Friday, July 6, 2012

Suction

Because of Nate's trach and overall respiratory weakness, his secretions have to be suctioned out periodically.  He can cough stuff up into the trach tube, but then it has nowhere to go.  So, we get the fun job of suctioning it out.  We use a suction machine attached to a catheter that goes right down his trach and sucks everything up.  If that sounds gross to you, it's because it is.

This has become a very normal part of all of our lives.  Nate will ask for suctions when he needs them and tell us if the suctions aren't doing their job and he needs a breathing treatment (it still makes me laugh to hear my two-year-old say "nebulizer"). 

The other day Nate's friend Holland was over and she had a little coughing fit.  Nate kept saying "suction, suction" because that is what he gets every time he coughs.  Holland's mom pretended to give her a suction but Nate wasn't fooled.  He kept pointing to the suction machine and insisting that's what she needed.  When no one went to go get it, he decided to take matters into his own hands.  He turned himself around, army crawled to the suction bag, and tried to open it up.  What a good friend.

Suctioning Mommy
Suctioning himself
This video was taken six months ago when Nate first started to pretend to suction himself and anyone else who would let him.  It's longer than it needs to be but you'll get the idea.

1 comment:

  1. It was hilarious how concerned he was about Holland's suction needs. He really is such a good friend!!

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