We've got our Vest and we know how to use it!

Nathan's Vest arrived via FedEx while we were at Camp Iliff, climbing until all our energy was drained. I had planned to return home and have Nathan take a nice long afternoon nap.



He was so exhausted that he literally passed out in the car and remained in a sleepy slumber state as he was transferred from car to crib. I had spoken with the trainer from Hill-Rom earlier in the day who had requested I call her when we received the Vest. I called her and she wanted to come right away.

In less than an hour she arrived and wanted me to wake Nathan up so she could make sure the Vest fit properly. Nathan did not want to wake up and he wanted nothing to do with this new machine so he screamed until we put him back in his crib.

That evening we tried again. I consider this his 1st treatment with the Vest. He screamed for about 5 minutes but I am so used to him screaming 20 straight minutes through manual CPT so it didn't bother me much. I paused the treatment twice so I could give Nathan his two puffs of albuterol and then had Jay set up the nebulizer for the hypertonic saline. I had emailed back and forth to Jen that afternoon since her son Gavin had also just gotten his Vest and she told me her RT's advice - Don't make it an option. So we pushed onward and made it through 20 minutes of the Vest but I did use M&M's as bribery. He must have eaten an entire bag. Every time he would finish one M&M he would demand another "emma".

The following morning we skipped the M&M's and saved them as a last resort. Jay's parents were over and we all made a huge deal of the treatments dancing and singing to Yo Gabba Gabba. I have videos of this session but some of the moments may be embarrassing for the adults. I will dub these clips to music at a later date. He didn't cry once for session #2. Yippee! But he did get some M&M's afterward as a reward.

That evening was session #3, very uneventful. It seemed like their should've been more to it. I may have been caught saying "I love treatments!"

Today we finished session #4. Nathan is tolerating the new treatment very well and we are learning how to balance the nebulized medications at the same time. Here is a video from this treatment session. Sorry, it includes a booger scene.