Vest and kids - questions

[angelsmom]

For those with young children who use the vest, could you please enlighten me a bit? Forgive my ignorance and perhaps these are silly questions, but I am very curious just how beneficial using the vest would be for my 4-year old right now when she isn't coughing at all and appears to have no lung issues.

Does your child cough a lot in general or is his/her baseline "no cough"?

During or after use of the vest, do they cough and if so, are they coughing up mucous?

I understand that use of the vest and various nebs are seen as preventative, but if there is no existing lung damage and lung function is 100%, what exactly is the vest doing for your child other than just getting them used to using it?

Why do some CF docs recommend a vest at a young age while others wait until age 3-5 (or beyond)?

Thanks for any insight here.

 

[angelsmom]

For those with young children who use the vest, could you please enlighten me a bit? Forgive my ignorance and perhaps these are silly questions, but I am very curious just how beneficial using the vest would be for my 4-year old right now when she isn't coughing at all and appears to have no lung issues.

Does your child cough a lot in general or is his/her baseline "no cough"?

During or after use of the vest, do they cough and if so, are they coughing up mucous?

I understand that use of the vest and various nebs are seen as preventative, but if there is no existing lung damage and lung function is 100%, what exactly is the vest doing for your child other than just getting them used to using it?

Why do some CF docs recommend a vest at a young age while others wait until age 3-5 (or beyond)?

Thanks for any insight here.

 

[angelsmom]

For those with young children who use the vest, could you please enlighten me a bit? Forgive my ignorance and perhaps these are silly questions, but I am very curious just how beneficial using the vest would be for my 4-year old right now when she isn't coughing at all and appears to have no lung issues.

Does your child cough a lot in general or is his/her baseline "no cough"?

During or after use of the vest, do they cough and if so, are they coughing up mucous?

I understand that use of the vest and various nebs are seen as preventative, but if there is no existing lung damage and lung function is 100%, what exactly is the vest doing for your child other than just getting them used to using it?

Why do some CF docs recommend a vest at a young age while others wait until age 3-5 (or beyond)?

Thanks for any insight here.

 

[angelsmom]

For those with young children who use the vest, could you please enlighten me a bit? Forgive my ignorance and perhaps these are silly questions, but I am very curious just how beneficial using the vest would be for my 4-year old right now when she isn't coughing at all and appears to have no lung issues.

Does your child cough a lot in general or is his/her baseline "no cough"?

During or after use of the vest, do they cough and if so, are they coughing up mucous?

I understand that use of the vest and various nebs are seen as preventative, but if there is no existing lung damage and lung function is 100%, what exactly is the vest doing for your child other than just getting them used to using it?

Why do some CF docs recommend a vest at a young age while others wait until age 3-5 (or beyond)?

Thanks for any insight here.

 

[angelsmom]

For those with young children who use the vest, could you please enlighten me a bit? Forgive my ignorance and perhaps these are silly questions, but I am very curious just how beneficial using the vest would be for my 4-year old right now when she isn't coughing at all and appears to have no lung issues.

Does your child cough a lot in general or is his/her baseline "no cough"?

During or after use of the vest, do they cough and if so, are they coughing up mucous?

I understand that use of the vest and various nebs are seen as preventative, but if there is no existing lung damage and lung function is 100%, what exactly is the vest doing for your child other than just getting them used to using it?

Why do some CF docs recommend a vest at a young age while others wait until age 3-5 (or beyond)?

Thanks for any insight here.

 

[Ratatosk]

To be proactive -- preventative maintenance. To keep things moving. When DS was diagnosed at birth we did CPT 3-4 times a day. Nowdays we do the vest twice a day for 30 minutes and we do CPT in the early morning before he wakes up.

DS doesn't cough. When he does, it usually means he's sick and we increase vest/cpt treatments and nebs to 4 times a day.

 

[Ratatosk]

To be proactive -- preventative maintenance. To keep things moving. When DS was diagnosed at birth we did CPT 3-4 times a day. Nowdays we do the vest twice a day for 30 minutes and we do CPT in the early morning before he wakes up.

DS doesn't cough. When he does, it usually means he's sick and we increase vest/cpt treatments and nebs to 4 times a day.

 

[Ratatosk]

To be proactive -- preventative maintenance. To keep things moving. When DS was diagnosed at birth we did CPT 3-4 times a day. Nowdays we do the vest twice a day for 30 minutes and we do CPT in the early morning before he wakes up.

DS doesn't cough. When he does, it usually means he's sick and we increase vest/cpt treatments and nebs to 4 times a day.

 

[Ratatosk]

To be proactive -- preventative maintenance. To keep things moving. When DS was diagnosed at birth we did CPT 3-4 times a day. Nowdays we do the vest twice a day for 30 minutes and we do CPT in the early morning before he wakes up.

DS doesn't cough. When he does, it usually means he's sick and we increase vest/cpt treatments and nebs to 4 times a day.

 

[Ratatosk]

To be proactive -- preventative maintenance. To keep things moving. When DS was diagnosed at birth we did CPT 3-4 times a day. Nowdays we do the vest twice a day for 30 minutes and we do CPT in the early morning before he wakes up.

DS doesn't cough. When he does, it usually means he's sick and we increase vest/cpt treatments and nebs to 4 times a day.

 

[ktsmom]

Our daughter was diagnosed at 3 years old. She cultured PA at her first visit and was immediately prescribed the vest, among other things.

She does not cough at all, pretty much never has. She does not cough during the vest. I have her cough on purpose (we are working on the huff cough technique) after vesting.

I would say my daughter also does not have any lung issues. About 6 months ago I asked our doc the same questions as you are asking here, why do it, why different standards of care, etc. His answer was that <b>lung damage is happening</b>, even if it is not apparent to us right now. It just is. As to the different standards of care, I would suggest that not all clinics have the same outcome.

So pretty much it is a leap of faith for us that all of this work is doing something good. And we have just accepted that, although it took us some time emotionally to get there.

 

[ktsmom]

Our daughter was diagnosed at 3 years old. She cultured PA at her first visit and was immediately prescribed the vest, among other things.

She does not cough at all, pretty much never has. She does not cough during the vest. I have her cough on purpose (we are working on the huff cough technique) after vesting.

I would say my daughter also does not have any lung issues. About 6 months ago I asked our doc the same questions as you are asking here, why do it, why different standards of care, etc. His answer was that <b>lung damage is happening</b>, even if it is not apparent to us right now. It just is. As to the different standards of care, I would suggest that not all clinics have the same outcome.

So pretty much it is a leap of faith for us that all of this work is doing something good. And we have just accepted that, although it took us some time emotionally to get there.

 

[ktsmom]

Our daughter was diagnosed at 3 years old. She cultured PA at her first visit and was immediately prescribed the vest, among other things.

She does not cough at all, pretty much never has. She does not cough during the vest. I have her cough on purpose (we are working on the huff cough technique) after vesting.

I would say my daughter also does not have any lung issues. About 6 months ago I asked our doc the same questions as you are asking here, why do it, why different standards of care, etc. His answer was that <b>lung damage is happening</b>, even if it is not apparent to us right now. It just is. As to the different standards of care, I would suggest that not all clinics have the same outcome.

So pretty much it is a leap of faith for us that all of this work is doing something good. And we have just accepted that, although it took us some time emotionally to get there.

 

[ktsmom]

Our daughter was diagnosed at 3 years old. She cultured PA at her first visit and was immediately prescribed the vest, among other things.

She does not cough at all, pretty much never has. She does not cough during the vest. I have her cough on purpose (we are working on the huff cough technique) after vesting.

I would say my daughter also does not have any lung issues. About 6 months ago I asked our doc the same questions as you are asking here, why do it, why different standards of care, etc. His answer was that <b>lung damage is happening</b>, even if it is not apparent to us right now. It just is. As to the different standards of care, I would suggest that not all clinics have the same outcome.

So pretty much it is a leap of faith for us that all of this work is doing something good. And we have just accepted that, although it took us some time emotionally to get there.

 

[ktsmom]

Our daughter was diagnosed at 3 years old. She cultured PA at her first visit and was immediately prescribed the vest, among other things.

She does not cough at all, pretty much never has. She does not cough during the vest. I have her cough on purpose (we are working on the huff cough technique) after vesting.

I would say my daughter also does not have any lung issues. About 6 months ago I asked our doc the same questions as you are asking here, why do it, why different standards of care, etc. His answer was that <b>lung damage is happening</b>, even if it is not apparent to us right now. It just is. As to the different standards of care, I would suggest that not all clinics have the same outcome.

So pretty much it is a leap of faith for us that all of this work is doing something good. And we have just accepted that, although it took us some time emotionally to get there.

 

[Mommafirst]

MyVest and kids - questions

My two year old has had the vest since she was 14 months old. She has a "no cough" baseline, and a bronchoscopy shows no current lung involvement. The problem is that lung involvement comes on slowly. You aren't going to notice it setting in. And these kids still have thicker stickier mucous. My daughter still cultures staph regularly even though her lungs look great. Given a chance, the staph and other germs will just grow and grow in the lungs and make the lung involved quicker.

The simplest explanation I was given for the vest is that the lungs and airways are sort of like a tree. You have the trunk, and branches that get smaller and smaller and they go out to the lungs. In order to keep bugs from settling into the lungs, regularly "shaking" the different branches is an important component. With manual CPT we can get to all the different spots well, but we can't easily (and standardly) shake in the varying frequencies that are necessary to get it all. The vest allows a routine that will vary up the frequency of the shaking to get the wide "trunk" and all the smaller "branches" alike. This is important now (pre lung involvement) and important later (with lung involvement).

I'd also say that I really appreciate the freedom the vest has given me as the caregiver. CPT took a lot of time and was tiring on my arm, plus I always felt like I might be doing it wrong. I sit with my daughter most of the time during her vest treatments, but if I need to get up to attend to my other kids (what parent can sit for 25 uninterupted minutes at a time? <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> ) I can without ruining her treatment.

 

[Mommafirst]

MyVest and kids - questions

My two year old has had the vest since she was 14 months old. She has a "no cough" baseline, and a bronchoscopy shows no current lung involvement. The problem is that lung involvement comes on slowly. You aren't going to notice it setting in. And these kids still have thicker stickier mucous. My daughter still cultures staph regularly even though her lungs look great. Given a chance, the staph and other germs will just grow and grow in the lungs and make the lung involved quicker.

The simplest explanation I was given for the vest is that the lungs and airways are sort of like a tree. You have the trunk, and branches that get smaller and smaller and they go out to the lungs. In order to keep bugs from settling into the lungs, regularly "shaking" the different branches is an important component. With manual CPT we can get to all the different spots well, but we can't easily (and standardly) shake in the varying frequencies that are necessary to get it all. The vest allows a routine that will vary up the frequency of the shaking to get the wide "trunk" and all the smaller "branches" alike. This is important now (pre lung involvement) and important later (with lung involvement).

I'd also say that I really appreciate the freedom the vest has given me as the caregiver. CPT took a lot of time and was tiring on my arm, plus I always felt like I might be doing it wrong. I sit with my daughter most of the time during her vest treatments, but if I need to get up to attend to my other kids (what parent can sit for 25 uninterupted minutes at a time? <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> ) I can without ruining her treatment.

 

[Mommafirst]

MyVest and kids - questions

My two year old has had the vest since she was 14 months old. She has a "no cough" baseline, and a bronchoscopy shows no current lung involvement. The problem is that lung involvement comes on slowly. You aren't going to notice it setting in. And these kids still have thicker stickier mucous. My daughter still cultures staph regularly even though her lungs look great. Given a chance, the staph and other germs will just grow and grow in the lungs and make the lung involved quicker.

The simplest explanation I was given for the vest is that the lungs and airways are sort of like a tree. You have the trunk, and branches that get smaller and smaller and they go out to the lungs. In order to keep bugs from settling into the lungs, regularly "shaking" the different branches is an important component. With manual CPT we can get to all the different spots well, but we can't easily (and standardly) shake in the varying frequencies that are necessary to get it all. The vest allows a routine that will vary up the frequency of the shaking to get the wide "trunk" and all the smaller "branches" alike. This is important now (pre lung involvement) and important later (with lung involvement).

I'd also say that I really appreciate the freedom the vest has given me as the caregiver. CPT took a lot of time and was tiring on my arm, plus I always felt like I might be doing it wrong. I sit with my daughter most of the time during her vest treatments, but if I need to get up to attend to my other kids (what parent can sit for 25 uninterupted minutes at a time? <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> ) I can without ruining her treatment.

 

[Mommafirst]

MyVest and kids - questions

My two year old has had the vest since she was 14 months old. She has a "no cough" baseline, and a bronchoscopy shows no current lung involvement. The problem is that lung involvement comes on slowly. You aren't going to notice it setting in. And these kids still have thicker stickier mucous. My daughter still cultures staph regularly even though her lungs look great. Given a chance, the staph and other germs will just grow and grow in the lungs and make the lung involved quicker.

The simplest explanation I was given for the vest is that the lungs and airways are sort of like a tree. You have the trunk, and branches that get smaller and smaller and they go out to the lungs. In order to keep bugs from settling into the lungs, regularly "shaking" the different branches is an important component. With manual CPT we can get to all the different spots well, but we can't easily (and standardly) shake in the varying frequencies that are necessary to get it all. The vest allows a routine that will vary up the frequency of the shaking to get the wide "trunk" and all the smaller "branches" alike. This is important now (pre lung involvement) and important later (with lung involvement).

I'd also say that I really appreciate the freedom the vest has given me as the caregiver. CPT took a lot of time and was tiring on my arm, plus I always felt like I might be doing it wrong. I sit with my daughter most of the time during her vest treatments, but if I need to get up to attend to my other kids (what parent can sit for 25 uninterupted minutes at a time? <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> ) I can without ruining her treatment.

 

[Mommafirst]

MyVest and kids - questions

My two year old has had the vest since she was 14 months old. She has a "no cough" baseline, and a bronchoscopy shows no current lung involvement. The problem is that lung involvement comes on slowly. You aren't going to notice it setting in. And these kids still have thicker stickier mucous. My daughter still cultures staph regularly even though her lungs look great. Given a chance, the staph and other germs will just grow and grow in the lungs and make the lung involved quicker.

The simplest explanation I was given for the vest is that the lungs and airways are sort of like a tree. You have the trunk, and branches that get smaller and smaller and they go out to the lungs. In order to keep bugs from settling into the lungs, regularly "shaking" the different branches is an important component. With manual CPT we can get to all the different spots well, but we can't easily (and standardly) shake in the varying frequencies that are necessary to get it all. The vest allows a routine that will vary up the frequency of the shaking to get the wide "trunk" and all the smaller "branches" alike. This is important now (pre lung involvement) and important later (with lung involvement).

I'd also say that I really appreciate the freedom the vest has given me as the caregiver. CPT took a lot of time and was tiring on my arm, plus I always felt like I might be doing it wrong. I sit with my daughter most of the time during her vest treatments, but if I need to get up to attend to my other kids (what parent can sit for 25 uninterupted minutes at a time? <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> ) I can without ruining her treatment.