of catheter sticking out of my belly, then they added an 18" extension onto the catheter which I dealt with for about 6 months when my nurse finally exchanged it for a 12" extension. Who knew what a big difference that 6" less would make, much easier to deal with the 18" total than 2 feet.

I’m wishing you the best of luck!

My husband started home dialysis 3 weeks ago and loves it. Soon he will be getting a cycler. As for the catheter, people never knows he has one till he tells them about it. If you wear tight shirts you’ll be able to see it. I wish you well.