Comments on: #97 , misinformation and a virus from Hell

By: Liam

Liam — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:56:26 +0000

I have all ways wondered what is it like being awake and on a ventilator. Surely the instinct is to breath for you self or fight it.

The fact that your hole trachea is blocked with a pipe must be a horrendous experience or at least looks like it.

By: Breathinstephen

Breathinstephen — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:14:31 +0000

Write to me at breathinstephen at gmail dot com

By: RTStudentPA

RTStudentPA — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:43:56 +0000

No i am in northwestern pa. I attend classes at Gannon University. I have a facebook account but not sure how to get the information to you through this website?

By: Breathinstephen

Breathinstephen — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:31:43 +0000

Btw….are you anywhere near the University of Pitt hospitals? I visited there in November as a research guinea pig for a severe asthma study. They have a great severe asthma research program there.

By: Breathinstephen

Breathinstephen — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:29:08 +0000

Yeah, I agree, Ive seen PEP and FV work wonders, especially in post -op ( abd or thoracic surgeries). I liked critical care a lot too. Spent my last 6 working years working in an adult ICU. I went to a private RT school way back in the 70′s and on to the University of Miami, in S Florida. I got my college degree, but didnt take the registry exam until the 90′s. ( When I went to school they were still doing live RRT exams ( oral boards) Not like today with clinical sims.

By: RTStudentPA

RTStudentPA — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:48:12 +0000

I know that at the hospital that i am attending for clinicals it seems as though everyone was on FV. I have seen the wonders of that therapy first hand. It is interesting to see how some pts. respond while others just look at you like you are from the third planet or something. I like the critical care side of medicine it is just more intense and scary as the semester gets going. Where did you attend school at?

By: Breathinstephen

Breathinstephen — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:59:57 +0000

Hi, Thanks for the question. Yup, PEP or FV probably would have been helpful, but no, they didn’t order it. I think because my CXR was clear and I was able to cough most of the junk on my own , they either didn’t feel the need or just forgot..who knows? Very seldom in my career have I ever seen PEP ordered on an asthmatics.
Good luck on your career!

By: RTStudentPA

RTStudentPA — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:27:49 +0000

Hello,
Hi I am a respiratory therapy student in PA. I am on my second clinical rotation right now and am almost done with 6 months left in the program. My question would be were you on PEP/FV therapy after being extubated. It would seem with your secretions they would of wanted you to be coughing some of that stuff up?

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:06:17 +0000

Hi Cris, I have it easy compared to some of you CFers’. That coughing/phlegm business would drive me crazy…lol

By: Cris

Cris — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:56:07 +0000

I don't know how you do it; how you keep going time after time. It's amazing! I don't think I'd have the strength. I know a lot of people must say that, but when it's coming from me, you can take it as gospel: you've got a source of endurance few people have been blessed with. Keep on truckin'!

By: marsh

marsh — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:05:24 +0000

they just said that it's another red day here????? and in same breath they said salt lake has the worst air aaaarh i wish i was frog it might be easier to breath??? hope your feelin better marsh

By: Stephen

Stephen — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:54:12 +0000

Thanks Danielle. I almost forgot that you’re going to be a Doctor. Hopefully a Pulmonlogist ( Respirologist). I’m almost certain that your experience in dealing with your own asthma will make you a much better doctor.
(Make sure you do your first marathon before you go to medical school

By: Danielle

Danielle — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:47:43 +0000

Hi Steve. Sorry you've been so sick. I know this recovery is going to be tough. I'm thinking about you and hope to see you back to your old tricks SOON.

If there's one thing that gets me angry, it's when med professionals get patronizing with their patients. Rudeness is even more inexcusable… blech! It sounds like a lot of it was sheer misinformation, but that doesn't give anybody the right to be rude. Thanks for posting this though, it helps me gain insight for the day when I hopefully become a doctor.

Take it easy Steve. You can do it!

By: Olive

Olive — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:55:06 +0000

hey steve, those battle scars look bad. I know the feeling well. do you find your arteries are so scarred now the needle bounces and slips when they try to puncture it for a gas??? Also your bipap masks are so different from ours. I guess it does the same job. will try and find a photo of our bipap masks.

that was rough treatment the rt gave you. i would get really upset by that. I know when i went out with friends once i hadnt had anythign to drink but my friends had so the nurses when i took an asthma attack assumed i was drinking because they were and they treated me so badly.

anyway take care and hope the rest of the year is smoother than the start has been,

Olive x

By: kerri

kerri — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 03:28:47 +0000

Hey, what did I just say, Mr. Blue Eyes?

[Dude, way to go. You have now made me look more insane than usual by laughing at my computer, which made me cough . We asthmatics with respiratory viruses must be the most epic people on the internet.]

By: Fran

Fran — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 01:14:45 +0000

sorry to hear about the incarceration again. Hope you're doing better.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 01:01:44 +0000

OK….THANKS ( hehe)

By: kerri

kerri — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:21:45 +0000

Hehe, you can stop thanking me, Steve, it's what friends do .

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:18:34 +0000

Hey Thanks for taking the time to respond. As an RT myself, I know how awkward it can be for other RTs to deal with me. I just hate it when my professional title dictates the kind of care I get as a patient. Sometimes excellent, sometimes crappy.

If I could give two pieces of advice to a new RT grad it would be, Be careful what you say in front of your ventilator patients. They can often hear every word you say. Secondly. Don’t assume that all respiratory patients fit the same mold. Keep an open mind and try to put yourself in their shoes.

Good luck on your career, I hope it’s an amazing one!

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:56:31 +0000

Too late, I already have them. Thanks for thinking of me though.