The V60: Sleeping With Godzilla

[deltadave]

Oh, heck. So much for the V60. I'm outta here.

[Mike6977]

Deltadave, if I've caught you before your morning run, it looks like it's just you and me in this thread.

I gave Respironics a call, they referred me to salesperson "Dave" and he said 1 to 5 units of the v60 "mobile" retail for $13,100 each.. I said that's a little more than I wanted to pay, and Dave said they're holding a promotion: buy an older unit for $12,000, get an instant upgrade to the new v60, offer is good till the end of the year. .That price includes the unit, the software and some training, so if y'all need some of these, now's the time to buy.

I asked what they could do for me about masks, he said that they could get me deep discounts off the entire line of Respironics masks, which is very cool.


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Now here's the rub for me. .When I went from the ER and was finally admitted into BI, and told them at 1 a.m. that I needed an xPAP, it seemed like they only had this single, lonely v60 unit.

Perhaps it was that I flying economy (BI has three separate buildings); when I went through the other buildings, it was clear that those patients were flying first-class, way better-looking private rooms, and even a super-fly, hotel-quality private suite — guess that would be flying in the private/corporate jet league . . . so I think it's a pretty good guess that there was more than just one v60 for all three BI buildings.


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But still, lying in my hospital bed, playing with Godzilla, I had time to wonder: surely in a hospital this size, even the cheap suites must have nights with more than one xPAP-using patient admitted.

Sure, Hose-Heads planning a stay at any hospital should pack their own gear, but there are many older folk, widowed, living on their own in NYC, and when they enter a hospital ER, these seniors haven't planned anything ahead.

Twelve grand could buy, what, ten decent xPAP units (split the ten between R&R, 5 sales for each of the xPAP sisters), and you'd still have money left over for a decent portfolio of masks.

Yes, you'd have to sterilize these masks after each patient, but trust me, if you've never had a razor sharp fiddy-center on your face for a couple of hours, you are missing something that could be used by DHS to make extraordinary-renditioners / POWs talk.

So is this just BI's bad, or SOP for most hospitals?

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[deltadave]

Deltadave, if I've caught you before your morning run...

Run?

Milk run? Beer run? "The" run(s)?

if it wasn't for my military training at CPAPtalk...

Yep, certainly apparent you been doing a lot of research.

Did you run across this one yet?

By the way, I meant to tell you that you have the best sleep techs.

Thank you, they truly are.

And/or you warned them well ahead of time to let the crazy lady from down South do whatever.

Yeah, pretty much.

Actually, I said that the CLFDS would probably have a lot more to teach them than the reverse.

"IMHO":

• 5% of the board members here know far more about the overall day-to-day management of SDB than any caregiver, now or ever;
• 50% of the board members know far more about their own SDB than any of their caregivers, now or ever; and
• 100% of the board members have important information about their SDB that at least some of their caregivers do not have (now or ever).

So now I have a question.

Of all of these observations and/or concerns:

She unveils a no-name throw-away nasal mask. Must've cost 50 cents to manufacture...

The RT practically puts her foot on my chest, cinches this mask hard.

Like she's strapping an Apollo astronaut into his reclining space-chair.

She flips the V60's switch to "on", asks if I'm good, I gasp "yes", and she says a cheery good night.

it seemed like they only had this single, lonely v60 unitso I think it's a pretty good guess that there was more than just one v60 for all three BI buildings

I had time to wonder: surely in a hospital this size, they even the cheap suites must have nights with more than one xPAP-using patient admitted

were any of them shared with the staff?

Did you ask or comment:

• Why are you using that mask when there may be about 80 that are more comfortable (although perhaps not, it could have been "non-vented", so that cuts down the field significantly)?;
• If you tighten the mask too tight, it's going to leave a hole in my nose by morning;
• If you tighten the mask too tight, you deactivate it's leak-sealing ability;
• If you put the mask on first and then turn on the machine, I get a surprise I don't want; and/or
• If you get me a "cheap" machine, not only will you save money, but I'll probably be able to use a few installed "comfort" options (unless you think I'm going to up and die during the night and want to run the alarm system).

Or did you leave them to make the same mistakes on the next person (not forgetting, of course, that they have some thoughts about all this, too)?

[Mike6977]

.

Milk run? Beer run?

Morning beer run, of course. .Who puts milk on their cereal these days?

Did you ask or comment:

• Why are you using that mask when there may be about 80 that are more comfortable (although perhaps not, it could have been "non-vented", so that cuts down the field significantly)?;
• If you tighten the mask too tight, it's going to leave a hole in my nose by morning;
• If you tighten the mask too tight, you deactivate it's leak-sealing ability;
• If you put the mask on first and then turn on the machine, I get a surprise I don't want; and/or
• If you get me a "cheap" machine, not only will you save money, but I'll probably be able to use a few installed "comfort" options (unless you think I'm going to up and die during the night and want to run the alarm system).

Or did you leave them to make the same mistakes on the next person (not forgetting, of course, that they have some thoughts about all this, too)?

Deltadave, this wasn't a sleep lab. I had just suffered a major cardiac event, was wildly sleep-deprived, and had bigger fish to fry.

I could write "them" (one poor night-shift RT) a letter outlining your very valid points, but since this is my second time at the CHD rodeo, and my actuarial endpoint is in sight, I'd rather be sunning in the south of France.

Unfortunately, I have too many doctor's appointments to even consider booking a vacation, at least I do for now.

Still, I'm willing to C&P your points, but keep in mind that: BI is a huge institution, I'm not sure how to locate the right person to email your points to, or, if, given my utter lack of SDB credentials, they'd GAFF.

Offtopic: don't you think FFs are over-rated? .Once you've done it once, it looses it's novelty, and squeezing a stewardess into those tiny bathrooms is real pain.

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BTW, that my "predicted" AE is much closer than I'd like for my age (55), my attitude (as a long-time jock) is this: there is nothing, not even hot sex in JetBlue's bathroom, that compares with being down 30 points in the fourth quarter of a basketball game, seeing the other team openly smirking, then engineering a can-you-believe-this-sh*t? comeback.

Of interest: I did meet with Dr. L, my NYC sleep doctor today, and we held a long, fruitful discussion on a wide variety of subjects.. Besides my SDB, we discussed Dr. Hannibal Lecter (an amalgam of real-life SKs, one of them a very bright psychiatrist, still at large), my wife's body of work, Dr. L's prior work as a principal investigator on an anti-depressive study, and how he was pushed by the sponsoring pharmaceutical company to distort the study, and finally, how much of the gold-standard medical literature is "stepped on" in some way, shape or form.

When the subject turned to Dr K, Dr. L was familiar with his work, but as we got more technical about ASV, Dr. L said: "I'm a bit out of my league here, why don't we book you an appointment with Dr. G, he has a lot to say on the subject."

I'm scheduled to see Dr G on 2 p.m., Oct 4th.

Although, compared to other members of this BB, I don't know squat about ASV, I can hum a few bars, and if Dr. G has something of BB interest to say about ASV, Dr K, etc., I'll post it here (with Dr. G's perms, of course.)

And I'll bring the doc a nice Chianti, and even supply the fava beans.

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Life was not a valuable gift, but death was:

[Mike6977]

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DD, assuming that Dr. G has an inside track, do you have any questions about NM Apache reverse-cowgirl style ASV that you'll like me to relate to him?

If PM is a better venue for this, please feel free.

Mike

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Life was not a valuable gift, but death was:

[Mike6977]

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Yes, you're 100 correct, "IMHO"

• 5% of the board members here know far more about the overall day-to-day management of SDB than any caregiver, now or ever;
• 50% of the board members know far more about their own SDB than any of their caregivers, now or ever; and
• 100% of the board members have important information about their SDB that at least some of their caregivers do not have (now or ever).

As spit-ball numbers, I can't argue.

Not being able to sleep, having a face-hugger on your face, and watching your health deteriorate tends to concentrate a CPAPtalk member's mind wonderfully, wouldn't you agree?

Nothing more informative than watching an arrogant, a**hole oncologist present with grade IV mets, and then having to walk through the looking-glass mirror.



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Damn, Dave, twice in one post?

Did you ask or comment:

• Why are you using that mask when there may be about 80 that are more comfortable (although perhaps not, it could have been "non-vented", so that cuts down the field significantly)?;
• If you tighten the mask too tight, it's going to leave a hole in my nose by morning;
• If you tighten the mask too tight, you deactivate it's leak-sealing ability;
• If you put the mask on first and then turn on the machine, I get a surprise I don't want; and/or
• If you get me a "cheap" machine, not only will you save money, but I'll probably be able to use a few installed "comfort" options (unless you think I'm going to up and die during the night and want to run the alarm system).

Or did you leave them to make the same mistakes on the next person (not forgetting, of course, that they have some thoughts about all this, too)?

I read your points slowly (SRK, DD) this time, and really considered what should be done.

I vetted them past my lovely wife, Ronnie (she helped write some 1000 page HIPPA thing for Bellevue), and for this to be worth the effort, it really has to be system-wide, not just BI, NYC, or NY State.

How to accomplish that will require some thought and real elbow grease. .To be attempted after the champagne party when I whip my cowardly, sucker-punching CHD.


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Life was not a valuable gift, but death was: