My three night stand, and now she is leaving...

[2 B Sleeping Soundly]

After at least 15 years of nightly struggles to breathe, trying to get just some good sleep, a never lifting daily fog (well temporarily lifted with my Brewed Bold Starbucks – always Venti), and with an ever increasing fatigue and physical feeling of just being too old and weary to do anything anymore, I finally have had the experience of a lifetime! Three blissful, not perfect, but blissful mind you, nights of uninterrupted hours of sleep. But alas, the cause of all of this life change, this new and livable me, is on her way back to the Neurology Department to the wonderful people at the Sleep/OSA lab. NO! NO!! This is not fair! I don’t want you to go anywhere; you’re leaving me for someone else! What will I do without you?

Now I must wait, go back to the old me that now feels like death walking, while I wait for the information of my blissful transformation to be assessed. As for my new love, well, she will be sent from somewhere and brought to my door by someone. When, I don’t know, but of this I do know. One night without her, even after the short time we had together, means going back to that living HELL that I never want to experience again.

My feelings as I sit here typing this are of having a severe apprehension or maybe even an irrational fear of the nights to come until her return. I know it will happen, but I want to survive somehow until the ‘when’. Honestly, I now feel like I have been at a crossroads for some time, looking at something horrible, even deadly, and didn’t even know it, that is, until my three night stand...

[HoseCrusher]

Persistent follow up may speed things along.

[Emilia]

It is cruel that when one is given a machine to use temporarily in order to determine its efficacy, and it turns out it is NEEDED, they take it away! WTHell? If you need it, the least they can do is allow you to rent it until the new one arrives. Honestly.... it just doesn't make sense! You should ask if that is an option...to rent one in the interim. Not sure how your insurance works, or if you will get the same machine they had you using...but you should find out and be sure you will get a good, data capable one.

[Slartybartfast]

You'll always remember your first one fondly.

Mine was an old S7(I think) Spirit that I grudgingly took home in its backpack travel case from my sleep doc's office to try out at his behest. Heck, he was almost pleading with me.

"Take this machine . . . PLEEEEASE!"

He said my results indicated my condition was life-threatening. I thought he was just being dramatic, but I decided I'd watch the show anyway. Next morning, however, when I awoke bright eyed, bushy tailed and mentally alert I knew I was a changed man.

And though I now have a couple of newer machines to use, I'll always fondly remember my first.

[chunkyfrog]

Don't let them sell you an old model, a dataless model, or one without exhale relief.
Read the info on this forum, and don't let them lie to you!

[Perrybucsdad]

Little confused... why did you have to give your CPAP back? Can you pop an Alka-Seltzer in your mouth and start foaming at the mouth and start flopping around when you hand it back and maybe they will feel bad and let you keep it.

John

[Lizistired]

I don't understand why they don't just take the card to evaluate the data.

[mayondair]

OK, so don't just settle for any old thing, you want an encore with the best, read Janknitzs blog about meeting with DMEs and getting set uphttp://tinyurl.com/2arffqx. do you homework and best of luck! kathy

[n0hardmask]

You'll always remember your first one fondly.
Mine was an old S7(I think) Spirit that I grudgingly took home in its backpack travel case from my sleep doc's office to try out at his behest. And though I now have a couple of newer machines to use, I'll always fondly remember my first.

Slarty, I only this weekend got an S8 Vantage w/EPR to replace my Spirit. Despite -or because of- it's bulk and weight, the Spirit seems amost indestructible. Anyway, for the nice features of the S8 with EPR, it does squeal annoyingly, at least runing with EPR.

Anyway, back to the post subject, I now have a newer machine with a trusty S7 backup for those long weekends if/when something happens. Regards, Y'all.

[chunkyfrog]

I'm just guessing; but the machine you had for 3 nights was an auto of some sort for home titration.
One reason they took it back is so that by the time the piece of crap they want to sell you arrives, you will be desperate enough to take ANYTHING! DON'T fall for that!
Read Janknitz' blog. I wish I had.

[Ineedanap]

Congrats and welcome to the kingdom of the hose head. You'll be very welcome here.

[Emilia]

Here is a working link to Janknitz's blog: http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/

[2 B Sleeping Soundly]

Hello all, Thank you for the information and encouragement! This site is wonderful, as are all those who bless it with their generous knowledge, compassion, and support.

For those who are wondering why the CPAP had to be returned, it is due to the volume of potential OSA patients that this HMO (that helps you ‘Thrive’) deals with on a seemingly daily basis. Every time I have been there over the number of weeks this process has taken (so far), there seems to be people always coming and going with testing equipment to diagnose and the CPAP 's (for 2 - 3 nights) to see if it the therapy will work for them (and yes gather data). There is a very good chance that the CPAP I dropped off about 3 1/2 hours ago is already cleaned/re-filtered and will be leaving almost immediately with someone who will soon discover a new and livable life ahead.

As I mentioned above, this is a HMO, so I am dealing with choices that are unfortunately going to be set for me, but I have seen such incredible results (in such a short time) that for now that is ok. If the first CPAP unit (luckily 100% covered) turns out to be a 'brick' then I will deal with it until I have the opportunity (re: money) to purchase something better on my own. With that being said, I will still step-up firmly and be my own advocate with my DME (an internal dept. in the HMO) and Apria Healthcare who is my vendor/supplier. As the saying goes 'You don't get if you don't ask". Well I will be asking.

The CPAP I 'tested' on was a Phillips Respironics System One REMstar and I believe the RT said that we would be getting a new unit like it (don't know if it will also have the memory/SD card ability) and also come with the P R System One Heated Humidifier. No P R model numbers were given so I don’t know if it will be the Phillips Respironics top of the line or the bare bones.

Lastly, I was really hoping I wasn’t losing my mind and the only one who could see the irony of now being forced to be ‘un-hosed’ until my new CPAP blesses my door. For me now it feels like, “Here is your life and health back. Now, that was really nice wasn’t it? I bet you could get used to that, Huh!?! Now please bring back our CPAP testing unit, return to the HELL of a few days ago, and wait for your life and health to someday return!!” Perhaps, I can firmly bring the absurdity of this practice to the Sleep/OSA lab or my RT and see if a loaner or rental could be substituted for future OSA patients and at least maybe I will be one of the last to have to deal with this. I know, I know, what some of you might say to me (I'm a realist too), so I will just have to attribute my desire at attempting to change an HMO's protocol as due to having a crazy, but very well rested dream (finally).

[moresleep]

Congratulations on finding successful therapy for your condition! It's a huge step in the right direction.

Does seem like they could have let you keep the trial machine until your permanent one arrives. How long will that take? If more than another day or two, you might consider buying one on Craigslist or at Secondwindcpap.com. You'd have it as a backup machine, after the other arrives.

Make sure they give you a machine that records waveform flow data (each breath you take). They do not cost much more these days, and it just does not make sense to settle for anything less, if given a chance. For example, the data-everything System One Remstar Auto Cpap with Aflex is $519 at Cpap.com, $375 at Secondwindcpap.com.

[rested gal]

My list of machines that record "full data" (AHI and leak info) and those that don't -- updated July 2011.
You'll want a machine that can record leak and AHI info. The ones in blue do that; the ones in red do not:
viewtopic.php?p=307168#p307168

Here's where you can see Janknitz's great blog page about quite a few machines:
http:// maskarrayed.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/data-capable-machines/

I put a space after the http:// so you can see the entire URL to that particular page. Take out the space to make it a working link.