Bath Time with a Tracheostomy: The Portable Tub Trick That Solved It

The challenge with bath time was always the same: keep the stoma from touching water, while staying hooked up to the oxygen machine the whole time. So I bought a portable tub, propped a bath pillow under the bath seat, and used it to angle his neck and stoma up out of the water. Problem solved.

In Chinese astrology, there’s a saying about people born with an “emperor’s fate” — everyone around them has to wait on them hand and foot, and even that counts as its own kind of fortune. My son fits the description perfectly. As his parents, we’ve reached the point of accepting it — gladly. We’re prepared to spend however many millions his care takes, for as long as it takes. I suppose that means I don’t get to be the lady carrying the Hermès bag. But I’d rather put the money into my son, carry this hard lesson with a full heart, and treasure whatever thread of fate brought the two of us together.