Hi all! I've posted here before but it's been over a year. My mom was diag in May 2008 with ALS and I am her only family caregiver.
I have a question that maybe another caregiver has experienced or perhaps another kind soul with ALS can answer. Mom had her trach put in July 14, 2009. It was done by a doctor other than her primary pulmunologist (for lengthy reasons). Her primary thinks it was put in wrong so he replaced it Dec 18th. For the first three weeks she was fine. Now she is experiencing a very swollen throat and we can't find the "sweet spot" where there are no bubbles or gurgles and the cuff doesn't feel too tight to her. Last Friday we went in for a bronchoscopy so he could see what was wrong, but he couldn't get the scope down her nose or throat because of the swelling. He said if it wasn't for the trach right now she wouldn't be able to breath at all. His only suggestion was to give her more Chlortrimaton (anti-histamine) but I don't see how that will help with the swelling and it is thickening her secretions which I'm not thrilled about.
So, to my question...has anyone ever experienced extreme swelling after a trach change and what did they do for it? I've been trying ice packs around her neck. Any other suggestions? I'm hoping once the swelling goes down I can inflate the cuff to a level that stops the bubbling and is comfortable to her.
Thank you in advance!
I have a question that maybe another caregiver has experienced or perhaps another kind soul with ALS can answer. Mom had her trach put in July 14, 2009. It was done by a doctor other than her primary pulmunologist (for lengthy reasons). Her primary thinks it was put in wrong so he replaced it Dec 18th. For the first three weeks she was fine. Now she is experiencing a very swollen throat and we can't find the "sweet spot" where there are no bubbles or gurgles and the cuff doesn't feel too tight to her. Last Friday we went in for a bronchoscopy so he could see what was wrong, but he couldn't get the scope down her nose or throat because of the swelling. He said if it wasn't for the trach right now she wouldn't be able to breath at all. His only suggestion was to give her more Chlortrimaton (anti-histamine) but I don't see how that will help with the swelling and it is thickening her secretions which I'm not thrilled about.
So, to my question...has anyone ever experienced extreme swelling after a trach change and what did they do for it? I've been trying ice packs around her neck. Any other suggestions? I'm hoping once the swelling goes down I can inflate the cuff to a level that stops the bubbling and is comfortable to her.
Thank you in advance!