Australian Heated Hose story

Went to Hospital for hip replacement surgery. Took along my Aussie Heated
Hose and my VPAP III BiPap. I thought while I was in there I would
have the repiratory folks come by and check my pressure since my filters
have never been changed. Two techs came by (a newbie and an older
party line style indoctrinated tech). So the newbie was really interested
in the heated hose. They measured my pressure and found that it was
set at 17 over 12 but I was getting 12 over 8. They told me that the
filters were clogged and the heated hose was no good. Then they said they would call my DME lady to take care of me. The newbie tech said "where
can I get a heated hose like that?". The older tech told him to be quiet
as those hoses were no good. So out they went. My DME lady came in
one hour later and delivered a new hose and installed some new filters
(I am using both the regular filter and the Hepa filter). The new replacement
hose was just a normal non-heated hose. I tossed it in my suitcase as it
is useless for rainout and doesn't give the comfort that the Heated Hose does.
So I thought "that was that". Then the older tech marched back into my
room with the Hospital head electrician. She wanted my heated hose
confisicated and said it was going to burn the hospital down. The
electrician just looked at he VPAP III and said "This is a very new machine
and these machines have fuses built into them to protect against
problems." She yelled "Not the machine -- get that hose!". The
electrician looked at the hose and said "Well it appears to be well
made with very low amperage and is attached to the wall with a new
heavy-duty Radio Shack transformer. You know those transformers
have built-in safety features and fuses." She was mad and just
left. I got to keep using the Aussie heated hose. Such is the mindset
and training of many sleep techs. My DME lady knows that I am going to
do whatever I damn well please so she doesn't try to force things on me.
I told her that I can change all the settings on the machine and have
software to record all my data. She says "Just don't let the Doctors or
the sleep Techs hear that!" Unfortunately such is reality in most of the USA.

Meister, I think that all too often, people are closed minded to something "different." It's one thing to be cautious, but a person could at least approach something "new" with an open mind and seek further information and opinions. IMHO, to just label something different as "unworthy, unsafe, no good for anyone, etc..." is simply an emotional by-product of a human power struggle.

And did they measure your pressure with the new filters?

O.

You could have made things interesting for the tech and asked to see the certification test for the manometer they were using to test your machine. Then of course you need to make sure that the certification of the person who did the test was also up to date, licensed and certified for that specific piece of equipment by the state authority.

Great story, meister! Gee, wouldn't you love to be old and helpless and at the mercy of the bossy RT?

Good observation:

inacpapfog wrote:simply an emotional by-product of a human power struggle

Good question!

ozij wrote:And did they measure your pressure with the new filters?

Funny!! I like this! LOL!

capt wrote:You could have made things interesting ...(etc.)

meister, I like your attitude -- and your DME's:

meister wrote:My DME lady knows that I am going to do whatever I damn well please so she doesn't try to force things on me.

How's the new hip doing, btw?

The new hip is in place and so far so good. Doctor thinks that I am
so wild that I will dislocate it. That is what he said about the other one.
I was up on the roof putting in new windows three days after my first
hip surgery when I fell off the ladder and tore open the incision. Blood
everywhere. Called the Doctor and he was not too happy. I told him
that I didn't understand what happened as I was just laying on the
counch watching TV. Sure wish Rested Gal was closer so she could
take care of me. I lack common sense!
Now that the hip surgery is behind me I need to find some solution to
my very serious Central Apnea. I am hoping for some more good news from
the brave Pillar folks as I have my $1200 saved up.

Question answered: No they didn't measure the pressure with the new
filters installed, but it feels about the same.

Doctor swears that I need 17
over 12. Apparently I am still living at 12 over 8, but I have had a couple of
apneas (about 20 seconds long) each night. I attribute most of my
success to Rested Gal and the Silent Nite Dental Device. What a great
combination! That and Lunesta and Melatonin should be called
national Treasures! My new TAP II arrived from the Dentist. I call
it the Hummer of Dental Devices. It is built like a Sherman tank in comparison to my Silent Nite. For fun the dentist cranked my jaw
completely out to the very extent of the Tap II device and said
"Boy, is that something!" Then he said "Does that hurt?" Well of
course it hursts when you extend your jaw out beyond your nose!!
I highly recommend a Dental Device for very PAP user. It is much
lighter to travel with and can really open you airway to reduce your
needed pressure. Plus it keeps you mouth shut so you don't get the
dreaded Cottonmouth. I just need to find something for my palate
which flaps in the wind and finally seals tightly shut. With recent
surgery I can't sleep on my side unless I want to wake up in a pool of blood.

My sleep doc, a pulminologist (?) wants to know all about the heated hose so he can recommend it for his CPAP patients. He says a heated hose is normal for his patients on a ventilator, and just makes sense for a CPAP user.

This is the same guy who thought my choice of a PB 420e APAP was excellent, and wrote the prescription specifying the machine exactly as I wanted it.