My father is on a ventilator in a Baltimore hospital and the doctors don't think he'll ever be able to come off. He has lung cancer, but he's mainly on the vent due to emergency surgery he had which left him weak. (He has the top lobe left in his right lung.)

This is devastating news to our family. My father is completely lucid and alert, but due to his trach and ventilator is having problems communicating with us. He is finding it hard to mouth words (maybe due to being on the vent with a tube in his mouth for almost two weeks) and his hands are swollen so he hasn't been able to write or even point consistently. He can nod "yes" and shake his head "no," and that's it.

Does anyone have any advice for our family? I read on the internet that University Hospital in Baltimore has some success in weaning even tough cases off the vent. Also talk of a vent unit at York Hospital in Pennsylvania (not far from us). Any help or advice would be extremely appreciated.

Loving Daughter

My prayers are with you, but things can get a lot better. I am a nurse that cares for a vent patient in his home. At first he could not speak, but with a good speech therapist, he conversates very well. Give it a little time for the swelling to decrease and hopefully he will be able to talk with you. Also, if the trach bulb could be deflated a little, this will help him to make sounds easier. I hope some of this info will help you. By the way, my patient has been on life support for 5 years and lives a full life. I wish the same for your father.

"Bettina57" is right. Things will get better. I was told I would never speak and be completely vent dependent. Now I am on CPAP all during the day and I speak normally. A Passy-Muir valve will help him speak very well. I am to the point, now, where I don't even need the valve.