Wow... a Responsive DME!

[chunkyfrog]

Apria will only ship "Brown"
The color fits the rest of their business model.

[zorki1c]

If you are lucky enough to live in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, Idaho --and portions of Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Montana-- you won't find a DME better than NORCO. My Medicare Advantage provider has never hassled me over anything my DME recommends. My wife had a different DME which is why she switched from CPAP to an Oral appliance (with mixed results).

[msla]

8. I hope the other DMEs don't read that and go throw a brick through the good DME's window.

Most DMEs have plenty of "bricks" to toss too.

[cflame1]

Awesome... I`m happy for you Kira

[Kiralynx]

8. I hope the other DMEs don't read that and go throw a brick through the good DME's window.

Most DMEs have plenty of "bricks" to toss too.

<snork> <choke> cough> <snicker>

[Kiralynx]

Awesome... I`m happy for you Kira

Me too. Especially after experiences like this one:

viewtopic.php?p=430329#p430329

which I don't doubt you remember!

[BleepingBeauty]

I got lucky in this, too. I'm still with my original DME, but they've changed quite a bit in the nearly seven years I've been with them, all changes for the better.

My original and second RTs there were useless. The new woman I deal with there has a wall of bins full of used/cleaned masks to offer other users. The office now seems to run like it was meant to (or like it really SHOULD), so YAY! The prior RT I dealt with looked like I had three heads on my shoulders when I asked her about used masks for options to try.

The new gal is VERY efficient and genuinely seems interested in her clients' success with the therapy. She's willing to listen and try to help. Isn't that all any of us wants? Makes all the difference, IMO.

Kudos to you, Kira. You sure deserve a break like this one! Pick your chin up off the floor now and carry on.

[Kiralynx]

I got lucky in this, too. I'm still with my original DME, but they've changed quite a bit in the nearly seven years I've been with them, all changes for the better.

My original and second RTs there were useless. The new woman I deal with there has a wall of bins full of used/cleaned masks to offer other users. The office now seems to run like it was meant to (or like it really SHOULD), so YAY! The prior RT I dealt with looked like I had three heads on my shoulders when I asked her about used masks for options to try.

The new gal is VERY efficient and genuinely seems interested in her clients' success with the therapy. She's willing to listen and try to help. Isn't that all any of us wants? Makes all the difference, IMO.

Kudos to you, Kira. You sure deserve a break like this one! Pick your chin up off the floor now and carry on.

I plan to... and I'm sure glad things are doing well in that department, at least, for you, BB!

You getting over the pneumonia?

[BleepingBeauty]

You getting over the pneumonia?

Thanks for asking.

From what they tell me after all the diagnostic tests, it's COPD. And yes, I'm breathing like my old self again after about 10 days of IV antibiotics and steroids and-and-and... I can't wait to get home (I'll be released from the hospital in about eight hours) and see my babies! I've never been separated from them for this long, and I know my dog is anxious about my absence. The neighbor looking in on them every day tells me the dog is eating (but not like usual), goes out to do his thing but doesn't want to go for a walk, comes right back in and curls up in my chair, etc. I get very emotional when I think about our coming reunion.

I might pee from the excitement of that moment, myself. Maybe I should wear a diaper home just in case.

[9forus]

If you are lucky enough to live in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, Idaho --and portions of Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Montana-- you won't find a DME better than NORCO. My Medicare Advantage provider has never hassled me over anything my DME recommends. My wife had a different DME which is why she switched from CPAP to an Oral appliance (with mixed results).

This is who we use for my one year old son. The are the BEST DME I have ever dealt with. My son had to have a lung removed at 5 weeks old. He also was a preemie with multiple food allergies and weight gain issues related to his pulmonary status. We get his oxygen and pulse ox through them. Thankfully he is off oxygen on a regular basis but we have to keep it here for illnesses. We also get his "food" from them, still at 18 months old.

NORCO has always answered the phone when I have called. They know just what we need. The local office knows me by my name every time I call. I never have to argue with them. They deliver anything I need within 24 hours, usually the day I call though unless I call late in the afternoon. Cannot say enough good things about NORCO! Never a billing issue with them, they never ask me for an credit card, I pay monthly with checks. They never call me if I have a balance. They never restrict delivery if I have a balance. I have to watch my monthly statements carefully because if I don't see the balance I would never know I had one.

His food is very expensive but once he hits $700 OOP on top of our $200 deductible it is paid at 100%. So sometimes I have a monthly balance that gets paid a little at a time. Never an issue!

[Kiralynx]

From what they tell me after all the diagnostic tests, it's COPD. <snip>

I might pee from the excitement of that moment, myself. Maybe I should wear a diaper home just in case.

Maybe. Well, at least you have a diagnosis. And I know there are others around here with COPD. You'll find a way to deal with it. Still be sending good thoughts in your direction.

Oh, and you know that mask I ordered from my new DME on Thursday? It arrived on Saturday.

I have NEVER, in 5.5 years, gotten any equipment that quickly unless I ordered it from our hosts, CPAP.COM. Never.

[BleepingBeauty]

From what they tell me after all the diagnostic tests, it's COPD. <snip>

Maybe. Well, at least you have a diagnosis. And I know there are others around here with COPD. You'll find a way to deal with it. Still be sending good thoughts in your direction.

Thanks for the good thoughts.

My diagnostic discharge says "pulmonary nodules with recent history of pneumonia of unclear etiology" and "COPD exacerbation." (I'd never been diagnosed with COPD before, so it seems weird that it's now an "exacerbation." But whatever.) I know I did it to myself by smoking for some 40 years, and I can't undo that damage; I was never a "heavy smoker," but damage is damage, and I now have to live with that. I have an appointment with the pulmonologist next month to follow-up, and then we'll see about exploring the nodules in-depth. For now, I'm home, I'm relatively comfortable, and I'm NOT smoking. It's been almost two weeks now, so the physical addiction is history; it's all a mental challenge at this point, and I'm determined to succeed. So far, so good.

Oh, and you know that mask I ordered from my new DME on Thursday? It arrived on Saturday.

I have NEVER, in 5.5 years, gotten any equipment that quickly unless I ordered it from our hosts, CPAP.COM. Never.

Congrats! That's faster than I've ever experienced, myself, even with my DME stepping up like they have recently. I have no complaints with the timing of my supply shipments (generally takes about five business days to arrive), but two days for a mask is pretty amazing. I'm happy for you!

I called my DME this a.m. for two things: 1, I wanted a couple of hose connectors for the O2 tubing, since I'm utilizing my concentrator during the day now, too (just as a precaution, really). I also noticed a couple of weeks ago, when I packed my old "beastie" in my evacuation kit (if needed) that I did not have any new filters for it anymore; I put in place the current machine's (much smaller) filters just to have something in a pinch. The wrong filters sufficed while I was hospitalized, but I asked the DME if I could get a new set even though I don't use that machine regularly, and I was told it's no problem, that they'll be added to the O2 hose connectors they're sending out today.

It's really nice to know someone's listening and cares enough to do a good job, isn't it? Maybe the bigger DMEs are now seeing the writing on the wall where bad customer service haunts them and they lose customers in droves. (Whatever the reason they're stepping up, it's a good thing for us.)

Enjoy the really good service!

[Kiralynx]

OK, Access Respiratory did it again.

I called this morning about some new nasal pillows for my Tap Pap mask. The person who answered the phone took my information, and said there should be no problem as long as I'd met my deductible, which I definitely had when I got the new 960.

She called me back about ten minutes later to tell me that the way the schedules worked out, it would actually be less expensive for me to get a whole new mask.

"B-b-but," I stuttered, "aren't I limited to one mask every six months?"

"No," she answered. "You get as many masks as you NEED. This is especially helpful when you're first starting out and need to try different masks to find one that works for you."

"Okay..." said I, remembering Apria's ongoing efforts for 5.5 years to not provide a mask if they could avoid it. "When will it be in?"

"Oh, you can pick it up today -- I'll have it on the table behind the register, with your name on it. Unless you won't be over in Metairie any time soon."

"I'll have my husband pick it up on his way home... he'll be coming right past you on another errand."

WOW. Just... WOW. Getting a mask the same day I order it.

I remember, so vividly, Apria's refusal to provide a full-face mask when I came down with my first post-CPAP respiratory infection. It had to be ordered. It showed up about two weeks later, when I no longer needed it. (My husband took one look at me after a night with no CPAP and said, "Order what you need, next day air, from CPAP.COM." I did. I spoke to them sometime early afternoon... the mask was on my doorstep by 10a the next morning.)

My husband commented on it, too... how much NICER it is to deal with people who actually give a d@mn about their customers.

[HoseCrusher]

In the era of customer no-service, this is indeed a glimmer of hope...

[palerider]

don't pinch yourself, you might wake up!!!

seriously, though, let's hope they don't change!