Trilogy - PTB Down - UPDATE

[Pugsy]

I've never heard you not be nice without overwhelming provocation.

Yeah...I know but there's a little teeny tiny little "good" devil sitting on my shoulder screaming at me "2 wrongs don't make a right no matter how justified"...
fortunately I can tune him out fairly easily.

[Madalot]

I have even come out from a store and found a vehicle parked ON THE LINES (like it's a spot) and completely block access to my van/ramp. If I was traveling alone (which I don't do fortunately) I would be completely trapped and unable to get into my van until the asshole returned and moved their vehicle. When this happens, I have to wait for my husband to move the van so I can get in. It's infuriating and it happens ALL THE TIME.

I hope you call the cops when that happens... or a tow truck

I haven't. One reason is my husband does NOT want to sit and wait for them (plus we frequently have perishable food). Secondly, I have a friend in Michigan in a similar situation. He's called several times only for the police to say there's really not much they can do. And some of them seem put out at being bothered over such a thing.

[HoseCrusher]

You may be missing out on an "opportunity..."

Park your van behind the offending car so they can't get out. It doesn't matter if you are in the middle of the road just snug in the best you can. Exit your van and put a note on their windshield.

I forgive you for blocking access to my parking space. Please forgive me for blocking you in. I should be out in a couple of hours...

Have a nice day.

[Madalot]

You may be missing out on an "opportunity..."

Park your van behind the offending car so they can't get out. It doesn't matter if you are in the middle of the road just snug in the best you can. Exit your van and put a note on their windshield.

I forgive you for blocking access to my parking space. Please forgive me for blocking you in. I should be out in a couple of hours...

Have a nice day.

Tempting as that may be, I'd never risk it. I'd end up being towed for sure.

Here's a picture of one that blocked me a couple months ago. We were in the grocery store and came out to find this. Mine is the white van. Man, I was pissed.

[squid13]

That one they could give a ticket to cause he is not parked in a handicap parking spot but in what I call the loading zone for vans , down here it could range from $100 to $250 depending on where you're at.

[palerider]

I've never heard you not be nice without overwhelming provocation.

Yeah...I know but there's a little teeny tiny little "good" devil sitting on my shoulder screaming at me "2 wrongs don't make a right no matter how justified"...
fortunately I can tune him out fairly easily.

I have this image of you looking at that shoulder, and then *FLICK* thumping him/her off with your finger

[Lucyhere]

Here's a picture of one that blocked me a couple months ago. We were in the grocery store and came out to find this. Mine is the white van. Man, I was pissed.

The f*****g idiot knew what he/she was doing. And, if he/she really didn't know that he/she shouldn't be parking there and why, the idiot's license should be taken away

[Okie bipap]

I would be tempted to accidentally attempt to drop the wheel chair ramp down. If it hits a window or puts a large dent in the offending car, so be it.

[HoseCrusher]

Is that a handicap sticker I see hanging from the mirror of that car?

[palerider]

Is that a handicap sticker I see hanging from the mirror of that car?

The one that's not parked in a handicap spot? yes.

Maybe they're mentally handicapped, unable to recognize a parking spot.

[Madalot]

Yeah - they had a handicap placard - a temporary one (red is temporary, blue is permanent). Probably an injury or recovering from surgery.

If this was an isolated incident, I'd blow it off. But this happens here ALL THE TIME. I have more photos of more vehicles parked like this or similarly. I am ASTOUNDED at the number of people that just park on those lines, even if there are handicap spaces available.

I have been tempted to put my ramp down anyway, but I'm a nice person. And if I were to do that, you know that I'd end up in trouble, my insurance would have to pay for it and my rates would go up. That's what happens to nice people.

I pretty much make an obscene comment (to my husband) and we just go on our way. The way people are today, selfish and self centered, I'm afraid if I say too much, they'll pull a gun on me and blow my face off. I guess I'm lucky that one woman I confronted just called me "hateful."

[Madalot]

Okay - back to the original topic at hand!! We got off on a disabled parking space abuse tangent.

I have now spent 4 nights on the triggering sensitivity change (from 6 to 5). While 4 nights does NOT a pattern make, I ran a report anyway since an RT is coming and they tend to like to have them. You'd think THEY could/would run the reports, but no. They don't even have the fricking software to do it! But I digress into another tangent...

The last 4 nights, PTB has been 92% or higher, which is promising. I looked back and within the last few weeks, saw PTB as low as 81% so 92% and higher is encouraging. I'm probably going to "fess up" to her this morning about what I did and why. Hopefully, she's not a *itch and takes me to ask over it. We'll see how that one goes!

I plan to let this go at 5 for a while and keep an eye on the reports every couple of weeks.

And while I am still waking up a lot, it seems like it's not as WIDE awake and I'm able to doze back off more quickly. BUT, I've also 95% stopped working so that stress has been reduced at the same time I increased the triggering sensitivity (couldn't help that one on the timing).

I'm cautiously optimistic that increasing the triggering sensitivity might be the answer.

[raisedfist]

Okay - back to the original topic at hand!! We got off on a disabled parking space abuse tangent.

I have now spent 4 nights on the triggering sensitivity change (from 6 to 5). While 4 nights does NOT a pattern make, I ran a report anyway since an RT is coming and they tend to like to have them. You'd think THEY could/would run the reports, but no. They don't even have the fricking software to do it! But I digress into another tangent...

The last 4 nights, PTB has been 92% or higher, which is promising. I looked back and within the last few weeks, saw PTB as low as 81% so 92% and higher is encouraging. I'm probably going to "fess up" to her this morning about what I did and why. Hopefully, she's not a *itch and takes me to ask over it. We'll see how that one goes!

I plan to let this go at 5 for a while and keep an eye on the reports every couple of weeks.

And while I am still waking up a lot, it seems like it's not as WIDE awake and I'm able to doze back off more quickly. BUT, I've also 95% stopped working so that stress has been reduced at the same time I increased the triggering sensitivity (couldn't help that one on the timing).

I'm cautiously optimistic that increasing the triggering sensitivity might be the answer.

Great news Madalot. Your careful way of making changes pays off and I don't see why the RT would have any issue unless they are just a control freak. I would say about 2 weeks of documented data would be sufficient to draw a conclusion, assuming no other major changes were made.

I am curious. While resting awake with the machine on - what is your typical respiratory rate change? I know your backup rate is set at 7bpm. Does your awake rr ever come close to matching your backup rate?

[Madalot]

I am curious. While resting awake with the machine on - what is your typical respiratory rate change? I know your backup rate is set at 7bpm. Does your awake rr ever come close to matching your backup rate?

I have noticed my RR as low as 8bpm when I'm relaxing to go to sleep. However, the reports show that the AVERAGE through the course of the night is usually between 12 - 13 bpm.

[raisedfist]

I am curious. While resting awake with the machine on - what is your typical respiratory rate change? I know your backup rate is set at 7bpm. Does your awake rr ever come close to matching your backup rate?

I have noticed my RR as low as 8bpm when I'm relaxing to go to sleep. However, the reports show that the AVERAGE through the course of the night is usually between 12 - 13 bpm.

I wonder if a certain percentage of the machine initiated breaths are simply from you spontaneously breathing at a rate of 6bpm or so, rather than a case of you simply being not able to make a spontaneous breath due to muscle weakness. It would be interesting to see after your current experiment, to see if changing your backup rate to 6pm has any effect on your PTB%.

But we must also consider that doing everything possible to increase the PTB% may not be even a desired goal. The purpose of a backup rate is to ensure that a machine breath occurs when the patient is unable to, whether that's due to central apnea/muscle weakness, but also to ensure an adequate breathing rate so that ventilation is not compromised (some people with NMD/similar disease tend to breathe at an inappropriately slow rate during sleep).