Infection

One of the biggest worries for PD is peritonitis or an infection of the peritoneal membrane. It’s supposed to hurt a lot. Also, if you get a lot of infections, the membrane may lose its ability to filter toxins and you will need to go back on hemodialysis. Therefore there is a huge emphasis on keeping everything clean and sterile as possible.

A few days ago, the drain bag came loose during the midday drain. I had just connected the bag so I was still quite full of fluid. It was shocking to see a stream of fluid come out of the connector and on to the floor. Not thinking, I stuck my thumb over the port opening. Ugh… the one thing they keep stressing is that you never touch the connector tip. I grabbed a new drain bag, disinfected the connector again, and reconnected. I was worried that I may have contaminated the connector but everything seems fine so far. I did wash and sanitized my hands prior to the incident so maybe I got lucky this time.