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Hello. My mom has a trach and is vent dependent. I am her FT caretaker and she is at home with my family. Does anyone has any advise or tips on how to stop the constant drainage from her neck? Only things the doctors offer is medicine that she cannot be on.


much thanks

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By drainage from her neck I am hoping you mean normal lung secretions that can be coughed up or suctioned out? These are normal, and you can either suction them out ( I assume you were given portable suction system and shown how to use it?) or wiped away. If however you are seeing secretions Around the trach itself then you may have an infection in the surgical site, or the trach may be too small,, or the cuff is down allowing things to come up the outside .If she is on the vent the cuff should be inflated. hopefully the surgical site will begin to get smaller as time goes by. Good hygene is important to the site itself, so remember to clean it at least 2x a day. Ask her home care team to check it out, or her Dr.
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Hey guys. Thank you very much for your responses.

I forget the medicine name but the drs say she can't take it because of her having colitis.

And her trach site is free of infection thank goodness. It is truly just secretions. I suction and clean multiples daily. She's had her trach 2 years and is a size 8. They tell me she can't go bigger or smaller and to basically just deal. Due to the als her muscles have gotten weaker so the saliva just leaks out. I use split gauze and wash rags. But looking for any other advise.

Muchmuch thanks.
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Commenting only on the Scopolamine:   Although nothing has been mentioned about eye health, I did learn after doing some research when my father was on palliative care that it can affect certain eye conditions.   W/o repeating the research, it was an issue that could be of concern, especially since I wanted to make sure that his vision wasn't affected as he slid toward his last moments.

I contacted the ophthalmologist who was treating him; he was out of town so the staff consulted with another ophthalmologist in the practice.    He then contacted me and stated that the dosage wouldn't affect my father's vision.

Just FYI...I've tended to think of Scopolamine in terms of the "truth drug", but that's not its only use.
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