hey everyone,
i wanted to share some reflection i've had on the vest recently. i was recently on vacation for 10 days and did not take my vest. instead, i did 15 min. of albuterol/hypertonic saline (HS) and then about 15 minutes of flutter. (usually i do 30 min of the vest along with my albuterol and hypertonic.)
i was a little wary of my decision to not take my vest on vacation--there were many practical and logistical concerns that i had for not taking it--since i'd been using it so religiously the last 6 months or so. but then i reminded myself that i went years using my flutter as the only form of airway clearance and it worked well.
what surprised me on vacation was that i felt like i was able to get more stuff up when doing my HS by itself, and not doing it with my vest. then when i did the flutter, i was getting even more stuff up when i'd already gotten a lot up.
anyway, the "vacation" from the vest was a success. i felt great the whole time and we did a lot of good hikes that would have been tough for me had i not been feeling great. i was also glad that future vacations might not have to be hindered by me taking my vest with me. (please note, i wouldn't NOT take my vest just because it was a hassle.)
this experience has opened up my therapy options to me--which is good, because once i got the vest and was using it everyday, i felt like i would always have to use it every day. now i know that is not true--there are other things that work and are not necessarily inferior. i think other people might be having that experinece too, where they feel the vest is the end-all of clearance devices (it's good, don't get me wrong) and so they think there is no other option for them anymore.
my two cents--
i wanted to share some reflection i've had on the vest recently. i was recently on vacation for 10 days and did not take my vest. instead, i did 15 min. of albuterol/hypertonic saline (HS) and then about 15 minutes of flutter. (usually i do 30 min of the vest along with my albuterol and hypertonic.)
i was a little wary of my decision to not take my vest on vacation--there were many practical and logistical concerns that i had for not taking it--since i'd been using it so religiously the last 6 months or so. but then i reminded myself that i went years using my flutter as the only form of airway clearance and it worked well.
what surprised me on vacation was that i felt like i was able to get more stuff up when doing my HS by itself, and not doing it with my vest. then when i did the flutter, i was getting even more stuff up when i'd already gotten a lot up.
anyway, the "vacation" from the vest was a success. i felt great the whole time and we did a lot of good hikes that would have been tough for me had i not been feeling great. i was also glad that future vacations might not have to be hindered by me taking my vest with me. (please note, i wouldn't NOT take my vest just because it was a hassle.)
this experience has opened up my therapy options to me--which is good, because once i got the vest and was using it everyday, i felt like i would always have to use it every day. now i know that is not true--there are other things that work and are not necessarily inferior. i think other people might be having that experinece too, where they feel the vest is the end-all of clearance devices (it's good, don't get me wrong) and so they think there is no other option for them anymore.
my two cents--