Trach change

It seems like these appointments are more often than every 3 months! We were happy to go to this one because of the plan to try a different trach to see if we can help solve our recurring VAP (ventilator associated pneumonia) and leaking problems. We also have knowledge of what will happen, as this is our second time going to Emory hospital for the change, so it was less stressful and less "new."

The new trach placed is a Pulmodyne Blom trach and we will be using subglottic suctioning inner cannulas. This is wordy and confusing, so below is the video of it.

New Trach

I felt like I had a full time job for a few days getting this bad boy in our possession! Emory does not carry this brand. Our respiratory supply company doesn't have these in their supply. So I made a few phone calls! We needed to get orders sent, get our home supply delivery company in touch with the Georgia suppliers of this product, and get it approved/paid for/sent to us prior to this appointment! I felt very accomplished to get this done. On monthly orders, none of this will need to be done again, and maybe someone else can benefit from all of this if it is recommended to them. We surely hope we can benefit from it and that it fixes our problems!

They again not only did a trach change, but sent off a sample after bronchoscopy for culture. The IV placement for some meds (little pain, little forget medication) went well this time. Our attending lung physician (Dr. Berkowitz) was late coming to the endoscopy suite (emergencies always take priority!), so they started as soon as he stepped foot in the door. I was allowed to be in the room again-they would much rather have me there for help communicating with Jason than not. While they (the nurses and possibly a resident) did the procedure, Dr. Berkowitz educated me on all the cool features and inner cannulas that can be ordered. If I remember correctly, we are the second people to go through with getting this new trach. The actual procedure was quick, Jason did well, and we were in recovery pretty quickly. They did send off a culture from his lungs, but were told that no antibiotic would be ordered unless a new bacteria was growing because Jason was asymptomatic and not having at home fevers. Dr. Berkwitz explained that Jason would always have a touch of pneumonia, unfortunately. If we treat every time (his last coarse of antibiotics was in January) that eventually his bacteria would be resistant to all oral antibiotics and that if he was symptomatic of bacteria, the only option would be hospital administered IV antibiotics. We headed home around 2:45 in the afternoon and rested the rest of the day.

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