"Nebby" Woes
As usual, I'm behind on posting. We've had a lot of changes over the past several months and I've been meaning to come back here and update. So here I am with updates!
In June, I wrote about changing up our preventative routine here. At the time, Sienna was using her vest once daily for 30 minutes and that was it. At our June appointment, her Pulmonologist recommended we do her physiotherapy (vest) twice a day and add in nebulizing 5% hypertonic saline (HTS) during those sessions.
It was easy for us to jump to twice daily vest sessions. She doesn't fight the vest. She gets to watch a show/movie on tv or play with her kindle. The only adjustment was ensuring we got her up in time to fit in the vest session before leaving for work/preschool. Because of this, we started two physiotherapy sessions daily right away.
But, if there is one thing Sienna does not like, it's her nebulizer. I'm not sure if it's the machine, or the medicine/saline, or the noise, or something else, but she does. not. like. it. So we have eased into this one more slowly, just adding in one neb session during vest time once a day. I'll admit that the first month using the neb daily was hell. It was emotional and it was frustrating. She hated it and she fought us for the 20 minutes it ran. She cried "no thank you" (which completely broke our hearts!) and pushed us away. We tried all the tricks to get her to cooperate - letting her take control over it by holding it/pressing the button herself, rewarding with small prizes, rewarding with food, using a fun fish mask, using a mouthpiece, practicing on her friends (stuffed animals) or Joe/me, letting her turn on/off throughout for "breaks" - but absolutely nothing helped during that first month. I reached out to other moms for advice since we were getting close to our breaking point. I was told to give it time. It would get better.
Thankfully, roughly 4 months later, we are doing a little better. We now do the neb with every vest session. There are still tears. She still requests "no nebby," but seems to make it through without melting down if we distract her. Because of this, Joe or I always sit with her during treatments 1) to just be there with her and 2) to hold the neb cup. She doesn't like the face mask, but will tolerate us holding the neb cup up with the mouthpiece. She'll sometimes use the mouthpiece, but generally, we just hold it to her nose/mouth. Frankly, most nights from 6:30 - 7, you'll find me on the couch next to Sienna, holding her neb as she shakes, with Tess on my lap/nursing, and Joba curled up alongside.
It was easy for us to jump to twice daily vest sessions. She doesn't fight the vest. She gets to watch a show/movie on tv or play with her kindle. The only adjustment was ensuring we got her up in time to fit in the vest session before leaving for work/preschool. Because of this, we started two physiotherapy sessions daily right away.
But, if there is one thing Sienna does not like, it's her nebulizer. I'm not sure if it's the machine, or the medicine/saline, or the noise, or something else, but she does. not. like. it. So we have eased into this one more slowly, just adding in one neb session during vest time once a day. I'll admit that the first month using the neb daily was hell. It was emotional and it was frustrating. She hated it and she fought us for the 20 minutes it ran. She cried "no thank you" (which completely broke our hearts!) and pushed us away. We tried all the tricks to get her to cooperate - letting her take control over it by holding it/pressing the button herself, rewarding with small prizes, rewarding with food, using a fun fish mask, using a mouthpiece, practicing on her friends (stuffed animals) or Joe/me, letting her turn on/off throughout for "breaks" - but absolutely nothing helped during that first month. I reached out to other moms for advice since we were getting close to our breaking point. I was told to give it time. It would get better.
Thankfully, roughly 4 months later, we are doing a little better. We now do the neb with every vest session. There are still tears. She still requests "no nebby," but seems to make it through without melting down if we distract her. Because of this, Joe or I always sit with her during treatments 1) to just be there with her and 2) to hold the neb cup. She doesn't like the face mask, but will tolerate us holding the neb cup up with the mouthpiece. She'll sometimes use the mouthpiece, but generally, we just hold it to her nose/mouth. Frankly, most nights from 6:30 - 7, you'll find me on the couch next to Sienna, holding her neb as she shakes, with Tess on my lap/nursing, and Joba curled up alongside.
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| Treatment time together |
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| Treatment time |
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