Speaking again

[sue-66]

Hi, my partner has a trachy and they are putting a speaking valve in for a few hours at a time. They will be weaning the trachy off him, but in the meantime, how can I help him talk again. He is 7weeks into a tbi too?

[deborah27]

has he said any words yet or is this yet to come?

[HEATH757032RM9yx]

and i quote "All you need is a little paitence" And stretngh and support for you and your partner,its early days and progress may be slow but evrery little good thing counts.Do phone headway for more support and welcome

[Kirk5w7]

There will be help for this for him at the hospital, ask for the support you need xx

Janet

[sue-66]

He has mumbled some words, but I'm rubbish at lip reading. Just thought I could help in some way and he is in high dependency unit and they are always busy, so didn't like ti pester. But thank you for suggestions, I will ring headway

[Hidden in reply to sue-66]

Sorry can he write or make some sort of scribble? Try whiteboard, pencil and paper, children's magnetic board, ABC you speak the letters and he looks up for yes down for no again patience and sense of humour is the essence! We laughed a lot when hubby was locked in and during the early days of trachi, you will find a way that works for you both and you will have a "secret language" hilarious to you both not necessarily to others as they will be frustrated they don't understand and you guys are doing just great!!!!

[StrawberryCream]

When I came out of my 3 week coma I still had my tracheostomy so trying to make out what I was trying say was a nightmare for anyone visiting me to understand! But I found out I had sufficient comprehension to scrawl odd words on a piece of paper although holding a pen was a challenge. So initially paper and pen was kept at the ready. Do you think he understands sufficiently to know what he needs to say or could that be a problem at the moment that he doesn't fully comprehend yet and also has a problem with forming expressive language? Speech and Language therapist will become involved if required.

[sue-66]

I think he is in the pta phase, he did write 'I want to go home' which I worked out and asked him if that was it, to which he gave me a thumbs up. I am speaking to someone tomorrow from headway, so should help

[Hidden]

Hi my hubby has had a trachi for 14 months after bi, we were told he would never seal, eat or drink again, secretions were copious due to no Swallow, but hey he is after 6 months intense input and determination eating drinking and speaking. He had to have speaking valve on and gradually work up to 12 hours then capped overnight however he was better with valve on 24 hours and that is how he is now. He may never have trachi out but that's no real problem as he is 90% compromised and it is a safety net but what I am trying to say is don't give up it takes a while, do keep positive, remember he will get incredibly tired as it takes a lot out of them trying to speak again. Good luck to you both.

[sue-66]

A magnetic abc is a great idea, I will try that. His secretions were quite excessive and they had removed the trachy too soon, so put it back in. He has a patch that lessons that and they are trying to remove it now in stages. He is tired more when they put the valve in, so I try not to push him when he starts falling asleep.

[Hidden in reply to sue-66]

Hi we had two hyocin patches changed daily then every other day until secretions became less and less. Hope ABC letters on magnetic board works. Keep strong you can both get through this together. BW x