Every two weeks I used to take Benjamin up to Dartmouth to get his trach changed. Laura Cogswell would usually changes Ben's trach although Dr. Gosselin, Ben's ENT doctor occasionally would do it too. The reason we had it changed up at Dartmouth and not at home is because since he has a cuffed trach it is much more difficult to pull it out and to put it in and usually causes a good amount of bleeding. These changes use to cause Ben to have some major coughing spasms but now they spray lidocaine into his airway before the change to prevent these spasms. These pictures are from a visit in May of 2004 when both Laura and Dr. Gosselin did it together.
Laura preparing the trach
Dr. Gosselin pulling trach out
Laura getting ready to put trach in
All done! Dr. Gosselin securing his trach ties 