Chunky Monkey

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KW1234

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Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
269
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
10/2016
Country
US
State
OR
City
Hillsboro
I have started coughing up chunky stuff. I know I have scar tissue in my lungs from two bad bouts of pneumonia but I don't think that is what it is. I think it is clumps of semi dry mucus. Has anyone else seen this. It is pretty scary. Normally I cough up white slimy mucus but the chunks were creamy in color. I don't eat anything by mouth, 100 percent by tube
 
My first thought would be to increase water intake to loosen the stuff up.

I noticed you previously mentioned continuous feeds and that your weight has dropped quite a bit. So my second thought is that you have delayed gastric emptying and possibly some aspiration. You are probably on a slow feeding rate as it is. Can the head of the bed be raised more continuously?

Someone else will surely comment about suctioning, cough assist, vibrating vest, etc.

Watch for fevers. If it is aspiration, it could lead to pneumonia.
 
I have been lowering my head more recently to alleviate pressure on my tailbone...it is a real pain in the butt. My feeds are set at 60ml an hour. I can't tolerate anything faster. I still have my head elevated regardless though not as much as before. I use the vibration settings on the bed to loosen things up and I put a couple drops of eucalyptus oil on the filter of my cough assist yo open the air ways. That has worked amazingly well
 
KW, my Brian is on TwoCal. He only needs three cans a day and so he runs at 30cc/hour. Maybe look into a formula like like that
 
I can't tolerate dairy based formulas.
 
Could it be mucous plugs? My husband was trach/vented and would have them, he was never on bipap so I don't know if they're common with bipap or not. They tended to be smooth , pea size on average. If it is mucous plugs, fluid is the best treatment for them also, and the cough assist. Kate
 
They are bigger than a pea and amorphous, I brought them up with cough assist, really disgusting will increase fluids
 
Besides fluids, I would consider changing all your machine and furnace filters, and tweak room/machine humidity if needed. It's been dry here in the PNW.
 
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