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Member
Posts: 27
Location: SugarLand, Texas | Hi everyone and thanks so much for all your encouragement and prayers. Well its been almost a week since Deonc's Trach and G tube surgery and she is doing great. They talked to me today and we are getting ready to learn the trach care and hopefully have her home by the first week in January. I am so excited but also terrified. I know alot of the parents on here have experience with Trach Care so any insight would be wonderful. Again God is so good and the power of prayer is a wonderful thing. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 971
 
Location: nixa mo | So glad you'll be taking your little one home soon. It's scary taking any new baby home let alone having learn trach and g-tube care. I'm sure you'll do great. |
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Regular
Posts: 87
Location: Springfield, MO | Hi! Collin has had a trach since he was a month old and he's almost three. I am happy to share or answer any questions for you about his trach care/changes, etc. My email address is [email protected]. You can also check out www.tracheostomy.com. It is a great site with tons of good information.
We have a trach care box. Just a clear shoe box size with the top attached (Sterilite - I picked up at WalMart.) In there, we keep 2X2's, sterile q-tips, collars and our pre-made (done weekly by us) jars of trach care solution. One is half-strength peroxide and the other is just sterile water. We do trach care once a day but others may do it twice. I find having the stuff all together makes it easier of an evening for us. We usually do trach care right after Collin gets his bath so the wet collar doesn't irritate his short neck. :-) I restock the box when it is running low or on the weekend.
Like I said, feel free to email me with specific questions. It's an adjustment, but you will do fine!!
~Sarah
Edited by Collin's Mom 2007-11-28 4:35 PM
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Veteran
Posts: 213
Location: Abingdon, VA | Hello!I'm so glad you are going to have your baby home soon:) Zoe has had her trach and mic-key button since she was two months and is now 13 months old. I agree with Sarah, it is much easier if you keep things together. We also have a little storage box with three small pull out drawers to keep things in. We also do her trach care after her bath each night. She only needs to have hers done once a day because there usually isn't much in the way of secretions coming out around her trach. We use sterile Q-tips and what are called saline bullets to clean around Zoe's. It's just a little 3ml package of saline, so that you can open a fresh one each night. We only use 1/2 strength peroxide if she has an infection because otherwise it seems to irritate her skin too much and she gets red at the site. We only change her trach collar once a week unless it gets dirty or stretched out because we have found nice ones that are very moisture resistant on the inside and I cover the outside while we bathe her to make sure it doesn't get wet. I also like to put nystatin cream on the inside of her trach collar around her neck since it is so short and she sweats a good deal, that helps keep her from having yeast around her neck. The G-tubes are easy unless they start to leak onto the skin, then you have to be very careful to keep the skin at the site clean and dry or you will have breakdown. We also use saline, sterile Q-tips, and 2x2 drain sponges around there. If your daughter has any sort of an attitude like mine, I don't suggest that you change her trach alone. It can be done and some babies are easy for that, but it is much easier with two people to keep things sterile and my daughter's is getting harder to change all the time. She throws a big fit now so I would never attempt it alone on Zoe unless it was an emergency. It's a little overwhelming at first, but you will get a routine and things will become old hat for you before long. If you have any other questions feel free to email me on here or at [email protected] anytime. Good luck and keep us updated! |
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Member
Posts: 27
Location: SugarLand, Texas | Thanks for the tips and tricks. While I was at the hospital this morning they started showing us how to do Trach Care. It seems so overwhelming because Deonc does not like the process at all. She fights and desats. Of course the desating made me so nervous. Reading your comments gives me alot of encouragement. One day at time. |
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Veteran
Posts: 213
Location: Abingdon, VA | Don't worry, it does get easier! You will be amazed at how much she progresses once you finally get home. It is a whole new world for you both. Once you are more comfortable with it, she will be too. Distraction is also a wonderful tool for trach care time. Actually Zoe loves paper so we give her the packages from the sterile Q-tips while we clean and it keeps her entertained enough that she doesn't fight or try to undo everything that I have been trying to accomplish:D |
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Jarcho Levin Syndrome
