Dan's liver transplant

Yesterday was my 2 weekly drain day and as usual it was a palarva.

The unit which does the drain has a policy of only having a drain in place for 4 hours or until 12 litres is drained, which ever is first. This is normally not a problem but there was an issue with my last drain meaning they only took 6 litres. So yesterday when the drain was put in the doctor said ‘continuous drain 6 hours’ now normally the nurses follow the doctors notes and leave me to drain away emptying the bag and transfusing me with albumin every 2 to 3 litres. However the nurse was unhappy with the doctor going against the units policy and after I hit 12 litres in 2 hours clamped the drain and wanted to remove it. Now when you’re being drained you can feel how much is in you and if you are carrying quite a lot. I asked could the drain stay on for the standard 4 hours because there wasn’t loads left. This led to an argument between the nurse and the doctor. The nurse wanted to stick to protocol and would only leave the drain in place of the doctors documented it because she didn’t want to get in trouble. Anyway it was sorted and the drain stayed in for 4 hours and drained just under 15 litres of ascetic fluid.

Its important to understand that both the nurse and doctor are trying to do what’s best for the patient but it seems sometimes they are finding their hands tied by out of date and rigid protocols which end up causing the patient to suffer more than is necessary.

Still ive been emptied out and get to go again in two weeks!