Pep talk

[Liam1965]

I will cease posting the views I have been posting.

Please don't stop, unless you no longer hold them. I am not shy about posting if I disagree with you, but that no more makes my argument correct than yours, and the same holds true for other disagreers.

The board works best when we hear from all sides of an argument, and often the "unpopular" argument is the one which most needs to be heard!

Liam, whose eyes always elide over the space in Andy's name, and thus he always wonders if his is a nickname for Homer Simpson's neighbor.

[Guest]

I just had to chime in on something. I agree with what FL Andy had been saying, its all absolutely correct in theory. Working WITH your doctor and DME is the best bet to get the proper treatment. But as someone mentioned, not all of us have the luxury of having the ability to "fire" our DME or sleep doctor.

I live in a mostly rural area. My choices are limited by what's available in my area. While I happen to have a great, nationally recognized hospital in the area, DME's are limited. When I first got my prescription, I was given a choice of 3. Since then, one has acquired the other, so now I'm down to 2 in my area. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong one apparently, since I have had horrible luck with them, but I'm not sure if the other is any better (I believe Liam, who lives fairly close to me, chose the other, and I'm not sure he's having much luck with them either).

And while I agree that most doctors do truly care about their patients, I'm not sure that they have time to really do the research and work with the patient. Most doctors are rushed, having to see as many patients as they can in the shortest amount of time. I read a study done at the big, local nationally recognized hospital that said doctors, on average, spend about 10 minutes with each patient before moving on to the next one. But what really caught my eye was that the study was trying to figure out how doctors could be more efficient and REDUCE that time. Insurance companies are pushing them to spend less and less time with patients, and to see more in an average day. And they are also pushing them to do more and more paper work to justify those visits.

So while I do think my doctor does truly care, the amount of time he is able to devote to me is limited. That's why I agree with what most people have been saying, we need to educate ourselves, and even sometimes take our treatment into our own hands.

[hockeydad]

I hate when my computer logs me out without me knowing it. The above post was from me, not a guest.

[FL andy]

I keep looking at the thread "How long did it take you to feel better on cpap therapy?" which was originally posted on April 14.

There are only 55 responses, a very low number from which to generalize.

But, 39 percent of those who did respond say it took longer than one month to feel better. That is sad, very sad. And, IMHO, it most likely could have been prevented.

I look at those results and can't help but wonder what kind of doctor, if any, they used.

Obviously, I don't know. But I would guess that very few of those 39 percent used a doctor with excellent expertise in sleep disorders, aka Board Certified.

Mikesus made a good point that many OSA sufferers in the world live hundreds or thousands of miles away from a Board Certified sleep doctor.

But of the people who frequent *this* discussion list, I doubt that more than three percent live more than 200 miles from one. For the other 97 percent, it is to you that I strongly recommend using a doctor whose expertise is in sleep disorders. If you *did*, I would be willing to bet you would be in the group that felt better less than one month after cpap therapy.

If you have the funds, or if you are insured, now that you realize it took so long to feel better ... would you have spent $50 to $75 extra *at the beginning* to feel better in less than one month AND know that you are using the correct equipment?

And I would guess that more than a few bought additional masks solely in an attempt to feel better.

It really is sad.

Andy