>But in the view of what I´ve heard from vent-users that have a trach. this
seems >to be not so bad. I would like to know your opinion about that,
specially from
>people who have been previously using a noninvasive method of ventilatory
>support and finally had to be changed to trach. ventilation.
I had a trach in January of '89. A month before that I was hospitalized
because I was having difficulty sleeping, my body was collecting CO2, and I
was getting very weak. In the hospital I was given breathing treatments and my
dr. tried out a contraption that was supposed to help me breathe better when I
slept. It was kind of like raincoat affair that fit like a shell around my
body and that acted like an iron lung does. The RT showed me how to use it in
the hospital, and then I went home with it. It really wasn't very successful,
and on Jan. 1 I was back in the hospital ... this time in ICU with pneumonia.
I was intubated, but although the pneumonia cleared up, I wasn't able to get
off the vent. This is when I made the decision to go with the trach, and I
have never once regretted this decision!
I love having a trach! I can sleep at night! I can suction myself whenever I
get a respiratory infection! I rarely get sick any more because I am more
rested and able to get the mucous out. (I'm a post-polio ... had bulbar and
spinal polio virus in '52) Coughing was always a problem for me, especially
when I had a cold. Over and over again I'd have to go to the dr. because I'd
get bronchitis or pneumonia. Today I am free from all of that. I am so
grateful that my pulmonary specialist presented me with this option and that I
took it. It has put the quality back into my life!
Carol Meyer
CKSwedberg(AT)aol.com