I saw that you used the Cuirass shell, and that you lived in the UK. I am currently dependant upon a ventilator 24-hrs a day, as i am unable to breathe for myself at all due to Muscular Dystrophy. I was wondering, could you tell me more about this 'shell', and where i can find the new manufacturer. As the ventilator is begining to depress me and i am looking for a suitable alternative.
regards
neil
At 18:07 31/12/96 -0500, you wrote:
>I appear to have gotten things going with my query about cuirass shells!
>Thanks for all the comments.
>For 41 years I have been unable to breathe at all unaided since becoming
>totally paralysed below my chin following a severe attack of polio on my
>17th birthday. At the time I was in Corpus Christi, Texas. For the first 7
>years I was in an iron lung, then for 2 years I used a Tunnicliffe jacket,
>and since 1964 I have used a cuirass shell 24 hours of the day. This has
>been entirely successful inspite of the fact that my vital capacity is
>zero. I am the only person in the UK who uses a cuirass 24 hours of the
>day. All was well until Monaghan went out of business and I searched
>around for 3 years before I managed to find someone to produce a
>satisfactory replacement. I had discovered that as I got older I needed a
>deeper size shell in order to keep my blood gases good. Apart from one or
>two minor problems at least I am now breathing well. I just wondered how
>other people in my situation managed, but perhaps no one else uses a
>cuirass 24 hours of the day. If anyone knows of anyone who does, I would
>be interested in making contact. Incidentally, the word "cuirass" come from
>the breast-plate of a suit of armour.
>Happy New Year to you all!
>John
>
>
<center>**************************************************
Neil G Hindry
nhindry(AT)easynet.co.uk
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~nhindry
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