Re: Excessive secretions
Cindysan13(AT)aol.com
Tue, 7 Oct 1997 16:29:42 -0400 (EDT)
Hi Charlie, I Hope you find some relief soon. How long has this been going
on? Have you suffered with this since you had the vent ?
I had a client who was on the vent continously. She would cough and cough
when she first laid at night. I always felt that it was from the change in
her position and her apprehension about going to sleep ( She feared she could
die in her sleep)
I got her a hand held percussor and gave her percussion and postural drainage
at this time and in the morning and it helped get rid of her secretions
easier than her coughing and choking them up. Maybe this will help you?
Do you use a cuff in your trach? You should suction real good while you are
still laying down before and after you deflate the cuff. Sometimes
secretions pool around the balloon of the trach cuff and get into your lungs
when you deflate it.
I vote yes for the nebulizer treatments to keep all your airways open.
Follow it up with percussion and postural drainage performed by someone
else.
Also are you allergic to something in the morning? Are you rinsing your
trach plug real good or some piece of trach equipment before you use it.
The disinfectant CONTROL III can increase secretions if not all rinsed off.
So can bleach. Bye for now. {{{{Becky}}}}} Cindy
Ps be sure and let us know and I am assuming that you don't have some sort of
infection