What is it like to have a trach?
Occasionally, the question of “does someone really need specialized training to care for a trach patient” comes up and parents ask how to get the answer across to these friends and family who have asked...
Some people need a visual to understand the seriousness of a Trach, so you have to put their imagination to work. You can tell them to think about it this way... if you put tape over the nose so that they couldn’t breathe through it, then place a piece of tape over their mouth with a small hole in the center and then place a straw through that hole... that straw (represents the trach) would be the only way that they could breath... they would be ok to play and go about their day doing all the usual things in life, BUT then what if you took that straw out of that hole? The hole would still be there but there wouldn’t be anything holding that hole open... it would become harder and harder for them to get air through that hole because their lips wouldn’t be able to maintain that same opening without the straw so they would struggle to breath... if they were the only one that knew how to replace that straw so that their child (for example) could breath normally, would they allow their child to go with someone who couldn’t replace that straw so that their child could breath... so that their child could live to be able to be a happy kid who could play, run, and grow up... so that their child could live to go to school and get an education... would they let them go with someone who wasn’t able or trained to replace that straw? Is a birthday party, or whatever it may be, really more important to take that child to for a couple of hours than their life? Is watching other kids eat birthday cake and open presents really more important than that child’s life?
This may be a bit of a graphic description, but if someone doesn’t understand how serious a Trach can be or what a Trach does then this is essentially the same thing.
~Tonya
Founder
Occasionally, the question of “does someone really need specialized training to care for a trach patient” comes up and parents ask how to get the answer across to these friends and family who have asked...
Some people need a visual to understand the seriousness of a Trach, so you have to put their imagination to work. You can tell them to think about it this way... if you put tape over the nose so that they couldn’t breathe through it, then place a piece of tape over their mouth with a small hole in the center and then place a straw through that hole... that straw (represents the trach) would be the only way that they could breath... they would be ok to play and go about their day doing all the usual things in life, BUT then what if you took that straw out of that hole? The hole would still be there but there wouldn’t be anything holding that hole open... it would become harder and harder for them to get air through that hole because their lips wouldn’t be able to maintain that same opening without the straw so they would struggle to breath... if they were the only one that knew how to replace that straw so that their child (for example) could breath normally, would they allow their child to go with someone who couldn’t replace that straw so that their child could breath... so that their child could live to be able to be a happy kid who could play, run, and grow up... so that their child could live to go to school and get an education... would they let them go with someone who wasn’t able or trained to replace that straw? Is a birthday party, or whatever it may be, really more important to take that child to for a couple of hours than their life? Is watching other kids eat birthday cake and open presents really more important than that child’s life?
This may be a bit of a graphic description, but if someone doesn’t understand how serious a Trach can be or what a Trach does then this is essentially the same thing.
~Tonya
Founder
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