Does your child cough a lot in general or is his/her baseline "no cough"?
<b>Neither of my daughters cough on a regular basis, other than maybe a little throat clearing thing every now and then.</b>
During or after use of the vest, do they cough and if so, are they coughing up mucous?
<b>No, never... not even the 7% Hypertonic Saline causes them to cough... not sure why because it apparently does most people...</b>
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?
<b>I guess that's debatable...but even if that is all it is doing, it's well worth it. A CF'er should see treatments as routine as brushing their teeth. You don't wait until they are 5 or 6 and have a mouth full of cavities to start brushing their teeth.... you don't even wait until the first sign of a cavity to start brushing them. You do it as soon as they have teeth to prevent them from getting a cavity. Now, that doesn't mean they will never get one.... nor does it mean you are a failure if they do....but you can bet your bottom dollar that they would have had a whole lot more if you weren't brushing their teeth from day 1.
It's the same with treatments. You may not see daily results (I wish my teeth got whiter every time I brushed them)... But you don't do treatments for the immediate result... you do it for the long term. Whether you know it or not, there is mucus in their lungs... that's non-debatable. There may not be enough to cause immediate lung problems, but given enough time to build up, there WILL be problems. That's a guarantee.
One final thought on that... let's assume you didn't do treatments regularly and then all of the sudden the child gets really sick. How much more difficult would it be to get the poor child who feels like crud to sit still for 30 minutes several times a day to cooperate and do treatments? If they are not used to it when they are healthy, they will certainly not want to do it when they are sick... and on top of that, think of the guilt you'll feel wondering "what if"... what if we had been doing treatments all along.... That's the last thing you need when you have a sick child. </b>
Why do some CF docs recommend a vest at a young age while others wait until age 3-5 (or beyond)?
<b>Every doctor is different... just like in every other profession... some recommend Pulmozyme, some don't. Some recommend Mucomyst, some don't... some treat Pseudomonas with IV antibiotics, some don't. Having moved several times and spent time at 5 different CF Centers, I can certainly say that they are all different. And if there is something I like better from another clinic, I say so. My daughters are the only CF'ers at our current clinic who use Mucomyst... that's because they were put on it several years ago in Minnesota. The drs here don't use it but I told them that I wanted to keep the girls on it and they've complied with my wishes. </b>
