Vest

[scarecrow]

I was in the same position as you are about 4 1/2 years ago. I had no insurance and my lung function was getting worse in a hurry. It came down to either getting a Vest or go on disability so I got one from Hill Rom. Dealing w/ the billing dept. at Hill Rom has been a real pain( they lose payments, tell you that you owe more than you do, etc.) but, honestly, no matter how much it ends up costing it is worth it because I definitely wouldn't be working anymore without it. I haven't really had FEV's go up but I feel better and have started walking 1/2 hour a day as often as possible. But I still use the Vest. Sometimes it is hard to get through the 1/2 hour program but much of the time it
really feels good.

Anyway, to answer your question, in my opinion it is worth whatever it costs.

By the way, I have FEV's in the low 20's and am still able to work every day. Sometimes it is more of a struggle than others, and it is always HARDER than it used to be, but the Vest helps me a lot

 

[scarecrow]

I was in the same position as you are about 4 1/2 years ago. I had no insurance and my lung function was getting worse in a hurry. It came down to either getting a Vest or go on disability so I got one from Hill Rom. Dealing w/ the billing dept. at Hill Rom has been a real pain( they lose payments, tell you that you owe more than you do, etc.) but, honestly, no matter how much it ends up costing it is worth it because I definitely wouldn't be working anymore without it. I haven't really had FEV's go up but I feel better and have started walking 1/2 hour a day as often as possible. But I still use the Vest. Sometimes it is hard to get through the 1/2 hour program but much of the time it
really feels good.

Anyway, to answer your question, in my opinion it is worth whatever it costs.

By the way, I have FEV's in the low 20's and am still able to work every day. Sometimes it is more of a struggle than others, and it is always HARDER than it used to be, but the Vest helps me a lot

 

[Beccamom]

My daughter is still in CF diagnostic limbo, but the vest has totally changed her quality of life for the better. Her FEV1 was 50% in Jan 2011 and up to 100% in Jan 2012. She began manuel chest PT April to June and then her Vest July to the present. She not only got her PFTs up, but feels better, coughs less, and and has more energy.

I read a few posts about children and trampolines. My daughter is a competitive gymnast and because of her progressively worse lung disease switched from traditional gymnastics at Level 7 at age 9 (20 hours of practice a week) to Trampoline and Power Tumbling. This is also a USAG sanctioned olympic event. It was the best decision for her health. She jumps and flips on the trampoline for a routine with 16 skills in a row. She gets up lots of mucus at each practice. Although she missed much of last year as her lung function had a significant decline, she is back to trampoline and loving it. I highly recommend this sport for children who want to have fun and get the mucus out.


However, even after practice she puts on her vest and gets more mucus up. She is 12 and loves her vest. We have not had to remind her to use it. She knows how she used to feel and how she feels now and the improvement is incredible.

Being in diagnostic limbo we fight with our insurance company to rent her vest for three months at a time.
Best wishes,
Jen

 

[Beccamom]

My daughter is still in CF diagnostic limbo, but the vest has totally changed her quality of life for the better. Her FEV1 was 50% in Jan 2011 and up to 100% in Jan 2012. She began manuel chest PT April to June and then her Vest July to the present. She not only got her PFTs up, but feels better, coughs less, and and has more energy.

I read a few posts about children and trampolines. My daughter is a competitive gymnast and because of her progressively worse lung disease switched from traditional gymnastics at Level 7 at age 9 (20 hours of practice a week) to Trampoline and Power Tumbling. This is also a USAG sanctioned olympic event. It was the best decision for her health. She jumps and flips on the trampoline for a routine with 16 skills in a row. She gets up lots of mucus at each practice. Although she missed much of last year as her lung function had a significant decline, she is back to trampoline and loving it. I highly recommend this sport for children who want to have fun and get the mucus out.


However, even after practice she puts on her vest and gets more mucus up. She is 12 and loves her vest. We have not had to remind her to use it. She knows how she used to feel and how she feels now and the improvement is incredible.

Being in diagnostic limbo we fight with our insurance company to rent her vest for three months at a time.
Best wishes,
Jen

 

[TomS]

Hello, we were in the same situation. We bought our vest system from a company called AffordableMedEquipment.com in Colorado for $ 3000. It was a used unit with 1 hour on it. It had been completely sterilized. Shipping was about $ 100 to Canada, I don't know how much shipping would cost to Holland, but these systems are not that big. We have found the vest very useful since our son hated manual physio.