Re: APRIL COVER STORY: THE VENT LIFE
robert harry (rharry(AT)voyager.net)
Fri, 24 May 1996 05:24:00 -0700 (PDT)
At 02:15 AM 5/23/96 -0700, you wrote:
>>
>>Finally, says Bach, quality of life can't be
>>ignored when discussing noninvasive
>>ventilator options. In a 1993 Chest article,
>>he reported that among 168 vent users who
>>switched from tracheostomy to noninvasive
>>methods, 100 percent preferred the latter.
>>Most cited health reasons, but also
>>significant were increased ability to talk,
>>swallow and taste.
>>
>>"You can't taste or smell when you have a
>>trach because the air isn't passing through
>>the nose," Bach explains. "Eighty percent of
>>taste is smell. If you close your nose, you
>>can't tell the difference between bananas
>>and mustard."
>
>I can't smell except when I'm being suctioned, but I can definately taste. I
>have no problem talking or swallowing either. I use a passe-mur one-way
>valve all day but take it out when I sleep, maybe that makes the differance.
>
>Jim Lubin
>jlubin(AT)eskimo.com
>http://www.eskimo.com/~jlubin
>disAbility Resource Page: http://www.eskimo.com/~jlubin/disabled.html
>
>
>
I can definately taste and smell, but then again I am only on my vent at
night for about 8-10 hours. When I am on it, I can't talk. Because I have a
cuffed tach. I deflate it during the day and can cap off my tach. That
probably makes a diffference.
Becky