A Reason To Celebrate

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When Adriaan was first diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, I went through a brief period of grief.  You can follow the beginning of our journey here.  I felt helpless and sad.  I am so grateful for the ability we have to grow and move on through our trials.  This is such a gift and a reason to celebrate.  Instead of feeling the pain that I originally felt when he was diagnosed, I feel empowered with hope and strength.
Adriaan needs two chest therapy treatments everyday.  These are basically preventative, which means that we do it whether he is sick or not.  When he is sick, we are supposed to do it several times a day.  To begin a treatment, Adriaan breathes Albuterol through a Spacer with a mask.  I spray the Albuterol and then count as he breathes in and out six times.  I wait a full minute and then repeat.  We have done this so many times that I would not be surprised if Adriaan can count to six before he turns two.
     
The albuterol helps to open up his airways.  After that, I use a percussion cup to tap his chest, back and sides.  The tapping helps to break down the mucus.  Adriaan has to sit up, while I tap areas on his upper back for 8 minutes.  Then he has to lean back while I tap areas on his chest for 8 minutes.  Then I lay him on his side while I tap just below his armpit for 8 minutes.  Then we switch sides and repeat.  And finally, he lays on his tummy while I tap his lower back for 8 minutes.
Did you get all that?  We do this twice a day.  I have been more consistent with his chest therapy lately.   It is hard to get an active kid to stay in one spot for that long.  When he became old enough to get up and move around, it became torture for both him and I.  He didn't want to stay pinned down for a half hour and I didn't want to fight him twice a day.  So I gave up for a while.  I talked with Josh and we decided that it would be okay for him to have screen time during his treatments.  We had been trying to avoid screen time, but this has seriously changed our lives!  Adriaan runs to my drawer in the morning saying, "tap, tap" and then he helps me gather up everything that we need.  He enjoys his treatments now and I don't have to fight him anymore.  Such a tender mercy!

Comments

  1. Lady KayApril 8, 2015 at 2:45 PM

    Poor little guy! That has to be incredibly hard! I am glad he's not fighting it anymore. For sure will keep you guys in my prayers.

    ReplyDelete

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