The FASTER life....

After weeks on the phone with the the Cystic Fibrosis Pharmacy and battling insurance issues, our eRapid nebulizer arrived today.


Arrived!

 Not only can this machine nebulize inhaled medication fast but, it is capable of handling MANY of Madeline's inhaled medications. We have used the TRIO and Altera neb machines in the past but, those are aimed at delievering only a specific inhaled medication (like TOBI or Cayston). The previous machines are very similar to the eRapid, but I love that we can do any of MAdeline's medicines in this one little, FAST, and VERY quiet machine. (All three thingsI love.) It's SUPER FAST! ( 6 minutes for TOBI which takes 20-25 on a regular nebulizer) There is also NO sound coming from this little handy machine which made me realize just how LOUD our regular compressor is all the time, and how loud all the ipads and tv shows really are while we are doing treatments. After her six minute dose of inhaled TOBI, I was left thinking...."IS this REALLY effective? That was just too easy!"

The truth is that the effort lies in cleaning and disinfecting this thing. It isn't terribly hard, and if you have used the other similar machines ( as mentioned above- TRIO or Altera) then it pretty much is the same step by step lengthy process. Really, that is what makes it more time consuming. Each part of the mouthpiece has to be soaked in soap and water, rinsed, boiled (or microwave sterilized). This is typical for most nebs but, the aerosol head is what separates the lengthy care.

This is what an aerosol head looks like.


aerosol head

 It is the most essential part of the machine and because of that it requires a lot of babysitting. It requires distilled water to rinse off the soap and water, touching it only by its metal prongs. Afterwards, it must be soaked in alcohol before letting it completely air dry on a paper towel. Then it is ready for its next use.

The e-rapid also requires a bit of an assembly process but the great part is that it easily can accommodate a child's mask with connector from PARI. It's great since Madeline hasn't quite learned how to breathe using the regular adult mouthpiece.



All the pieces for the mouthpiece






eRapid Mouthpiece assembled with child mask



Madeline was easily able to hold this on her own while doing the ipad. Once it's done nebulizing the medication, the machine beeps twice and a check mark icon appears on the machine's window.

Base (shows light up screen with prompts)

The whole machine costs around $1000. There was no way that our insurance would have paid for that nor were we going to fork out that amount! But after speaking directly to CF Services Pharmacy, we realized that we already had the bulk of the machine. Apparently, the Altera machine base is the same (which we already had from doing Cayston last year) but, the mouthpiece is different. For a little over a hundred dollars, we were able to just purchase the the mouthpiece in order to officially have an
 "eRapid." I have noticed the medicine reservoir is deeper (allowing it to hold more medicine) and the head is designed to nebulize many types of medications (unlike the other machines.). So, if any other cf families have an Altera machine....guard it with your life. You have a very prized possession.

Entire eRapid System (includes mouthpiece with mask and base)

After Madeline tested negative for Pseudo last culture (the first time since her hospitalization after getting IVS), our clinic gave us the choice of stopping the TOBI (antibiotic to treat Pseudo) or to continue it for a few more months in case it could come back. We chose to continue with the TOBI in the hopes that the next month with keep the Pseudo away and give it less chance of it ever coming back. We hope that once we get another negative culture we will stop the TOBI altogether. I cannot wait to give all these machines a rest. But until then,we are enjoying our 6 minute, quiet E-Rapid!

My champion using her eRapid for the first time!

You can read more about the machine here. As of now, it is only sold through CF Services Pharmacy.
It is manufactured by PARI.