Alison ..
Although Gary's cuff is inflated to the max ..stuff gets down in his lungs..it is weird but he has an overexagerated gag reflex ..and if I don't use the cough assist ...that vent would alarm ... no lie.... 50-100 times a day..due to a whimpy cough over and over again.for hours on end..
I know because after his pneumothorax we had to wait 6 weeks to use it after the chest tube was taken out..we had to wait for the chest tube wound to close completely and then have confirmation it was completely gone internally by x-ray..though most of it resolved internally before the chest tube was pulled 5 days after it was inserted while still in the hospital ..( the pnuemothorax they think was caused by too high of a peep for his respiratory drive)...so vent settings were changed...he can breathe on his own for quite awhile and at times over breathes the vent substantially..causing too much pressure to the lungs...the pulmonologist dropped him from a peep of 10 to a peep of 3......hopefully knock on wood the change of settings will help reduce the pressure when he over breathes the vent...as this is an experience he nor I care to go through again...
But not being able to use the cough assist drove me and him nuts.. I was in tears and literally a zombie from lack of sleep for awhile ...but after getting the cough assist back... he alarmed the vent again by coughing no more than 4 or 6 times a day...as the cough assist pulls clumps of stuff out at once..much more junk than I could suction without it..and we could both sleep through the night again..
As hard as it was on me..it was harder on him..he has endured so much..and is quite a fighter..Lisa