Bathing with a perma-cath

Anonymous
September 5, 2010 at 12:57 am

[COLOR=black]Nicsmom,[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]It is possible to at least shower with a perma-cath. I have had one for nearly five years and have figured out a way that works for me. My wife helps me with the preparation, but it is possible for me to do it by myself. [/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]I take a washcloth, about 9″ square, and put a 2″ wide strip of a waterproof tape on it. I tape the cloth to my chest, above the dressing, so that the catheter is roughly in the middle of the cloth. I then put on a cape like the one you would find at a hair stylist. Thus armed, I then shower my head, below my waist, and forearms, taking care not to let water flow underneath the upper portion of the cape. Once finished, I take off the cape and wash my back, lower torso, and upper arms, taking care to keep the shower from hitting the cloth. I then sponge-bathe my chest.[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]Once done with the shower, I dry my head, arms, and upper torso. Only then do I remove the cloth. [Since the waterproof tape really isn’t, sometime the cloth is loose, sometimes not, so when to remove the cloth is not a hard-and-fast rule.] I then sponge-bathe the area under the cloth. To ensure that I did not get the dressing wet, I take a tissue and press it tight against the dressing. If the tissue is damp, but away from the catheter, I do what I can to dry the area, usually by pressing more tissue against it. If it were to come out wet, we would redo the dressing.[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]This sounds like a lot of extra work, but if you are careful, it only adds about five minutes to the shower. The purpose of the cloth is to keep water that condenses underneath the cape from wetting the catheter area and to provide extra protection.[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=black]I hope this helps and Godspeed.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]MarkEns[/COLOR]