Daily Chest Therapy

Chest Therapy

I've had a lot of friends ask me about the chest therapy so I'll try to explain it as best as I can. Basically at this point the daily chest therapy that we do is a preventative measure. We do postural drainage known as "cupping" or "percussion" where you use a cupped hand to tap over the lungs in five different positions. Cystic Fibrosis  patients have mucus that builds up in the lungs and their bodies do not have the natural ability to break this mucus up. By doing postural drainage of the lungs using percussion we are preventing this mucus from building up. Many ask about as he gets older what will this therapy look like and I don't really know at this point. I was told that we will do this until he is about five and at that point they will show us what we can do to teach independence when it comes to therapy and who knows what will change in the next five years with CF. 


There are several "tools" on the market, especially in the States, that are used for therapy but at our clinic they see hand percussion to be the best form of therapy at this point. They have always told me that if I am curious about something that I have seen or heard about to let them know and they will do the research and present their findings to me. The vest is one form of therapy that many people strive to be able to add to their routine but at a cost of $12,000+ and none of that covered through insurance or government sponsored programs, I would really have to do my homework to see if it was something we would be interested in down the road. I know that there are some companies that sell refurbished ones at a more affordable rate but again, not something we need to think about right now.


So, what does chest therapy look like now?  I always do it on the floor and start with him in a sitting position. I have him sit in between my legs and he watches Baby Einstein on the laptop (judge away) while I go over the shoulders and do five minutes on each side of the upper lungs.  Then I turn sideways and sit him on my lap so he is facing forward and do his back to get the upper lungs in an upright position. I do 10 minutes in that position as I can get both sides with one hand while he is this small. Next I lay him over my lap, and do his back while he is in this position, for another 10 minutes. So 30 minutes done without too much of a fight. Lots of times when he is laying down over my lap he tries to front somersault off my knees but if I can get him when he's full, but not too full, slightly sleepy but not the figgity sleepy stage, and overall happy then it's no problem! Haha. Then there's the other two positions...I have to flip him onto his back and do his chest while he is laying down. When he was an infant it was easy as he use to fall asleep on the nursing pillow in that position and I could do it while he slept. Now as soon as I flip him onto his back he screams and wiggles. I've tried getting P.J. to try to entertain him and hold his arms down while I do it but I'm definitely not able to get 10 minutes done, 1-2 minutes if I'm lucky. The sides are the same. He screams, flails his arms, wiggles away and I don't know what to do. 

Lately he rests his head on my arm while I do therapy in this position

When we met with the physiotherapist when he was around 6 months I told her of our struggles with these positions, mostly the sides, and she suggested a few things and nothing works. I tried having him sitting on me and just leaning him to the side so he's not totally flipped onto his side but still doesn't work. She told me that she doesn't know many parents with children at this age that could get a full session done and not to stress. There are days where I tell myself that he was diagnosed so early and this is all preventative so not to get all bent out of shape about it but then I think about how I am the one responsible for his therapy and I feel guilty day after day of not doing it "properly". 

Then there are days like when we flew to New Brunswick and being a 13 hour travel day physio took a back seat. I did a little bit on the plane but felt like people were looking at me and wondering why I was "beating" on my kid. So, if I'm at your house and you see me hitting Nash a minute here, two minutes there it's because sometimes it's tough to fit it all in.

I hope that when he's is a bit older I can get him to understand that he needs to have this done and can let me do it without a fight. Every day this is my struggle and I'm about to go back to work. I had really thought about hiring a nanny and teaching the nanny how to do chest therapy but for now, we're going with a licensed dayhome for Aug./Sept./Oct. and then he is suppose to follow his dayhome provider to her new daycare facility. That will give us a few months to see if not having a nanny will work for us.