joelc's blog

Setup in our bedroom

I took a few pictures of our setup in our bedroom. I will explain what is happening in each picture, hope it will help clear up some misconceptions about caring for someone with a vent. In addition to what I have tried to explain in each picture we have another vent mounted on my powerchair and 1 of everything in a packsack we take with us when we go out.

Home Care for Trach - Info?

Your Safety and Comfort The following is a review of some of the supplies and procedures required to help ensure your safety and comfort. Ventilators BACK-UP SUPPLIES Always have the following available in case of an emergency: • Bacterial filters (front) • Bagging unit • Circuits, including exhalation manifold • Flex hoses • Gloves • Intake filters (back) • Spare exhalation valve (balloon) • Spare tracheostomy tube • Suction catheters • Tracheostomy adapters • Water traps Circuit changes and cleaning Replace your entire circuit (except the exhalation

Using O2 on ALS patients

You might find the following information helpful: Patients with neuromuscular diseases who are developing progressive respiratory failure due to respiratory muscle weakness will die unless mechanical ventilation is used. The rate of progression is often hard to predict. Some patients seem suddenly to experience life-threatening hypercapnic respiratory failure. They may not have been aware of gradually increasing symptoms and signs, particularly since they are often not physically active and are often not being regularly monitored with simple pulmonary function tests.

Getting used to a BiPAP

For anyone who is struggling to get used to using a BiPAP. Persevere.....it does get better!

Bathroom & Shower

Here are some pictures of what we did for our bathroom. The bathroom inside dimensions are 15 feet by 7 feet. The shower is 7’ by 7’. It works perfectly. We will be putting in a ceiling lift and track that will take me right from the bed to the toilet and into the shower. You can see the toilet has been lifted with a toilevator and has a ToTo Washlet. [ATTACH]10[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]11[/ATTACH]

My Trache Tube

Here is the closest I could get to an actual picture of my trache tube, I have the cuffless one - ref# 100/811/080.

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