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The Vest
- Thread starter anonymous
- Start date
It is about $15,000. I think that the vest companies will work with you if you need one. It looks like our insurance is going to pay for it. We got one within a couple of weeks after my doctor requested it. The vest company let us have it without ever receiving any money. They take care of all of the insurance details. If my insurance refuses to pay, then they will make an appeal. If they still won't pay, then there are payment plans/options or you could just return the vest. We are in the US, so that may be why we didn't have any problem getting one. But I would imagine that for those of you living in other countries, they would still be willing to work out a payment plan. Can't hurt to ask. My son is 3 years old, just recently diagnosed. His symptoms, which led to his diagnosis, were purely intestinal. He does not cough after using the vest, but he did not cough before (even the few months we did chest PT). I am THRILLED with the machine. Many times he falls asleep during his night treatment. He is able to move around (limited range) and play while he does his treatments. If we wanted, he could also do his aerosol treatments at the same time. I am very interested to read all the posts about the vest. Right now, it works for us. However, like everyone else, I am trying to keep informed to make sure he gets the best treatment possible. Oh, and I think your child would have to be at least 3 years old to use the vest. It is not supposed to be good for younger children due to the risk of shaken baby syndrome.Darlason, 3 with cfFirst Time to Post! <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
Hi, After reading this post a few times i decided to give my input. The vest doesnt make me cough either ( i can do that pretty well on my own) but then again, it isnt supposed to make you cough, it's supposed to loosen the mucus in the lungs and surprisingly after giving it a while , it has done that for me. At first i didnt like it at all, I still dont like having to sit there while i use it, but the benefits i get make me do it, but i notice now after using it a few months i am starting to cough out crap that never came out before. I never used to use any type of percussion till recently, never believed any of it would beneift me, but now that i have been using the vest i know it really does benefit me a lot. Only problem now is.... i can tell a difference if i skip a day, i feel a bit more congested. To Dave, the vest that i have ( the first style that came out) was $15,000 I dont know if the price came down by now, it may have.~Diane 39 / cf / diabetes / b.cepacia
HOLY CRAP $15,000 I live in Canada so I don't know what it would cost me in Canadian (holy crap again) I will have to talk to my doctor and see if the Canadian CF Foundation will cover this or my group insurance at work.Dave 29 w/cf<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif" border="0">
AbsintheSorrow
New member
Heehee! So I have a fanclub... and the fans are also fans of each other. Yay!! <img src="i/expressions/rose.gif" border="0">
My son, who is almost 16, has had the Vest for four years. He uses it for 20-30 minutes in the morning and gets his Pulmozyme dose during that time. In the evening, though, we usually do standard percussion (CPT). If we're away from home, Jordan uses the Acapella, which works much like the Flutter, but is easier to use correctly, according to our cf doctor.
Jordan has mixed feelings about the Vest. It makes him cough more, and he's not convinced that it's a useful cough. My impression is that the Vest and CPT act somewhat differently and that the combination works better than either alone. For whatever it's worth, the lower-airway score from Jordan's PFTs began rising within a month of the time he started using the Vest and has continued to rise until reaching the normal range for a kid of his size. That may be a coincidence, since he started to run a lot and to take Biaxin (similar to Zithromax) on a maintenance basis at about the same time, but I suspect that all three changes contributed to the improvement.
The Vest is expensive, and even after it's paid for, you don't own it. Advanced Respiratory, the company that makes it, offers the equipment only as a "lifetime lease". This is not all bad, since any repairs or adjustments are made by the company for free (as a child grows, he or she will need to be refitted). In addition, the company has had a policy of never requiring a patient who has been provided with a Vest to return the equipment, even if insurance doesn't end up paying. You may be asked to contribute something toward the balance, but if that is a hardship for you, the company will not insist.
Hope this helps.
Bambi, Jordan's mom
Jordan has mixed feelings about the Vest. It makes him cough more, and he's not convinced that it's a useful cough. My impression is that the Vest and CPT act somewhat differently and that the combination works better than either alone. For whatever it's worth, the lower-airway score from Jordan's PFTs began rising within a month of the time he started using the Vest and has continued to rise until reaching the normal range for a kid of his size. That may be a coincidence, since he started to run a lot and to take Biaxin (similar to Zithromax) on a maintenance basis at about the same time, but I suspect that all three changes contributed to the improvement.
The Vest is expensive, and even after it's paid for, you don't own it. Advanced Respiratory, the company that makes it, offers the equipment only as a "lifetime lease". This is not all bad, since any repairs or adjustments are made by the company for free (as a child grows, he or she will need to be refitted). In addition, the company has had a policy of never requiring a patient who has been provided with a Vest to return the equipment, even if insurance doesn't end up paying. You may be asked to contribute something toward the balance, but if that is a hardship for you, the company will not insist.
Hope this helps.
Bambi, Jordan's mom
Magerly111
New member
Just a sidenote to everyone who uses/used the vest and did not cough much: You have to do the "huffy breathing" (I call it that) to kinda force a cough out of you. In other words, you know how when someone does chest pt on you, and they say "take a deep breath" and you breathe out and they shake you...well you kinda gotta breath out like that to force out a cough. You're also supposed to try and cough after a certain amount of time. If you have done this and it still doesn't work, you might need the vest to be tighter on you, or a higher pressure. Although, in any case, everyone is different, but I figured I'd note that in case some people didn't know. I didn't know I had to do that for like the first year I had the vest...lol.
On the other hand, some days it just feels like it does nothing, and I wish I had a pair of hands that could clap my back and sides for me lol. I'd do chest pt over the vest any day. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
On the other hand, some days it just feels like it does nothing, and I wish I had a pair of hands that could clap my back and sides for me lol. I'd do chest pt over the vest any day. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
I have the VEST also and truthfully i would be lost without it! LIke Kim mentioned you have to cough while you are using it. I do my nebulizer while i am doing it and i feel that it helps me bring up more junk..... I think its a great invention and i think anyone should at least give it a try.
Emily65Roses
New member
I hated the Vest. Hated hated hated it. Would never use it again in my life. And even I will tell you it's worth trying. A lot of people live by and love it. Just as I hate the Vest, I'm sure there are people who hate manual therapy (my PT of choice). Also it's got the added plus of being able to do it without anyone else's help. That whole freedom independence deal. The same sort of reason that I love my port. <3
I just got the Vest yesterday. Just curious...from those who like it, how long did it take for it to have some effect? Did you FEEL a difference, or did you just have improved PFT's, etc...?
The therapist who came to show me how to use it said lots of people with CF seem to experiment with different pressures and speeds. What settings have people found most effective? He told me to do 10 min at 10Hz speed and a pressure of 6, then 10 min with the speed up to 14. Twice a day. (I'm a 5'11", 165lb. guy, if that matters at all, and have always been relatively healthy, lung-wise, for a CF'er).
For those who didn't like it...why? Was it that you noticed no difference and it was therefore an unecessary hassle, or was it something worse?
Thanks,
Rick
The therapist who came to show me how to use it said lots of people with CF seem to experiment with different pressures and speeds. What settings have people found most effective? He told me to do 10 min at 10Hz speed and a pressure of 6, then 10 min with the speed up to 14. Twice a day. (I'm a 5'11", 165lb. guy, if that matters at all, and have always been relatively healthy, lung-wise, for a CF'er).
For those who didn't like it...why? Was it that you noticed no difference and it was therefore an unecessary hassle, or was it something worse?
Thanks,
Rick
Rick,
my husband had to increase the "pressure" or hardness or whatever you want to call it, of the vest because he wasn't noticing too much either (hes 6ft, 185-190 lbs) so he's kind of in the same boat you are. He also does his Pulmozyme at the same time. At first he was telling me it was silly and he didn't notice anything, but after about 2 weeks he said he noticed he could breath deeper much easier and without coughing.
Maybe just give it some time, and evaluate after that.
Julie
my husband had to increase the "pressure" or hardness or whatever you want to call it, of the vest because he wasn't noticing too much either (hes 6ft, 185-190 lbs) so he's kind of in the same boat you are. He also does his Pulmozyme at the same time. At first he was telling me it was silly and he didn't notice anything, but after about 2 weeks he said he noticed he could breath deeper much easier and without coughing.
Maybe just give it some time, and evaluate after that.
Julie
Emily65Roses
New member
I didn't like it for several reasons. One, is that whoever invented it must've been a guy, because there was so accounting for anyone with breasts. Two, it made me nauseous. When I was done shaking for half an hour and got up, I always felt kind of queasy. Three, it was just way too big and constricting and I hated the way I felt (constricting-wise) when I used it. I've just personally always preferred manual therapy.
I'm living in Ireland and we can't get it here either. I asked my physiotherapist and she said we don't use it because theres no scientific evidence that it works! I'd love to have it. I emailed vest.com and the price is $10,000.
Also just curious, Is emily's mom, emily65roses mom or absinthesorrow's mom?
Rosie 17 w/cf <img src="i/expressions/rose.gif" border="0">
Also just curious, Is emily's mom, emily65roses mom or absinthesorrow's mom?
Rosie 17 w/cf <img src="i/expressions/rose.gif" border="0">
Magerly111
New member
I'll tell you what...I hate the vest. I agree with everything Emily said. I had to get a bigger vest because I was using a child's size, cuz I'm a small person...and it squeezed my boobs so hard it hurt! So now I have a bigger one. I only do it because I don't have people that can do manual cpt. I mean, my boyfriend could...but his arms get tired too easily, and I don't see him too often. I don't like it though. I have to use it on the lower speeds cuz I feel sick if I do it too high, and its just soo time consuming. I hate sitting there for a half hour, bouncing up and down. I can't really do anything while I'm doing the vest cuz of the "motion sickness." Grant it, I do get some good coughs with it, but I wish there was an easier way.