Surgery with Sleep Apnea

[GTOJim]

My wife just had knee replacement surgery. All of her doc's, including her sleep doc said the hospital does not allow use of your own machine. No way to inspect if sterile etc, when necessary the hospital provides a CPAP.

My wife had the surgery, I ask the hospital staff, where is the CPAP the doctor ordered for my wife? They get hold of a respiratory therapist who delivers a machine so large it has it's own permanent cart. It is huge, at least 10 times the size of my wife's machine and it doesn't include a humidifier that my wife's machine has. I'm not kidding when I say the machine belongs in a museum. It's obviously one of the fist CPAP's ever made.

After delivering the machine the respiratory therapist left to find an adapter, my wife's mask doesn't fit the tubing of this antique. Soon after the therapist leaves the room, the machine started beeping. I found a button that reset the alarm only to have it start beeping after 5 about minutes. This went one for about an hour until a nurse arrived and turned off the machine. Turns out the on/off was located on the back of the machine, the front had a least a dozen buttons, and a very large screen, looks like it produces several graphs when the machine is running. Probably made way before data collection type of machines.

The next morning my wife apologizes to me for not using the CPAP. The respiratory therapist wasn't able to stop the alarm from beeping, every 5 minutes the beeping woke up my wife, she couldn't sleep. Finally a different therapist told my wife not to use the machine and turned it off, said the alarm could be heard down the hall.

I'm looking for advice on how to go about fighting with the hospital so my wife can use her personal CPAP when she has the other knee replaced.

Thanks in advance for any advice. No, we don't live out in the sticks, we live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

[sleepmba]

When I was in the hospital, they let me bring my machine in. They actually preferred it. Ask the Repiratory therapist about bringing in your own machine.

I actually work in a hospital (in the sleep lab) and haven't heard of a situation that you speak of. If you keep asking, they will probably let you bring it in.

Good Luck!

[Patrick A]

Well I can some what see the popint of the hospital.

My wife just had knee replacement surgery. All of her doc's, including her sleep doc said the hospital does not allow use of your own machine. No way to inspect if sterile etc, when necessary the hospital provides a CPAP.

I had a friend that wnt in for heart bypass surgery, at a local hospital in Chula Vista, Ca. The hospital said that if he had his own cpap machine that they would prefer that he use one of their machines but would allow him to use his own. If he felt safer with his own machine. So his wife took in his machine that evening so he had it.

IMHO I think that your wife should use her own machine because from what you have said they don't seem to feel concern for her situation. Also if they provide one make sure thay don't charge you for it. (one time my wife took me to the emergency room got billed from a doctor that I did not even see, and $9.00 for 1 nitro tablet)
Good luck hope your wife gets better soon and can come home ASAP.
Himself

[Guest]

stand your ground- this is your wife you are talking about, I work in a hospital, and we do allow and encourare clients to bring in there own C-pap machines. most nurse are not familiar with them and their necessities, your wife has resident / client rights, and you know the risk she takes not using her machine!! Chances are if you bring in her machine, plug it in, set it up, nobody will even say anything as they will think hospital staff did it.

[sleepmba]

I agree with the "guest"

[ozij]

I would't be that worried about the machine they did bring. Hospital ventilators can supply all kinds of pressure in all kinds of modes -- one of them being CPAP.
O.

[GTOJim]

I would't be that worried about the machine they did bring. Hospital ventilators can supply all kinds of pressure in all kinds of modes -- one of them being CPAP.
O.

It wouldn't have been a problem if the machine actually worked. Two respiratory therapists on the hospital staff couldn't fix it. Turned it off, told my wife not to use it on the first night.

The surgeon and sleep doctor both stated the hospital will not allow a personal CPAP, hospital will supply a CPAP if necessary. My problem is the machine provided by the hospital did not work.

Her doctors stated the hospital used to allow people to use their own CPAP machines but that policy has changed.

I hope someone can provide some rule/law, some kind of ammunition I can use to fight this current policy.

I am looking out for my wife's well being, my reason for looking for a way to fight the hospital. Plus I'm a hose head myself and may need to have my chest cracked open in the future.

Thank your for your suggestions and for any other additional advice. I fully intend fighting the hospital over this.

[sjishimoto]

I went in for surgery and did bring my cPap, and they didn't let me use mine either, but they DID supply me with a bulky piece of equiment that just blew my face off. Since then, anything I had a procedure done, I just let the aneshesiologist know I have OSA and let them deal with it.