NEED HELP with ventilator weaning…..

I remember that feeling VERY well! It was AWEFUL!! The only thing I can suggest is to tell her that during the weaning process, she WILL feel tired and scared, like there is a vise tightening around her chest as she gets tired. No one told me this during the weaning process. I was told they were doing breathing tests. That’s it. Try to remind her that it will take some time. Try to remember to breathe slow and even. I don’t think it matters if she breathes through her nose or her mouth as long as the breaths are slow and even. Tell her you understand that it is frustrating, especially when you are getting different answers from different RT’s.

She WILL get off the vent. It will just take some time. Tell her she is doing wonderful!

God bless,
Tonya Correll

With me, I think the thoughts of not being able to breath will be with me till I die. There were lots of times that I thought I wasn’t getting enough oxygen when on the ventilator. There were a couple of times that I would hold my breath which would set off the alarm on the ventilator machine so that I would get help from a tech, like being turned, etc. I remember being completely parralized. so that by not being able to speak, or move any part of the body to activate the call button, that you try to come up with anything to get someones attention. I too was having a bout of pneumonia prior to getting GBS, however I wasn’t aware of it, and once the fluids were pumped out of one lung, it helped a lot. They wondered why I was using 80% oxygen & found the fluid in the lungs. I also had trouble getting in sync with the machine.

Dear Pat,

Being able to breathe by myself occupied just about all my thoughts until I had the tube removed. I was on a ventilator for 9 weeks with many ups and downs, like the others have said. I had all the same frustrations and many times when I wasn’t able to breathe properly (like when my tube was blocked by secretions). But I was helped lots by a speech therapist who one day looked at me and told me I was not breathing properly and reminded me to draw in the air deeply and smoothly and to exhale smoothly until all out. I was breathing too shallow, as one tends to do when one is worrying. The therapist also confirmed that breathing from different positions is helpful to strengthen the diaphragm muscles, in sitting up position for example. She also did some limited breathing exercises with me which involved very slight pressure on the chest while breathing and very few repetitions at the beginning. I don’t know what is right in your Aunt’s case, but just to say that there are people who can help.

Another thought is that with the ventilator one can feel and hear the rush of the air and it is very comforting. When one tries oxygen masks or other things just after, it naturally feels as if you are not breathing properly because the sound and feel is not there. Finally, a thing to watch out for if she stays much longer is her ears. In my hospital stay, we all forgot to clean my ears out and after awhile they became totally clogged and I could not hear myself breathing even with a ventilator.

I remember my speech therapist tried her best to get me to talk with the trache, but to no avail, as I would get so short of breath, that she would remove what ever apparatus it was that she inserted into the tubing, when I started crying. Eventually, they found out that one of the trache pieces was the wrong size, like too small, but by the time that it was discovered, I was far enough along that the trache was removed. I don’t know which was the greatest feeling, being able to breath on my own again or being able to speak again.

Dear Pat,

I had several relapses myself while trying to wean off the ventilator. Many things can trigger it and it doesn’t mean a real relapse. Once, I just started coughing nonstop from some sleep medication they had given me. The coughing was not audible to others so they didn’t really know what was happening. However, the next day I was able to get back to the weaning process. I had all sorts of problems with air flow through the tube. There was a fitting issue as Joe had. Plus, I had secretions collecting on the inflated portion of the tube that would move down and block the breathing passage. So it could be many things that create these setbacks and many can be just temporary. While all of these situations are very serious to be dealt with immediately, they don’t mean that the weaning process has to be started from the beginning again.

Frank