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Cough Assist Mayhem

Deja vous. Last night I had an attack, an attack of glue-y mucus that tried to drown me. I have ALS, advanced by time, and thus, suffer from the more distasteful ravages of the disease, debilitating muscle spasms, quadriplegia, and excessive mucus secretions.

In a moment, I went from relative comfort to fighting to clear an obstruction from my trachea. No, I do not sport that appurtenance. This time, I had competent caregivers, adept at using the cough assist and suction machines, and the cough assist machine failed. Somehow, the dials got moved and I didn't have the air pushing in. (Try explaining that while you're struggling not to drown in snot. I did.)

Luckily, we got past that hiccup, and got the obstruction clear. I ended up needing to give those machines a workout several times that night.What was even better was being aided by a critical thinking nurse, who asked good questions to determine the cause of the unusually thick mucus. He discovered that I'd become dehydrated using benadryl, and not increasing my water intake. We raised my water intake and changed my medication. Good save, Chris!
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Location: 2720 E Madison St, Seattle, WA 98112, USA

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