Coby's Comfort Care

Congestion:

Because Coby had the SMA congestion (he had so much) we did the following To decrease the risk of mucous plugs:

Nasal suctioned;
We used normal saline nebs ( I loved these but so did Coby);
Kept the air humidified, we actually had a humidifier that sprayed a moist mist that you could see directly on him;
When we used the oxygen we requested humidified oxygen;
Did chest pt regularly;
Used back massagers that vibrated as a source of vibration to try to keep the mucous loose and broken up;
Tried to keep him hydrated so even when he wasn't even tolerating the feeds or when his appetite slowed down we gave him small amounts of pedialyte;
Kept Coby flat with his head turned or on his side; and
Sometimes we used the cough assist ...

These things are what WE found helpful...

We used these to suction versus using the long catheters. Coby didn’t like deep suctioning and he did not like the long catheters, so we found these more helpful and used them ALL the time 24/7. You can ask your nursing agency, hospice program or pulmonologist for them and/or you can order them on SMA supply

He loved the Normal Saline Nebs!!!!

Humidifiers (we always had two going at all times), Normal Saline Nebs and having the oxygen humidified really helped to keep his secretions loose. When hospice set him up with oxygen it was not humidified and I had to ask for such. When it was not humidified his secretions started to become really thick, so we preferred humidified oxygen.

Sometimes we used to use an ambu mask to do Chest PT. It works perfect to help with Chest PT.

You can ask your nursing agency, hospice program or pulmonologist for one.

Coby loved to have chest PT in this natural positions…Just hanging on the couch with momma!

Here are three ways that we did vibration to keeps secretions loose and to soothe Coby… The first that way by using a big hand held back massager while he was laying on his changing table mat; the second was by using a back massager that is typically used for an adult on a chair but for Coby we put under a temperpedic pillow and then laid Coby on the pillow; the third is by using a tiny hand held back massager then one can by at CVS or Target…we used this ALL the time because it was so portable…As you can see from the photo, I would put him in the bassinet stroller and then just place this in there and worked fabulous!!!!

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