Skip to main content

Goldfish

A goldfish snatched from it's bowl, writhing and wriggling, silently gasping...


Apparently, I've been fortunate, with regard to my ALS. I've had a Hellish four years of decline, but at least I have been able to breathe on my own. Lately, upon awakening, I found myself gasping and browning-out. So short of breath that I was even more quiet, unable to muster an effective inhale; nor could I properly enunciate the words Bipap and  I cannot breathe.

Another crisis to save my own skin. I squeak out "Air".  My caregivers move to check my hair. This is one fine time to not have my speech device in my face. (Only one of many times in the course of the day that it's not possible to access the critical communication device.) Someone finally guesses my dilemma and arranges me so I can catch a partial breath.

I've been forced to use the bipap machine in order to grab a decent breath and exhale the carbon dioxide.
Good luck finding someone adept at bipap mask application, let alone understanding the operation of the infernal thing! Caregivers try to fit the mask over my face after pulling the straps over my head. This doesn't work. They also leave the hose attached then fight against it. And I cannot believe how often they muddle through getting me strapped in, then turn off the machine that just automatically started breathing for me.

The proper way to attach the bipap mask: 
  1. Disconnect hose from mask. 
  2. Hold mask over patients nose and mouth, getting feedback on placement. 
  3. Pull straps over head using a partner so the mask doesn't move. Clip. 
  4. Reconnect hose. 
  5. Allow machine to start on it's own. Checking with patient. 
  6. Ask patient if mask is leaking and find out where. Resolve. 
Removing bipap mask:
  1. DO NOT turn off machine.  
  2. Unclip mask. 
  3. Bring over head. 
  4. Allow machine to turn off automatically. 
Labels:
Location: 2720 E Madison St, Seattle, WA 98112, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gratitude For Reading

People are reading my blog! I cannot express my gratitude enough. My heart is soaring! Before I got ALS, it was a minor interest amongst many varied interests. Today, I am unable to physically participate in many of my prior interests, like motorcycling, photography, knitting and other handicrafts, hiking, traveling, painting, drawing, going to the gym, working in the garden, doing housework, canning, and cooking gourmet or ethnic foods. Therefore, I am more focused on the ones that are most accessible to me, such as reading via audiobook or e-book, television, movies, meditation, music appreciation, and writing. Like the blind man who's sense of hearing and smell is heightened, I'd like to think my crippled body has made me more attuned to things more on the spiritual and sensual level. Initially, when some members of my family read my blog, they chose to focus on what they viewed as negative. The feedback I got was harsh and personally critical. .I was told that I was ...
4 comments
Read more

Prayer

Occasionally, we are seized with a rebellion so sickening that we simply won't pray. When these things happen we must not think too ill of ourselves. We should simply resume prayer as soon as we can, doing what we know to be good for us. -- TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, page 105  Gee, I could have saved myself years of self-reproach by taking it easy on myself. "Try" as I might, I never could make prayer, in the traditional sense, a daily occurrence for stretches longer than a month. I had good intentions but inevitably, I'd be running late and forget. Or worse, I'd get a big, fat bout of attitude about not getting my wishes (the permanent position at the Gates Foundation, being fired from my last job when my health deteriorated, the cancellation of my Panama Canal cruise, and the various abandonments I experienced following my ALS diagnosis) and off I'd go, cursing my Higher Power, turning my back, isolating, and wishing I were dead (actually, I wa...
Post a Comment
Read more

I Remember...

I remember catching fireflies,  putting them in a jar, as a girl of five. I picked pears off a tree that overhung an alleyway on my route home from school, then enjoyed the forbidden fruit. .I had a golden cat who chased a gray mouse through our living room sending my mother, 3-year old sister, and me screaming atop the sofa and chairs. We lived in a farmhouse and I watched Romper Room. A daddy longlegs skittered across my dirty kid legs as I teeter-tottered on a broken kitchen chair back. I played grocery store and laid out a bedroll for group nap time in preschool. We lived in an apartment attached to a bakery. My maternal grandparents visited and a photo was snapped. Grandma held Dawn and Grandpa held me. I held Grandpa's chin. Walking through the back of the flour-caked kitchen, I saw scrumptious pastries and colorful toys stuck in the cupcakes with my hungry kids eyes. We lived in a two-story apartment building next door to a large farmer's field.  That field was my...
3 comments
Read more