My mother has been living with a trachea for 3 months now, can anyone, with experience offer some advice?

My mom is having such a hard time with it and I feel helpless to her. I am so dishearten with myself that I don't help her enough. The reason being, is it very hard to clean it and suction her. I do it and so does my dad but you have to have a strong constitution and I am ashamed to say, although I love my mom, I am afraid to touch it or clean it for her. Are there any other methods to which I could learn that can make it easier for me and my dad?My mother has been living with a trachea for 3 months now, can anyone, with experience offer some advice?
I am assuming you mean she has a tracheostomy as your trachea is part of your body. Since you are not sure of yourself and uncomfortable handling the tracheostomy tube and suctioning her I would consider talking over your fears with her doctors nurse. Also you did not say if she is paralzyed in both arms or not but if she is not paralzyed then they should be working on getting her to care for her own tracheostomy if she can. Nursing is not easy as you can see and some people are just not cut out for it. Talk to her doctors nurse about all of this though and she can help you through this or help you find someone to help your mother.My mother has been living with a trachea for 3 months now, can anyone, with experience offer some advice?
Do you mean a tracheotomy? Listen, I know--- and believe me, I KNOW it is not all fun and like getting a new pair of jeans or whatever. But this is a serious situation, and you and your dad need to step up. If you had a trach, she would clean it for you, right?





When cleaning it, first of all, chew mint gum. Don't stand over her with your ability to breathe thru your nose and have nastiness in your breath. Courteous. Second of all, if you clean it often, it shouldn't be too dirty the next time you clean it. Alternate with your dad using warm DAMP- (not wet) sponges or gauze's. Be very gentle. the area is extremely sore, even after 1 year. Go slow, there is no need to rush thru this process of cleaning. A good cleaning takes no longer than 5 minutes. Rinse out the suction tube with some hot water, then dump the container contents in the toilet. This will keep it fresh as well. Put a little baking soda in some steaming water, swish, suck it up, and dump into toilet. Wipe of the tube and suction tip to keep clean. Dip end in alcohol to kill any bacteria from mucous.