[QUAD-L] Re: [VENT-L] Could this happen to you?

[Angelique Novak]

Every surgery I've had in the last several years always has vent issues for recovery.  I'm on an LP-10, 24/7.  The hospitals don't even have them anymore!  At least, that's what they tell me.  They put me on "continuous flow" vents.  I hate those!  It's basically hyperventilating.  I have my vent settings with me, but they don't jive with the PLV-1000 that they tried last time, or the other non LP-10 vents they've used.  The RTs get a hair up their ass when I don't want their vents. -Angelique Age 25, ventilator dependent quadriplegic from a spinal cord injury at the levels of C1 & C2 in 1994 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:   This tough polio survivor lady self manages her care, and is now on the PLV-102 ventilator full time. She takes a hard fall while transferring with the help of her attendant. The femur bone is broken just above the knee. She describes it as the worst pain she has ever experienced. Emergency surgery is done to repair the broken femur. With considerable delay after surgery they finally let her sister and attendant in to see her. They are shocked. She is unconscious and struggling to supplement the hospital ventilator. Her sister and the attendant want to put her on her PLV-102 which is set up for her. There is a confrontation, and the recovery room personnel refuse to let them do it. They threaten them with being arrested if they try to switch the ventilators.The sister gets some quick legal advice, and is told exactly what to say to the hospital RTs. They back off, and she is put on her PLV-102 for the beginning of recovery.  This should never have happened. All respiratory therapists and respiratory care nurses are not experienced with paralytic patient Control Mode ventilation. Sometimes they try to wean patients using Assist Mode without knowing enough about the patient. The slow rate and small volumes of Assist are not adequate ventilation for us. What might be a good idea is to have our vent settings written into our medical directory, and signed by the pulmonologist. Give the patient, our family and attendant some respect—please. Jerry Daniel