pulmonetics 950 ltv
ltv=lap top vent
At 13 pounds it sure does come close to being a laptop. It's much easier to use though. I call it the vent for dummies. The fact that it's a life-sustaining piece of medical equipment is hard to get past. I guess you have to both lose and gain respect for it at the same time in order to take your kid home from the hospital on one. You have to lose respect in that if everything else looks good and the vent is putting up some scary shit you learn to go with everything looking good. Then of course you have to figure out why your numbers are screwy. There's often a reasonable explanation. It's hard though when you first come home not to get excited by all the flashing lights and alarms going off. It helps to have a good respiratory therapist from the start, you know, some one who can keep things simple for you and help to weed out real problems from mechanical glitches. You also have to gain respect for the vent and for your ability to take care of it properly.
Don't get me wrong, taking home a kid on a vent is no walk in the park. I've been an R.N. for over thirty years and I was scared shitless to bring Sonnyboy home. I had made Hubby PROMISE not to let them make us do it. In the end we did bring him home and while it has not been easy ( lots of crying and exhaustion at first) it has been worthwhile in a very personal way. For a time even after we came home we decided to try a respite facility. We found out there is no place like home. It is certainly worth it to try home care.
In order to gain respect for the vent there are some important things to know about the vent itself. Be sure they set you up in the hospital with the vent for at least a week before you go home. Get to know your home therapist. Have everyone in your family and all of your friends get to know the vent. Make sure you understand how to do a tubing (circuit) change and actually do it in the hospital before going home. Know how to set the vent up for home (wet) and for travel (dry). Find out how to clean the filters and have them give you extras. Get used to the alarms and learn how to turn them off and what they mean. Be aware that if the kid yawns or coughs or laughs the alarm is going to go off. Yes, kids on vents can and do laugh. Remember though to always check that your kid's airway is clear and that the tubing has not disconnected all the way from the kid's trach to the machine. This vent has a bad habit of popping apart at the point where the filter connects to the vent if you bump it , just be aware and push it back together. Another trouble spot is right at the trach but there are solutions using small pieces of extention tubing called omniflex and by using two different kinds of trach ties. Make sure you are comfortable with doing the trach care, changing the ties and doing the suctioning. Suctioning is scary because it looks uncomforable but if you ever talk to some one who has needed to be suctioned they will tell you it tickles and that it is a relief to have a clear airway. Be sure to be there when they do a trach change and then do at least two changes yourself before going home. One other silly thing the vent does is give out false readings if the tiny sensor tubings get water in them - there might be a better way to handle this problem but we have found that the best way to fix it is to just do a circuit change.
Taking someone home on mechanical ventilation is not easy, especially at first, but it does get easier. Like when you realize instead of fumbling for that extra breath button during suctioning you can just unlock the vent before you suction and dial up the rate by a few breaths per minute and then dial it down to the prescription rate after your finished and lock it again. Of course you would want to check that out with your doctor first. Every patient is different. Every family is different too. Not everyone can handle a vent patient at home. It can be done though. I didn't think we could do it but I am glad Hubby broke his PROMISE to me and let them make me take Sonnyboy home. There truly is no place like home.
At 13 pounds it sure does come close to being a laptop. It's much easier to use though. I call it the vent for dummies. The fact that it's a life-sustaining piece of medical equipment is hard to get past. I guess you have to both lose and gain respect for it at the same time in order to take your kid home from the hospital on one. You have to lose respect in that if everything else looks good and the vent is putting up some scary shit you learn to go with everything looking good. Then of course you have to figure out why your numbers are screwy. There's often a reasonable explanation. It's hard though when you first come home not to get excited by all the flashing lights and alarms going off. It helps to have a good respiratory therapist from the start, you know, some one who can keep things simple for you and help to weed out real problems from mechanical glitches. You also have to gain respect for the vent and for your ability to take care of it properly.
Don't get me wrong, taking home a kid on a vent is no walk in the park. I've been an R.N. for over thirty years and I was scared shitless to bring Sonnyboy home. I had made Hubby PROMISE not to let them make us do it. In the end we did bring him home and while it has not been easy ( lots of crying and exhaustion at first) it has been worthwhile in a very personal way. For a time even after we came home we decided to try a respite facility. We found out there is no place like home. It is certainly worth it to try home care.
In order to gain respect for the vent there are some important things to know about the vent itself. Be sure they set you up in the hospital with the vent for at least a week before you go home. Get to know your home therapist. Have everyone in your family and all of your friends get to know the vent. Make sure you understand how to do a tubing (circuit) change and actually do it in the hospital before going home. Know how to set the vent up for home (wet) and for travel (dry). Find out how to clean the filters and have them give you extras. Get used to the alarms and learn how to turn them off and what they mean. Be aware that if the kid yawns or coughs or laughs the alarm is going to go off. Yes, kids on vents can and do laugh. Remember though to always check that your kid's airway is clear and that the tubing has not disconnected all the way from the kid's trach to the machine. This vent has a bad habit of popping apart at the point where the filter connects to the vent if you bump it , just be aware and push it back together. Another trouble spot is right at the trach but there are solutions using small pieces of extention tubing called omniflex and by using two different kinds of trach ties. Make sure you are comfortable with doing the trach care, changing the ties and doing the suctioning. Suctioning is scary because it looks uncomforable but if you ever talk to some one who has needed to be suctioned they will tell you it tickles and that it is a relief to have a clear airway. Be sure to be there when they do a trach change and then do at least two changes yourself before going home. One other silly thing the vent does is give out false readings if the tiny sensor tubings get water in them - there might be a better way to handle this problem but we have found that the best way to fix it is to just do a circuit change.
Taking someone home on mechanical ventilation is not easy, especially at first, but it does get easier. Like when you realize instead of fumbling for that extra breath button during suctioning you can just unlock the vent before you suction and dial up the rate by a few breaths per minute and then dial it down to the prescription rate after your finished and lock it again. Of course you would want to check that out with your doctor first. Every patient is different. Every family is different too. Not everyone can handle a vent patient at home. It can be done though. I didn't think we could do it but I am glad Hubby broke his PROMISE to me and let them make me take Sonnyboy home. There truly is no place like home.
posted by CCCCppppCCppp at 6:13 AM
6 Comments:
Sounds like instructions for flying the Shuttle.
I was hooked up to some sort of IV pump and got to be pretty proficient at trouble shooting the thing - just so it would shut up.
Good luck!!
PK
You're ALIVE...you had me going. Tried to post on your blog but blogger wouldn't let me. I do hope you visit your brother in prison often...
ty fairscape
i hope the home vent work out ok 4 u n sonnyboy
I have been having trouble posting on other sites as well. So much for technology making life easier.
I know it is kind of trite, considering what your boy is going through, but I don’t see how anyone can stand being hooked to things. It was only a few days for me and I could wait to be rid of the IV. Worst part was not being able to shower. I can’t stand being dirty. My mother would have been shocked hearing that – she usually had to use wild horses to drag me in for a bath.
DP
Working ok today
PK
bamn dlogger
Sonnyboy likes to be clean . One of these days I'll post on how to do a superdooper bed bath. That is when the f*****g machine lets me.
Blogger is frustrating at times but the price is right.
I am a homecare RN with many years' worth of experience with the older LP-10 ventilators. I know the LP-10s well, and can trouble-shoot problems with fair ease. The LTV series of ventilators, though, is a whole 'nother ballgame. I realize the advantages of using the LTV vents over the LP-10s, and they are many. But if this is truly a "vent for dummies", I'm really in trouble.
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