CPT
The average lifespan of a CFer has drastically improved over the past decade or so as new therapies and medicines have been in circulation. One therapy that has been around for a long time is chest physiotherapy (CPT). Regardless of the severity of the disease, this seems to be the one preventative therapy done on every single CFer. With so many unknowns with Cystic Fibrosis, it's nice to know that one thing is actually consistent across the board.
Manual CPT consists of beating on each section of the lung in order to break up the sticky mucus. For an infant, we need to spend 2 minutes beating on 12 different spots to properly break up any mucus. Manual CPT can be completed by hand, or by using a hand percussor (shown below).
This means 24 minutes of beating on my little girls chest and back; definitely not an easy task with a squirmy 3 month old. I do CPT with Sienna twice a day, every day, and generally plan it around when she eats (so food doesn't come back up!). Sometimes we last 10 minutes, and sometimes we get through the full 24. She's a pretty good sport about it. I decided to start CPT early on with her because I want her to get used to it, and I also want it worked into our morning and evening routines. If she gets sick, we will increase CPT to three or four times a day. Here's a snapshot of some CPT in action the other night.
In the US, once a CFer is big enough, he/she may get a vest to complete CPT instead of having to do this manually. Every clinic has their own protocol for when it's best to start a CFer with a vest; our clinic must love the vest because we were told she could potentially get one around 6 months old. I believe she just needs to have good head control and a big enough chest size for their smallest size to fit. I believe a vest may run about $17,000...so we will have to work with Aetna and the vest company to see what will be covered by insurance and what we will be responsible for paying. I'm hoping my $2,500 "medical device" annual allowance isn't the case for vest coverage, as that's a steep out of pocket expense!
There is also a lot of debate around the effectiveness of CPT using the vest over the manual way. Many countries don't believe in using the vest and therefore don't offer it (or cover it). I'll be following the research on this topic to ensure we are making the best decision for Sienna.
Manual CPT consists of beating on each section of the lung in order to break up the sticky mucus. For an infant, we need to spend 2 minutes beating on 12 different spots to properly break up any mucus. Manual CPT can be completed by hand, or by using a hand percussor (shown below).
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| Rubber hand percussor |
This means 24 minutes of beating on my little girls chest and back; definitely not an easy task with a squirmy 3 month old. I do CPT with Sienna twice a day, every day, and generally plan it around when she eats (so food doesn't come back up!). Sometimes we last 10 minutes, and sometimes we get through the full 24. She's a pretty good sport about it. I decided to start CPT early on with her because I want her to get used to it, and I also want it worked into our morning and evening routines. If she gets sick, we will increase CPT to three or four times a day. Here's a snapshot of some CPT in action the other night.
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| 3 of the 12 positions we do |
In the US, once a CFer is big enough, he/she may get a vest to complete CPT instead of having to do this manually. Every clinic has their own protocol for when it's best to start a CFer with a vest; our clinic must love the vest because we were told she could potentially get one around 6 months old. I believe she just needs to have good head control and a big enough chest size for their smallest size to fit. I believe a vest may run about $17,000...so we will have to work with Aetna and the vest company to see what will be covered by insurance and what we will be responsible for paying. I'm hoping my $2,500 "medical device" annual allowance isn't the case for vest coverage, as that's a steep out of pocket expense!
There is also a lot of debate around the effectiveness of CPT using the vest over the manual way. Many countries don't believe in using the vest and therefore don't offer it (or cover it). I'll be following the research on this topic to ensure we are making the best decision for Sienna.
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