Cleaning and Disinfecting Acapella

I have to start out saying that I try really hard to keep Rachel's breathing treatment parts clean and disinfected;  so hard that I've melted a couple parts in the past.

Yea...guilty. 

Whoops! 

At least I got the germs...right?  

So, if you are in doubt here are the instructions:

Cleaning

• Detach mouthpiece (mask) then soak the device and mouthpiece in warm, soapy water as required to remove visible contaminants.  Use a liquid dish detergent (Dawn or equivalent), mixing two (2) tablespoons of detergent per one (1) gallon water.  Rinse thoroughly with sterile water, and allow parts to air dry.  Drain the device by placing it in normal resting position.

Disinfecting

• Alcohol - Soak five (5) minutes, twice daily.  acapella is compatible with 70% isopropyl alcohol.  Rinse with sterile water.  You can make water sterile by boiling for five (5) minutes.
• Hydrogen peroxide - Soak in 3% hydrogen peroxide for 30 minutes.  Rinse with sterile water.  You can make water sterile by boiling for five (5) minutes. 
• Glutaraldehydes (Cidex or equivalent) - acapella will maintain its integrity using cold sterilizing solutions such as glutaraldehydes.

FYI - Estimated device lifetime is six months. 

This information was taken straight from the insert that comes with the acapella device. 

(English, number 7 - 9)



Just for Me

Here lately, I've really gotten back into doing one of my favorite things; repurposing stuff.  I really enjoy taking something that looks down right awful and making it look alive again.

Being the parent of a child with CF, I'm always caring for Rachel and often forget about myself.  She comes first, but I've been trying to put me higher in the ranking than I used to. 

 It's nice being "back in the saddle" and serves as a great outlet for life stuff.

So, here are a few pictures of some of my recent small projects.

Before

After - book holder for Rachel's homeschool books

Before

After - yea, I just wasn't in love with the other breadbox
so this is the new/old breadbox/pillbox

Before



After - cute little corner cabinet currently
storing place mats



After completing a few small projects, I've really got the fever to tackle more and maybe larger pieces if I'm lucky enough to get my hands on any.....for the right price...of course! 

Or maybe I could drag out the boxes of photos and scrap booking supplies, or thread the sewing machine and whip up something;......I could go on and on.

So, what do you enjoy doing to "escape" or "relieve stress"? 

August Clinic & Our Celebration Hike

Rachel had clinic Wednesday, August 10th and it was another great one.  Her growth and weight gain.....again - not an issue. (snicker)  No gut issues this time.....miralax and increased fiber diet - working like a charm.  Lungs....my sweet loves's lungs!  She blew 115% and 118% on her PFT's!  (pulmonary lung function test)  She is amazing.  This clinic visit was the shortest one I believe she's ever had.  We were in and out in an hour and a half.  Sweet!  But before we headed home, we left the goodies we had for the clinic team. 



Mmm.  Chocolate Truffles

I was telling my friend Shanee about Rachel's clinic and she asked what we were doing to celebrate.  I said nothing.  I hadn't really thought about it.  Later that night I kept thinking "we should celebrate, Rachel works hard and we should celebrate". 

Soooo, the next day we went on a 4.5 mile hike with some friends.  Is there a better way to celebrate great lungs?!  Put those suckers to work!  Right.  After all, that's how she's gotten where she is with her PFT's. 

It was a great day of celebration.  We were out with some of our friends hiking beautiful Oahu.  It was a perfect day.

Aiea Loop

Of course there's a silly face.

Go Rach Go

Simply beautiful

Muddy = Happy

The water looked so refreshing at this point!

I'm very thankful there are no snakes in Hawaii.

Yea, we ruined more shoes! 

I wanted to give  HUGE thank you to

Ronnie Sharpe

 for inspiring us to get moving!