reflections on the vest

[littledebbie]

No offense taken Christian. i will say it is entirely possible I wasn't doing it right. I was doing it the same way they do it when I'm in the hospital though so I would be somewhat surprised if it was totally incorrect. However, even in the hospital they ended up switching me to either flutter or manual cpt becasue I was just non-productive with the vest and was a general pain in the as$ pateint to get to do it when accessed.

Bottom line...I found the vest uncomfortable and thought it felt some what assaulting and since I couldn't wait for it to be over I was not the least bit invested in it. again my point being....if you don't like it...you won't do it...hence it's not the best form of CPT for YOU.

 

[littledebbie]

No offense taken Christian. i will say it is entirely possible I wasn't doing it right. I was doing it the same way they do it when I'm in the hospital though so I would be somewhat surprised if it was totally incorrect. However, even in the hospital they ended up switching me to either flutter or manual cpt becasue I was just non-productive with the vest and was a general pain in the as$ pateint to get to do it when accessed.

Bottom line...I found the vest uncomfortable and thought it felt some what assaulting and since I couldn't wait for it to be over I was not the least bit invested in it. again my point being....if you don't like it...you won't do it...hence it's not the best form of CPT for YOU.

 

[LouLou]

I think there are some other variables you might not be considering Laura.

As you know I have been to Costa Rica. Upon return I also felt better than when I departed. Although I also did not bring my Vest (used Acapella), I did not attribute this healthy state to the lack of Vest. Is it possible? Sure, change can often do a person good.

Here are some points to consider:

1) I bet you ate fruit every morning with breakfast (can you claim this same healthy habit at home?) Maybe you even ate better at all meals?
2) I didn't drink milk while in CR because it isn't pastorized there and at home I drink 2 gallons a week. Although I don't believe milk to be a mucus producer I sometimes wonder if humans are not meant to drink cow's milk. Are you a big milk drinker? Or maybe there was something else you regularly have in the US that you didn't in CR.
3) I don't recall you living by the beach. You were by ocean water for days. Breathing it 24 hours a day! It's like a constant HTS treatment
4) From you pictures you seemed quite active... do you remain this active at home?
5) Stress wreaks havac on the lungs. <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060830/hl_nm/lungs_dc
">http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060830/hl_nm/lungs_dc
</a>I'm willing to bet you reduced your stress level while on vacation. Consider how you accomplished this and bring it into your daily/weekly routine back at home.

...you get the idea.

5) Also, like others have said, the flutter and Acapella require more participation. If you are a "strap on and go" Vest person with no induced mucus production at regular intervals I would deduce that the other mechanisms would be more beneficial to you as well. Learn to use the Vest correctly.

A few tips I learned from Scarlett81 and others.
1) Make sure your vest comes all the way up to your collarbone.
2) Follow Dr. Warwicks suggestion of frequency/pressure
3) If you follow #2, you'll do 6 sessions of 5 min's. Break between each 5 min. session and huff cough and spit 5 times.
4) Start to find your normal volume of mucus you can produce. Your AM amount will likely be different than your PM amount. Aim each treatment to meet or exceed these volume goals.
5) Do 5-10 min. of Acapella after the Vest to assure all loose mucus is out. My doctor swears that the Vest doesn't clear it just loosens the mucus. Since most of us are upper lobe effected, loosening and not removing can cause problems since gravity will move this infected mucus to our previously uninfected lower lobes.

 

[LouLou]

I think there are some other variables you might not be considering Laura.

As you know I have been to Costa Rica. Upon return I also felt better than when I departed. Although I also did not bring my Vest (used Acapella), I did not attribute this healthy state to the lack of Vest. Is it possible? Sure, change can often do a person good.

Here are some points to consider:

1) I bet you ate fruit every morning with breakfast (can you claim this same healthy habit at home?) Maybe you even ate better at all meals?
2) I didn't drink milk while in CR because it isn't pastorized there and at home I drink 2 gallons a week. Although I don't believe milk to be a mucus producer I sometimes wonder if humans are not meant to drink cow's milk. Are you a big milk drinker? Or maybe there was something else you regularly have in the US that you didn't in CR.
3) I don't recall you living by the beach. You were by ocean water for days. Breathing it 24 hours a day! It's like a constant HTS treatment
4) From you pictures you seemed quite active... do you remain this active at home?
5) Stress wreaks havac on the lungs. <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060830/hl_nm/lungs_dc
">http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060830/hl_nm/lungs_dc
</a>I'm willing to bet you reduced your stress level while on vacation. Consider how you accomplished this and bring it into your daily/weekly routine back at home.

...you get the idea.

5) Also, like others have said, the flutter and Acapella require more participation. If you are a "strap on and go" Vest person with no induced mucus production at regular intervals I would deduce that the other mechanisms would be more beneficial to you as well. Learn to use the Vest correctly.

A few tips I learned from Scarlett81 and others.
1) Make sure your vest comes all the way up to your collarbone.
2) Follow Dr. Warwicks suggestion of frequency/pressure
3) If you follow #2, you'll do 6 sessions of 5 min's. Break between each 5 min. session and huff cough and spit 5 times.
4) Start to find your normal volume of mucus you can produce. Your AM amount will likely be different than your PM amount. Aim each treatment to meet or exceed these volume goals.
5) Do 5-10 min. of Acapella after the Vest to assure all loose mucus is out. My doctor swears that the Vest doesn't clear it just loosens the mucus. Since most of us are upper lobe effected, loosening and not removing can cause problems since gravity will move this infected mucus to our previously uninfected lower lobes.

 

[LouLou]

I think there are some other variables you might not be considering Laura.

As you know I have been to Costa Rica. Upon return I also felt better than when I departed. Although I also did not bring my Vest (used Acapella), I did not attribute this healthy state to the lack of Vest. Is it possible? Sure, change can often do a person good.

Here are some points to consider:

1) I bet you ate fruit every morning with breakfast (can you claim this same healthy habit at home?) Maybe you even ate better at all meals?
2) I didn't drink milk while in CR because it isn't pastorized there and at home I drink 2 gallons a week. Although I don't believe milk to be a mucus producer I sometimes wonder if humans are not meant to drink cow's milk. Are you a big milk drinker? Or maybe there was something else you regularly have in the US that you didn't in CR.
3) I don't recall you living by the beach. You were by ocean water for days. Breathing it 24 hours a day! It's like a constant HTS treatment
4) From you pictures you seemed quite active... do you remain this active at home?
5) Stress wreaks havac on the lungs. <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060830/hl_nm/lungs_dc
">http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060830/hl_nm/lungs_dc
</a>I'm willing to bet you reduced your stress level while on vacation. Consider how you accomplished this and bring it into your daily/weekly routine back at home.

...you get the idea.

5) Also, like others have said, the flutter and Acapella require more participation. If you are a "strap on and go" Vest person with no induced mucus production at regular intervals I would deduce that the other mechanisms would be more beneficial to you as well. Learn to use the Vest correctly.

A few tips I learned from Scarlett81 and others.
1) Make sure your vest comes all the way up to your collarbone.
2) Follow Dr. Warwicks suggestion of frequency/pressure
3) If you follow #2, you'll do 6 sessions of 5 min's. Break between each 5 min. session and huff cough and spit 5 times.
4) Start to find your normal volume of mucus you can produce. Your AM amount will likely be different than your PM amount. Aim each treatment to meet or exceed these volume goals.
5) Do 5-10 min. of Acapella after the Vest to assure all loose mucus is out. My doctor swears that the Vest doesn't clear it just loosens the mucus. Since most of us are upper lobe effected, loosening and not removing can cause problems since gravity will move this infected mucus to our previously uninfected lower lobes.

 

[catboogie]

lauren,

thanks for your responce. you bring up a lot of good points. i did eat a lot more fruit than usual in C.R. (although, i've been working on that the last couple of months.) not sure about the milk thing...i don't drink a whole lot of milk as it is. i don't live on the ocean, but i have spent a lot of time there and have never noticed a significant change in my lungs because of it. we were very active, as i was before the trip. and stress is an excellent thing to bring up...i try to stay low stress but there's nothing quite like a vacation to do that for you.

i'm glad i posted this because its gotten me thinking that i could probably be doing a better job with my vest. i am bad at remembering to stop and cough as much as i should. although i haven't noticed any adverse effects from this, it is possible that its causing me to be less productive than i otherwise could. (that reminds me, the next version of the inCourage, and by this i don't mean a new model but rather working out some of the kinks, is supposedly going to have 5 minute coughing pauses automatically put into the quick start program to remind you to stop and cough!)

my main reason for the post was to express that i was happy my experiment without the vest had gone so well.

thanks, everyone, for your responces!

 

[catboogie]

lauren,

thanks for your responce. you bring up a lot of good points. i did eat a lot more fruit than usual in C.R. (although, i've been working on that the last couple of months.) not sure about the milk thing...i don't drink a whole lot of milk as it is. i don't live on the ocean, but i have spent a lot of time there and have never noticed a significant change in my lungs because of it. we were very active, as i was before the trip. and stress is an excellent thing to bring up...i try to stay low stress but there's nothing quite like a vacation to do that for you.

i'm glad i posted this because its gotten me thinking that i could probably be doing a better job with my vest. i am bad at remembering to stop and cough as much as i should. although i haven't noticed any adverse effects from this, it is possible that its causing me to be less productive than i otherwise could. (that reminds me, the next version of the inCourage, and by this i don't mean a new model but rather working out some of the kinks, is supposedly going to have 5 minute coughing pauses automatically put into the quick start program to remind you to stop and cough!)

my main reason for the post was to express that i was happy my experiment without the vest had gone so well.

thanks, everyone, for your responces!

 

[catboogie]

lauren,

thanks for your responce. you bring up a lot of good points. i did eat a lot more fruit than usual in C.R. (although, i've been working on that the last couple of months.) not sure about the milk thing...i don't drink a whole lot of milk as it is. i don't live on the ocean, but i have spent a lot of time there and have never noticed a significant change in my lungs because of it. we were very active, as i was before the trip. and stress is an excellent thing to bring up...i try to stay low stress but there's nothing quite like a vacation to do that for you.

i'm glad i posted this because its gotten me thinking that i could probably be doing a better job with my vest. i am bad at remembering to stop and cough as much as i should. although i haven't noticed any adverse effects from this, it is possible that its causing me to be less productive than i otherwise could. (that reminds me, the next version of the inCourage, and by this i don't mean a new model but rather working out some of the kinks, is supposedly going to have 5 minute coughing pauses automatically put into the quick start program to remind you to stop and cough!)

my main reason for the post was to express that i was happy my experiment without the vest had gone so well.

thanks, everyone, for your responces!

 

[65rosessamurai]

Lately, I've gotten a little curious about how the vest works.
I was wondering what frequency range and pressure ranges it has. Also, I was wondering if it feels anything like going to a rock concert and sitting in the front row seats, where you can "Feel" the bass drum?!
Though, working in a company which deals with ultrasonic has also been related to the increase of my curiosity.

 

[65rosessamurai]

Lately, I've gotten a little curious about how the vest works.
I was wondering what frequency range and pressure ranges it has. Also, I was wondering if it feels anything like going to a rock concert and sitting in the front row seats, where you can "Feel" the bass drum?!
Though, working in a company which deals with ultrasonic has also been related to the increase of my curiosity.

 

[65rosessamurai]

Lately, I've gotten a little curious about how the vest works.
I was wondering what frequency range and pressure ranges it has. Also, I was wondering if it feels anything like going to a rock concert and sitting in the front row seats, where you can "Feel" the bass drum?!
Though, working in a company which deals with ultrasonic has also been related to the increase of my curiosity.