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As you guys may or may not know, on top of having RA, I also have a lung condition, COPD. I was born with 75% of my lungs not functioning, and I've lived my entire life with lung disease. At one point, I was placed on a transplant list, but thankfully I've always been "too healthy" to receive a lung. Currently, I only use about 40% of my lungs. I'm not supposed to do all the things that I do, but by the grace of God, I do. Probably because I was born this way, I don't realize just how bad it is.
At my last doctors appointment, she recommended I begin to use The Vest regularly. The Vest is a machine that has been used for over 20 years now, but is now available for personal use. You know how when your lungs are really congested you smack your chest and stuff comes up? Well, basically this machine does that for you... times a hundred. It fits really tightly and shakes the crap out of you so that the congestion will loosen up and release. In my case, because of my disease, I am unable to bring all that gunk up, and if it's sits in my lungs, it is more prone to infections such as pneumonia. And every time I get sick, I further damage my lungs.
This Vest costs a large sum of $16,000!!! Holy cow! Thank you insurance company! The good news is that with a price like that, you have the benefit of having a lifetime warrenty. If anything breaks they replace it for free. If my vest becomes too small because I've gained weight (I hope this NEVER happens), they'll send me a new one for free. That's pretty sweet.
So the doctor requested I do it twice a day for 20 minutes. But, you tell me WHEN I have time for that? With two crazy toddlers running around? So I negotiated her down to once a day. And so far, I've been consistent.
Ok, now let my embarrassment commence as you watch my video. I hope you're all amused. And really, if you are in fact amused and would like to see MORE vlogs, just let me know... I aim to please, after all.
2 comments:
Oh yes, that's extremely fashionable! :-) It makes me wish I had taken a movie of me a few years back when I had elbow surgery for my RA and had to wear a machine that moved my arm up and down 23 hours a day. I was in college working part time at the gas station and my customers always got a laugh of me plugged in to the wall and trying to ring up their goods with one arm moving up and down in the contraption! LOL
Shawna
Ha, Nicole! I am catching up on my blog reading, and I loved the vlog! That vest looks crazy, and I can imagine it would be hard to breather in it!
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