NervGS

RT here, congratulations!

I work primarily with peds on vents and get them out of the hospitals and to home, most of my patients are long term and/or for life. The ones that eventually do get the vents discontinued is wonderful , but the few that get decannulated make my day.

edit: Just realized we are practically neighbors, I live in the Valley area.

In regards to being "normal", I had a patient that had a trach for about 3+ years, I got her home from the hospital after her procedure and the stay. She was on a vent only at night, had very minimal suctioning, and got around on a power chair (she was a paraplegic - motor vehicle accident). For the first year or so, I didn't think much of it, we'd talk quite a bit about things whenever I came to visit for follow ups, til one day she told me she does not go out very much because of her trach - not because of to the care required, but because of how it was not "normal."

I told her flat out, screw everyone who stares or makes fun of it, it's their problem and not her's. We talked for about an hour on subject, how she should approach people on it when necessary, and especially with kids because they can be so curious about it. By the time I did my next follow up a few months later, she told me about how she was going out much more, that it wasn't so bad when people do look and/or ask questions. In the end, she pretty much did not care how people reacted with it and because she was going out more, made my follow ups and our talks more fun.