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cough vests?

post #1 of 17
11/13/07 at 9:51pm
Thread Starter 
Does anyone have a cough vest? you know, one of those vests that vibrates all the gunk out? How do you like it?

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post #2 of 17
11/13/07 at 10:24pm
We don't have a vest but Dakota did have "vibes" while in the NICU every 3hrs (a little tool that vibrated was used on about 20 different places on her chest and back to accomplish the same goal as the vest). Since she's bigger now we've moved on to CPT that she gets 4x a day. I know some kids with CF wear a vest but for us CPT is far more effective than the vibrations.

That didn't answer your question at all so I guess' I'll shut up.
post #3 of 17
11/13/07 at 10:30pm
How interesting! Lily got vibrated in the PICU for a while until they switched to the little rubber cup. We brought it home with us and have needed to use it a few times, but rarely.
It would be a cool thing if it works though.
post #4 of 17
11/13/07 at 11:27pm
Thread Starter 
I talked to a resp. therapist tonight that highly reccomended the vest. She said that on some kids it gets up way more than the chest PT does. Linden just doesn't effectively get it up on his own so he gurgles all the flipping time. Chest PT doesn't work so much. So I was hoping that maybe this would shake it all out. lol. I hate absolutely HATE listening to gurgling all the time. Makes me want to cough and clear my throat.
post #5 of 17
11/13/07 at 11:31pm
My son had one about 6 years ago, but he was far enough along in his recovery it's hard for me to say how much of a difference it would have made. Basically he put it one, it inflated and then deflated kind of fast to shake the walls of their lungs and get the phlegm out. He'd often get a really productive kind of cough afterwards, more than he got from a CPT session (we did CPT for a couple of years) so it probably did work.

He called it his "shake vest" and thought it was super cool, though. He's always been a sensory seeker and to him this was the greatest thing. After we returned it (because he didn't need it) he'd still ask for it, so it definitely wasn't traumatic in any way. It was quiet enough that he could watch TV while doing it -- we did it in tandem with the nebulizer. One thing they told us is if you do it it needs to be on an empty stomach, just like CPT to keep it from making them throw up, or in my guy's case refluxing and aspirating.

If your insurance company covers it, I'd suggest giving it a try.
post #6 of 17
11/13/07 at 11:33pm
I used to work at a health insurance company and we'd pay for these sometimes. Usually when the child had gotten older and didn't want have CPT done by their parent anymore - age 12, 13, 14 etc.
post #7 of 17
11/13/07 at 11:34pm
Oh I don't doubt it works well for some people at all. I think it's a great thing to try. Dakota still doesn't have a very good cough reflex and she sounds like she needs to clear her throat all the time, especially when "eating" food. I'm assuming that his is in his chest from what you're describing. Dakota's is primarily upper airway and we presume as a result of having a trach for so long. She basically lets saliva pool at the back of her throat and doesn't swallow well. A vibrating vest wouldn't help with that at all though.
post #8 of 17
11/14/07 at 12:05am
After Connor's bronch when the pulmo saw that his malacia extends all the way down to his bronchi, he had us meet with a respiratory therapist. She said that he doesn't need the vest, but we do have the little rubber cup and a suction machine. The suction machine is this big ominous looking thing with a long tube and a nasal tip on it. We put it in his nostril, turn it on, and plug up the port and it sucks all the crud out of his lungs that we just knocked loose with the rubber cup. It works pretty well, especially when he has an upper respiratory infection.
post #9 of 17
11/14/07 at 1:13am
Thread Starter 
I'm all askeered of suction machines.
post #10 of 17
11/14/07 at 1:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MotherWhimsey View Post
I'm all askeered of suction machines.
There's nothing scary about them and if he's having trouble choking you absolutely need one! You can adjust the suction so it's not too much and you'd most likely just use a tool that goes into the nose (we sometimes have to use a catheter threaded down farther but not often).
post #11 of 17
11/14/07 at 1:24am
Oh I'd be much more scared of him choking and having to do the heimlich!! Suction is easy and fast and non-violent. At the very least carry a bulb syringe around with you, it can get a good bit out of the back of his throat.
post #12 of 17
11/14/07 at 2:09am
Thread Starter 
do the heimlich once or twice and it's no big deal. We do it at least 2x a day around here. as long as the object is not seperable it's usually fine. I just have to make sure he doesn't get anything like bread crumbs or something that squashes up into his mouth. The problem with him is that once he knows he's not getting any food from me, he goes to the trash, when I put that up, he goes crumb hunting.
post #13 of 17
11/14/07 at 1:11pm
I want/need a suction machine. The hospital dr's didn't think we needed one at the time of her release and she doesn't have a pulmo here and no one else will prescribe one.
post #14 of 17
11/14/07 at 1:24pm
MW,

I wanted to offer a big hug (not too good on the smiley thing so just use your imagination) after that last post.

My son went from 100% oral to 100% tube fed literally overnight (well there where two days of NPO before and after the surgery). He desperately wanted to eat and put EVERYTHING in his mouth -- I remember how hard those days were.

Of course the interest in eating and the willingness to eat is a wonderful thing, but it can also be so hard to constantly have to deny your child something that he wants so bad (and that you can't just eliminate from the environment), and to constantly monitor their safety.

I'm not sure I have great suggestions but I wanted to offer you some moral support from someone's who has BTDT.

Momily
post #15 of 17
11/14/07 at 2:04pm
wow. i did not even know such a thing existed.
post #16 of 17
11/14/07 at 2:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kathryn View Post
I want/need a suction machine. The hospital dr's didn't think we needed one at the time of her release and she doesn't have a pulmo here and no one else will prescribe one.
Kathryn, ask your pediatrician for one. It doesn't have to be the pulmonologist prescribing it. Any of your doctors really. All they have to do is write a script and fax it to whatever DME you use. We use PSA and they've never had a problem getting medicaid or our private isnurance to approve anything (minus the stupid stuff we're going through trying to get Neocate Jr.)
post #17 of 17
11/16/07 at 4:00pm
Our ped has been very helpful in prescribing random or odd things we've needed. She happily wrote an rx for a SleepSafer for ds.

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