For those who reuse suction catheters... - Page 2

hannahysabelle · #11 02-20-2010, 05:49 PM

thanks for the responses. appreciated.

it's hard not to reuse. especially when not a single catheter is free (thank God some donates catheters to us!). and we suction quite a lot (we could have used a box in 2-3 days if we don't reuse).

as hannah gets older, we suction her less frequently. i hope we reach the point when we can afford not reusing catheters.

glad to know there are also others who do the it quite the same as we do. and amaze that there are some not getting excess secretions at the side of the catheter. because we often do. but usually when we wipe it out, the color is either white or even clear. when we get yellow or green, then we know it's something else...

katyushka · #12 02-21-2010, 10:04 AM

Wow-- it's always surprising to see what people do and don't do you know?
No judgement here, just crazy to see the differences in trachs. I can't wait for the time when we only need to suction Ev like 2 times a day!

We have to suction Evy at least 4 times an hour, usually more. So I get the sleeved catheters and we change them out 1 time per shift, or more if she grabs it, it gets gunky or it falls to the floor.
Otherwise, we reuse for 10 hours at a time.
We've been home since June and doing that the entire time, with only 1 cold and 1 possible time we needed treatment for Aspiration but who knows. That was a really insane week.

I didn't know that some people only suctioned with them one time! wow.
If I did that, we would need like 10+ boxes of suction catheters a month, and we get 3 right now, which barley covers us some months as it is!

anyways, just wanted to let you know that we are in your same boat and it's working well for us for now.

ally

Niff · #13 02-21-2010, 10:14 AM

Ally - Sterile caths are advertised for single use, whereas sleeved caths (like the kind you use) are advertised for 12-24hr use - I can't remember which one.

Curious for those who use sleeved caths... how many do you go through in one day?

Melissa · #14 02-21-2010, 11:22 AM

I have sleeved catheters. The package reads : Cat. T160C AirLife Tri-Flo "No Touch" Suction Catheters With Control Port and Basin. Sterile For Single Use Only

It continues with six items of direction but none of them say how long to use. Crazy! Without typing it all out it's just how to open and then proceed with suctioning.

I will not use more than two per day, generally just one. Aly is suctioned frequently through the day but not as much as before. I use water rinse between suctions and keep it stored away inside the sleeve.

I wonder what the standard is for keeping one in use. They are sent to me loose and individually wrapped so I don't have an outer package to gain more information.

katyushka · #15 02-21-2010, 02:45 PM

ohhhhh. well i just learned something

makes much more sense than!

lynn · #16 02-21-2010, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hannahysabelle

glad to know there are also others who do the it quite the same as we do. and amaze that there are some not getting excess secretions at the side of the catheter. because we often do. but usually when we wipe it out, the color is either white or even clear. when we get yellow or green, then we know it's something else...

It seems to me the secreations at the end and sides are from dryness (even when wearing HME or still using humidifier) I can tell that the air outside/ inside is really dry by the way Joseph has the extra gunk on his catheters.. and if I do take him out right now with this cold air we always suck up hard (almost like a boogie

) pieces when we get back inside and they stick all over the outter part of catheter and really gum up the holes in the end. (even with wearing an HME and a scarf and his coat zipped up)

hannahysabelle · #17 02-21-2010, 08:49 PM

Quote:

It seems to me the secreations at the end and sides are from dryness (even when wearing HME or still using humidifier) I can tell that the air outside/ inside is really dry by the way Joseph has the extra gunk on his catheters.. and if I do take him out right now with this cold air we always suck up hard (almost like a boogie) pieces when we get back inside and they stick all over the outter part of catheter and really gum up the holes in the end. (even with wearing an HME and a scarf and his coat zipped up)

oh yes, we do get those boogie-like sometimes.
before we use HME, we often get that (like it was normal for us). but since we started using HME, we seldom get that one. and when we do, we nebulize her with saline to loosen the secretions...

babybear · #18 02-23-2010, 02:45 PM

Gabriel needs suctioning several times/day when he's well, and even more frequently when he's battling an infection.

After suctioning, I draw up some water to clean the catheter and tubing, then I wipe the outside of the catheter with a gauze pad. I store the catheter in the sleeve it came in and generally only use 1-2 caths/day. The only time I'll use more than 2 catheters/day is if the one I'm using becomes plugged; otherwise, I'll just clean it out.