HELP ME COMPILE THE SUMMER 2007 NEWSLETTER

I am in the process of compiling the next newsletter and I would welcome your comments, articles, photo's (JPEG) etc.,

Did you go to the AGM, let's hear your comments on the day?

I still haven't had any contributions about transitional care from Paediatric to Adult, this covers Medical, Surgical, Social Services and Education.

I would appreciate contributions by 1st July but will extend it for 2 weeks if you will contact me and promise to send me something.

You can email me on;- terry.june@ntlworld.com or gilky_june@hotmail.com or send it to Amanda. OR straight to me by post at :

82 Masefield Road
Little Lever
Bolton. Lancs BL3 1NG

Lets hear from you folks

Best wishes and happy blogging

June Foster

Older Childrens' Issues

Does anyone have any comments to make on helping an older child to learn how to become more independant with their own trachy care? Obviously all children can handle different things at different times, but if any parents have ideas to share on how they taught their child self-suction and how to change their own tube etc (always with a trained carer nearby) it would be really useful to other parents approaching that stage. We know that some parents encourage their child to take responsibility for as much of their trachy care as is safe right from an early age, others prefer to keep the care their own responsibility (there may of course be developmental or physical issues which would determine what happens). Comments from parents with a child approaching or at Secondary school would be particularly helpful.

General Trachy Topics

Hi! If anyone has any comments on day to day living with a child with a tracheostomy, please leave them here. This can include anything from washing hair, getting around the shops, accessing school/nursery, travelling, obtaining supplies, types of tubes used, velcro or tapes, respite provision, blue badges, affects on siblings, speech therapy, feeding issues, trachy training for carers, decannulation...........basically whatever your experiences are - good or bad - will be useful for other families caring for a trachy child. ACT hopes that no family should feel they are having to struggle on alone; the whole point of membership of ACT is to try to help one another and find out where things work well and then ensure that this can be replicated where things do not.