Better Quality of Life with the Vivo 45 LS
Meet Jonathan Hall – Computer programmer, gamer, boater, fisherman, dog owner and user of the new Breas Vivo 45 LS.
Jonathan lives in Iowa and enjoys spending summers at the Lakes area of Minnesota to boat and fish along with his constant companion Tucker, a 3-year-old Golden retriever. He also enjoys PlayStation video games that include Spiderman, Cyberpunk, and Horizon.
Long History of Home Ventilation Use
Jonathan was diagnosed with Ullrich Congenital Muscular Dystrophy at age four and in 1998 started use of ventilatory support with the T-Bird Legacy. This was followed by the LTV and now the Breas Vivo 45 LS. Jonathan shares “My first one (T-Bird Legacy) was huge. It was like larger than a desktop printer. It was big, bulky… The last vent was an LTV that’s stands for laptop ventilator. Like a laptop from the 80s. It was still really big. Now the Vivo (45 LS) is small and compact.”
Home Care Ventilation Needs Met with the Vivo 45 LS
In addition to being a fraction of the size of the LTV, 14.5 lbs. with 5 hours of battery life vs the Vivo 45 LS 6.8 lbs. with 7.5 hrs. battery life, the Vivo 45 LS provides patented eSync leak independent patient breath triggering that helps avoid uncomfortable asynchronous breaths associated with Jonathan’searlier ventilators. “That’s important to have so I can get a good night’s sleep.” Jonathan tells us. Other innovations provided by the Vivo include
Profiles. Jonathan comments, “I’ve got two profiles. One’s for nighttime and one’s for daytime. (The nighttime profile) has a slower breath rate than the daytime one that allows me to take meetings because it has a longer breath duration, so I could still talk on it. So that flexibility I was really surprised with.” Another unique feature of Vivo home ventilators is the Start-Stop-Alarm Silence Remote Control that extends the reach of Vivo controls. Jonathan likes this because “(The remote control) allows me to use the vent on my own terms and affords a measure of independence, because I don’t need to ask an aide to start/stop the ventilator. I don’t need the ventilator at all times, but when I feel 15 min of rest would benefit me, I can wheel up to the vent and use the remote to turn it on.”
Jonathan’s Healthcare Team
An important part of comfortable, effective home mechanical ventilation is the care team. Jonathan’s physician is University of Iowa’s Dr. Herbert Berger, and his home health care company is CarePro. Jonathan told us, “Dr Berger is great, he works with me, helping with the profiles I mentioned. He also recommended daily use of a cough assist, in how to use it with my trach. That helps me prevent congestion… I’ve kind of got a few techniques to do that cough, combined it with the ventilator. So I’ll do a breath with the cough and then a breath with the vent and it really gets those congestions moving so that I can work it up. And if I want a big cough, I will also do breath
stacking (with the Vivo). “As to CarePro, Jonathan shares “ I’ve been working with them for quite a while as well. They listen to what I need… They’re really important to us for supplies, ventilator tubing and water for the humidifier. And we’ve had to adjust some things like connections to the trach so it’s not pulling as much. We use this little rubber, they call it a gummy that’s very flexible and it goes on the end of the tube, and it just doesn’t pull it out of alignment.” Jonathan Hall and his companion Tucker “The (CarePro) respiratory therapists come once a month to check the ventilator settings and see how we’re doing. One of the things that Vivo has is an SD card which they can download the settings and provide that to Dr. Berger, and he can pull it up in my charts and see how it’s changed or how I’m doing… Before we were using sheets of paper and writing it all down.” In addition to Jonathan’s care team, Scott Barth RRT, RPSGT, Breas Account Executive, worked with CarePro to transition Jonathan from the LTV to the Vivo 45 LS. Together they got the Vivo 45 LS’s ventilation modes “…just right…” and provided a “…great experience…” according to Jonathan who finds the ventilation by the Vivo very comfortable and much quieter than the LTV.
Jonathan’s Thoughts on Home Ventilation
Breas asked Jonathan to share any final thoughts and insight he had for people faced with the need for home ventilation to which he replied. “Well, I think, so going through this can be kind of scary if you’re new to it but it’s something that will lead to better quality of life. So I think it’s something to actually be grateful for. And with such a good team, the Vivo, Breas, my doctor, my supplier, CarePro, it’s been such a great team and they’ve gone above and beyond to meet my needs. It’s just something that’s to look forward to and it’s been great.” Breas is proud to be part of the Dr. Herbert Berger and CarePro care team to help Jonathan lead his life to its fullest.