I have been asked to share a recent experience with you. In December, the week leading up to Christmas, I was unwell with a virus. My sinuses seemed permanently blocked and I was constantly blowing my nose.
I felt at times I couldn’t breathe properly due to the congestion. I took the usual remedies; paracetamol, Nurofen, Vicks and also a decongestant.
In addition I increased the use of my cough assist machine, sometimes using it 10 times a day to try and clear the congestion. On the Sunday before Christmas I had a very scary moment. Despite using the cough assist machine, I couldn’t clear the catarrh from my throat. It felt trapped and was affecting my ability to breathe. I could feel myself becoming anxious and very hot. I took off some of my clothes, opened the window for some air and then went back on my cough assist. My husband and daughter came to try and help but they felt helpless and my husband asked if I he needed to ring the hospital. I said that if I couldn’t clear it then yes. I kept persevering with the cough assist machine and thankfully I managed a good cough and the catarrh did eventually clear. I was very frightened though and it made me feel particularly vulnerable.
The next day I made a doctors’ appointment and also rang the NMC Physio Team for advice and reassurance. Due to my vulnerability, I was put on a course of antibiotics. Whilst they did not shorten the length of time that I had the virus, they did stop it from getting any worse and turning into something nasty such as pneumonia.
I consider myself to be healthy, very rarely ill and things never generally phase me. However, on this occasion I was scared. I am so grateful that I have a cough assist machine at home. Through using it on a daily and regular basis I was not phased by using it more frequently in an acute situation. Had I not had a machine at home, I would have been admitted to hospital.
I would say to anyone who has respiratory problems that a cough assist machine really can help your respiratory well being. If you think you could benefit from using a Cough Assist Machine, please speak to your Consultant and / or seek advice from The Physio Team at NMC.
Past editions of One Voice are a treasure-trove of useful information. They are available on the NMC website, but in addition, we have set up a website onevoicearticles.blogspot.co.uk. We will post articles on this site that appear in One Voice, and we will try to add as many past articles as we can. We hope that it will make it easier to search for and find topics that have been covered in previous editions.
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