I have a couple questions for you guys that track data

[DreamStalker]

Mike's text is pretty well understood by me an I'm not extraordinarily intelligent (or unintelligent).

That's right... DreamStalker only has a PhD.

Man, your argument was going really GOOD, right up until that sentence... But the rest of it is a darn nice argument IMO.

Ah, but you are mistaken my dear friend Dr. -SWS. Although I have simian characteristics like yourself, I have no PhD.

[roster]

Suit yourself, but I find whining about people who whine about people who whine about spelling and grammar gives me a longer lasting feeling of smugness.


Rooster
CPAP: Protecting against the 4:00 a.m. grammatical error.

[OldLincoln]

I am SO disappointed with the direction this thread has taken. Once again, somebody with an expressed desire to participate and give information from inside the establishment is being bullied off the forum. He hasn't done anything to you, so why are you afraid of him? I did not read that he wants to take over the forum and become the exalted Grand Muckymuck or even a hint of arrogance. He has stated that his company is responsive to patients and from appearances may have something to offer in the way of successful dealing with DME's. So you pick on him over ... grammar??!! Who made YOU the grammar police anyway? Come on, what gives?

[jnk]

Well,

Here are some Google quotes for today that seem to me to apply:

If someone chooses not to post because he fears others will not like his spelling or grammar:

To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the biggest mistake of all.
- Peter McWilliams

As for DMEs:

When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest.
- William Hazlitt

As for getting along in forums:

It is by universal misunderstanding that all agree. For if, by ill luck, people understood each other, they would never agree.
- Charles Baudelaire

[carbonman]

Just for review, I will re-post the steps required for
an internet forum to change a light bulb.

1 to change the light bulb and write about it...

14 to say that they also changed a light bulb one day and to evoke the various manners...

7 to warn of dangers inherent to changing a light bulb...

27 to indicate the spelling mistakes in messages concerning the change of an electric light bulb...

53 to abuse the correcters of spelling mistakes...

41 to correct those who abuse the correcters of spelling mistakes...

12 to discuss whether it is necessary to say ' electric light bulb ' or 'lamp'.

2 professionals of the industry to say that the correct term is 'incadescent light bulb'...

15 know-it-all who pretend to have been in the industry and who will advise that to say ' electric light bulb ' is perfectly correct...

109 to indicate that this forum does not concern electric light bulbs and to ask people to discuss that on the "electric light bulbs " forum...

111 to defend the subject since everybody uses electric light bulbs thus the aforementioned subject has its place here...
306 to discuss the best technique to change a light bulb, where to buy the best electric light bulbs, which brand is the best adapted to this technique and which to avoid...

27 to post urls where we can discover the various electric light bulbs...

40 to say that they do not trust in an electric light bulb and to give links to pseudo-scientific web sites which claim to know healthier, less enviromentally damagging alternative solutions to produce some light...

6 to indicate that the right to light is not in the constitution..

6 to paste passages from the constitution and to interpret them for us so that we can all understand that there is in fact such a thing as "the right to light"...

1 army retiree who used to be in a special elite group changing light bulbs very efficiently..

12 more to agree that they don't make lght bulbs as they used to be..

1 to post a photo of an electric light bulb and one of a something which only looks like an electric light bulb but which is in fact not one...

14 to indicate that the posted urls contains errors and to post the correct ones...

1 to say that he replaced his light bulbs with fluorescent lamps and that, he rarely has to change them...

12 to say that they are endinig their membership to the forum because they understand nothing in the debate concerning the electric light bulbs and that they have better things to do with their lives...

4 to say that a FAQ section concerning the electric light bulbs is needed...

44 to ask WTF(scientist term) is a "FAQ"?...

13 to say that in any normal house, there should be candles somewhere, in case the light bulbs konk out...

5 to say that they do not use electric light bulbs, only candles...

4 to ask " didn't we cover light bulbs last month?"...

143 to ask people to do a search about the electric light bulbs with Google before launching a discussion concerning the electric light bulbs..

1 jackass to reply to the first message 6 months later and relaunch the whole freakin' ordeal!

I would say we are right on the money.

[DyannaK]

LOL great post carbonman! thanks for the smile today

[Hawthorne]

It appears that Mike has "left the building". There is no point to further posts on this thread unless he returns.

[ozij]

What can I say, carbonman?

[jnk]

It appears that Mike has "left the building". There is no point to further posts on this thread unless he returns.

Yes, ma'am.

(See, I told you you were gonna get us all in trouble, carbonman.)

[preemiern]

It appears that Mike has "left the building". There is no point to further posts on this thread unless he returns.

Yes, ma'am.

(See, I told you you were gonna get us all in trouble, carbonman.)

LMAO!!!!!!!

[carbonman]

(See, I told you you were gonna get us all in trouble, carbonman.)

WHAT????......what'd I do???

[Hawthorne]

Sorry if you took my comment the wrong way! It was simply an observation.

I enjoyed Carbonman's "enlightening" post but still think we are now talking to ourselves, which is fine with me if you want to do that.

[DreamStalker]

Sorry if you took my comment the wrong way! It was simply an observation.

I enjoyed Carbonman's "enlightening" post but still think we are now talking to ourselves, which is fine with me if you want to do that.

Isn't that what we always do when a DME/RT starts a thread on this forum? They may say they come here to learn from us and offer their experience. In the 3 or so years I have been here, the few (very few) DME/RT's who have actually provided us with "useful" or "enlightening" information and experience have never tired to sell us anything or preached to us as if they are the only ones qualified to do so. It is fairly easy to to figure out their motives whether or not they use proper English.

[travismcgee]

Well I’m going to post anyway. Hope nobody minds.

Hello Mike, I hope you have access to a fireproof suit given the extreme heat you have been exposed to. I will try and steer this forum back to your original intent; answers to why we track our own data.

For me it wasn't any more complicated than I could. Why wouldn't I take advantage of technology that helps make my therapy as beneficial as possible?

Before I got my first machine I came to this forum and read, asked questions about machines, masks, stomach bloating, CFLEX vs AFLEX and researched manufacturers so that when I went to the DME I was equipped with a vast amount of knowledge. I knew what machine and mask I wanted and told the DME as much. She looked at me with a "who do you think you are" sneer and said here's the machine your getting, a Fisher and Paykel bottom of the line straight CPAP. I said fine, arguing while very tired is difficult at best. I took the machine home used it for two weeks called my doctor and said can you change my prescription to an APAP and he did. I went back to the DME got the machine I had originally requested and never looked back. The pressure setting was way too broad (4 - 20cms) so with a little digging I found the clinicians instructions and after a couple of months of monitoring nightly data patterns I found the sweet spot between 9 and 12cms. My titration pressure was 12cms. Very rarely does my machine need to go that high to open my airway. Without a data capable machine I would have never found this out in a timely fashion. This also greatly reduced my chances of “giving up”.

Not once during my learning curve from diagnosis to treatment did anyone associated with my “care” tell me what to expect regarding any aspect of my therapy. The advice my doctor, who I respect and trust, gave me was “CPAP is a hassle”.

As others have astutely stated in previous posts treating OSA should be modeled after the treatment of diabetes. And I would argue that treating OSA is a much more invasive therapy than treating diabetes. It causes more anxiety, frustration and failure to follow through with therapy than the treatment of diabetes.

In summary it was a lack of respect from the DME regarding how educated the patient should be that motivated me to take control of my own therapy. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

[carbonman]

Isn't that what we always do when a DME/RT starts a thread on this forum? They may say they come here to learn from us and offer their experience.

Just in my short 10mths:
ApriaRT...I just want to learn
Strapparatus....changing the cpap industry one Yahoo at a time
Follow Up Call guy
polysomno...guy
Mike@XYZCpap store guy-magically changing your settings, for your own good,
because you don't know how