Celebrating an antibiotic-free year

The sixth of the month will mark the third anniversary of the delivery of my percussion vest; a day on which an hour of my daily life was effectively hijacked. I've been slow to dare question the prescribed 30 minutes twice a day schedule for hosing up to get jostled around, while inhaling, by mouth, aerosol clouds laced with 7% saline solution.
Finally though my Lemming-like behavior has been interrupted by a revolutionary thought. "Wonder what would happen if I streamlined the routine a bit?" Who sez it's gotta be a half-hour?
Well, I checked in this morning with my contact at Respirtech (The Thumper Maker). And lo and behold, she told me she has lots of what she calls her "clients" who have forsworn allegiance to the recommended treatment time without the sky falling.

So, this morning I boldly shut down the noisy boisterous rig after 15 minutes. The measure of success of course is to continue without interruption by a febrile flare-up of acute bronchitis. Stay tuned. Don

REPLY

Geez Amanda, you’re causing me to think. I guess it’s nothing more than coveting the time spent doing it, which is really more than a little odd since, truth-to-tell, I have found that by adopting a whimsical attitude toward the illness and its management as is often on display on this forum along with very pleasant, enriching interactions with other forum members I’m able to harvest a measure of real enjoyment. Not everyone gets to be called a Daredevil by Sue (see below). I’ve also become proficient at crafting run-on sentences. To wit, see example above. And guess what; Thumper just shut down having been at it for the full half hour.
How time flies when you’re having fun./
Jumping topics, I recently mentioned that the Respirtech percussion vest cost Medicare something north of $1400. I misspoke, it was a bit over $14,800. I still find it hard to believe. Don

I use a SmartVest and nebulize 3% saline solution with an Aerobika while using the Vest for two 30-minute treatments a day. I'm convinced that it is helping me avoid home health care with a midline to infuse antibiotics or to take intravenous antibiotics to deal with my pseudomonas colonization and exacerbations. My question is for those of you who report success with 7% saline solution. Did you ever use 3%? Is the success you are reporting due to the use of 7% saline per se (i.e., it's the only strength you ever used), or are you reporting an increase over prior experience with a 3% saline solution? I think my pulmonologist has me on 3% because the inhalation tends to cause me to cough; perhaps the 7% would increase that effect. I'm asking this question to get more data before raising the issue with him in my appointment next week.

@windwalker Thanks for thinking of me, Terri. Although I have not been posting, I'm still coming to the site to read posts by others often. I'm doing great, except the allergies are really bothering me. My throat is scratchy all the time and cough more because of scratchy throat and thicker mucus. After months of following the governors order of staying home, I've finally resumed playing tennis. Outdoors first, then moving indoors lately with the mask on. Can you imagine running around the tennis court with the mask on? It's difficult, but it keeps everybody safe and active. So I do it. My husband keeps reminding me that I need to be doubly cautious when I'm with other people because of my lung conditions. I think I've managed to survive OK so far. I'm hoping everyone here is doing fine and keeping the pesky MAC at bay. We can't afford letting our guard down. But we are in the same boat and can still cheer each other on from distance.

@pssurfer and @taya There is a copy of the saline chart floating around this group (I will have to search for mine if nobody else posts it) NIH did a study and it proved that the 7% saline actually kills the mac, the 3% is not strong enough. The chart shows which percentages of saline strength kills which bacteria types and other pathogens. I believe that some drs are just unaware of this and some people have printed the chart and article to take and show their physician. Some patient's lungs are too fragile due to history of pulmonary ebolisms (blood clots in the lungs), or from cavities in the lungs. It is good to ask your dr WHY you are being limited to 3% saline. For some of us, we need the 7% strength to adequately agitate the lungs to produce the desired cough to bring the gunk up. For others still battling mac infection; it helps to kill down the mac.

Do most people do one or two saline treatments per day? I dropped to one on my own...feel exhausted after morning neb and inhaler treatment..wondering if I shouldbgo back to two. I do see my pulmonologist again in two months.

Do most people do one or two saline treatments per day? I dropped to one on my own...feel exhausted after morning neb and inhaler treatment..wondering if I shouldbgo back to two. I do see my pulmonologist again in two months.