Ventilators vs. Respirators
Oh my God. I'm having open heart surgery in exactly 4 weeks.
I'm trying really hard not to freak out. I've been reading a lot about the procedure this week (bad idea, I know), and I really don't want to have this done. I know it's necessary and will improve my quality of life (I'll be less tired, have more energy, will be able to walk up the stairs without getting short of breath, etc.), but getting to that point is very scary.
I'm going to wake up on a ventilator (not a respirator). How long I'm not it depends on how fast I'm able to start breathing on my own after I wake up.
What's the difference between a ventilator and a respirator, you ask? Well, medterms.com defines ventilator this way:
Ventilator: a machine which mechanically assists patients in the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide (sometimes referred to as artificial respiration).
Respirator: a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling harmful dusts, fumes, vapors, and/or gases. (I found this definition on wikipedia.com.) Someone using a respirator would be wearing some sort of a gas mask.
These terms are now another one of my pet peeves. Like when someone (Dubya, for example) pronounces the word, nuclear, like this: nuk-yuh-lar. The word is clear with nu in front of it. NUCLEAR. How hard is that to pronounce? Or when a newscaster says that someone will be spending 3-5 years in jail. That's impossible. A criminal can only spend up to one year in jail. If their sentence is over a year and a day, she or he will be spending that time in prison. Jail = 1 to 365 days. Prison = 366 days and up. (I took a law class in high school. I was even on my high school's Mock Trial team.)
So anyway, I will be on a ventilator when I wake up. I will have a tube down my throat and into my lungs. A machine will be breathing for me. But with any luck, I will be so high on pain meds that I won't even realize that this is happening when I wake up, or remember it when everything is done.
Other than my family and a few friends, I'm not sure if anyone is even reading my blog. But even if no one reads this, I still would be writing in it. This has been very helpful for me, and I will keep on writing.
I'm trying really hard not to freak out. I've been reading a lot about the procedure this week (bad idea, I know), and I really don't want to have this done. I know it's necessary and will improve my quality of life (I'll be less tired, have more energy, will be able to walk up the stairs without getting short of breath, etc.), but getting to that point is very scary.
I'm going to wake up on a ventilator (not a respirator). How long I'm not it depends on how fast I'm able to start breathing on my own after I wake up.
What's the difference between a ventilator and a respirator, you ask? Well, medterms.com defines ventilator this way:
Ventilator: a machine which mechanically assists patients in the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide (sometimes referred to as artificial respiration).
Respirator: a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling harmful dusts, fumes, vapors, and/or gases. (I found this definition on wikipedia.com.) Someone using a respirator would be wearing some sort of a gas mask.
These terms are now another one of my pet peeves. Like when someone (Dubya, for example) pronounces the word, nuclear, like this: nuk-yuh-lar. The word is clear with nu in front of it. NUCLEAR. How hard is that to pronounce? Or when a newscaster says that someone will be spending 3-5 years in jail. That's impossible. A criminal can only spend up to one year in jail. If their sentence is over a year and a day, she or he will be spending that time in prison. Jail = 1 to 365 days. Prison = 366 days and up. (I took a law class in high school. I was even on my high school's Mock Trial team.)
So anyway, I will be on a ventilator when I wake up. I will have a tube down my throat and into my lungs. A machine will be breathing for me. But with any luck, I will be so high on pain meds that I won't even realize that this is happening when I wake up, or remember it when everything is done.
Other than my family and a few friends, I'm not sure if anyone is even reading my blog. But even if no one reads this, I still would be writing in it. This has been very helpful for me, and I will keep on writing.
posted by Julia Hart at
9:27 PM
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