Swimming with a Trach

[Lily's Mom]

You guys are way too brave for me. Â*I'm a little squeamish at the thought of putting Lily in a pool or lake unless I could guarantee there was no way of her getting pool/lake water into her trach. Â*Think about pool/lake water and all the stuff that could be in it (besides the nasty chlorine)--would you wash your kid's trach with water that had been sitting outside for days or that other kids had swum in, or that had chemicals in it or animals living in it? Â*Ewww! Â*Water getting in her trach doesn't scare me that much, but all the other stuff doesn't seem like it would be good to bathe her trachea and lungs in! Â*
Of course, that being said, I can remember when I was a kid and inhaled plenty of pool and lake water, and I seemed to have turned out okay.
http://www.twinEnterprises.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Erica (Lily's Mom)

[Imogen's Dad]

I thought people might like to see a photo of Imogen and I enjoying a swim in a tropical rainforest creek just north of where we live in Australia. The URL is;

http://homepage.mac.com/peter_jones1/PhotoAlbum1.html

Cheers, Peter

[cbissell]

Some kids with trachs do swim. For kids who can cap their tubes (don't have an obstructed upper airways), it's a bit less risky. However, swimming with a trach is not recommended. The danger of drowning, near drowning (brain damage), and aspiration pneumonia is just too great. When a child has a trach the water goes directly into the lungs. There is no gag reflex to prevent aspiration. (nurse reply)

Enjoyed the photos! Peter, I love the sand page! Really cool. The most we allowed Aaron to do with a trach was to play in a kiddie pool with very close supervision. Water can be so dangerous, even for kids without trachs. (mom reply)

[dc-b]

Hi,
I was hoping to ask some questions of the person who started this post, as my son also has Goldenhar Syndrome.
(He does go in the pool, but only with my husband or I holding him, which is becoming MUCH more difficult now that he's getting so big, and so much stronger. Last summer, we used a floating ring with leg holes, but his "little boys" were getting really squooshed, so we stopped. If anyone has any suggestions for another type of floating device, let me know. He's only 3 1/2 and doesn't fully understand the limitations of having a trach. I think if we let him go in the pool--even with floaties--he'd get his trach under the water, which I wouldn't allow).