My prescription clusterf**ck; DME doesn't take my insurance.

My drive is only about 5-6 miles each way.

My doctor phoned the DME, and they got right back to me. I have an appointment for them to come to my house, early next week. The thing that scared me was the lady on the phone sounded completely freaked out about my central apnea score of 5.1. I hope to God that it's just spinal arthritis (neck) and not some scary-ass brain issue. Again, I am a total noob at all of this, and this is why I am frightened. If you have mostly central apnea, please talk with me. I would like to know how you're doing after being on your ASV. Please help. Thank you, kindly.

JV1967 wrote: I have an appointment for them to come to my house, early next week.

Did they tell you the exact name/model number of the machine they are bringing? If not call them back to get it and then post it in this thread.

JV1967 wrote:the lady on the phone sounded completely freaked out about my central apnea score of 5.1.

She is a stupid unprofessional idiot to unnecessarily alarm a patient like that.

Just remember you are dealing with these kind of people and be very careful about what model machine you accept delivery of. If they bring the wrong one, don't be afraid to refuse delivery.

JV1967 wrote:My doctor phoned the DME, and they got right back to me. I have an appointment for them to come to my house, early next week. The thing that scared me was the lady on the phone sounded completely freaked out about my central apnea score of 5.1. I hope to God that it's just spinal arthritis (neck) and not some scary-ass brain issue. Again, I am a total noob at all of this, and this is why I am frightened. If you have mostly central apnea, please talk with me. I would like to know how you're doing after being on your ASV. Please help. Thank you, kindly.

It is not that unusual. Many people here are on an ASV. It is just one of the many sleep disorder breathing issues, just not the common garden weed variety. However it does require a much more expensive machine to deal with. Call them back and get the complete details of the name and people will come and tell you all about it.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

JV1967 wrote: Any recommendations for a cpap pillow for a side/stomach sleeper with a ResMed full face mask?

Gramps and I have used several types of full face masks (FFMs) while side sleeping and both of us just use your basic, fairly flat pillow. You sleep near the edge of the pillow so the mask is over the edge and less likely to dig into the pillow.

There are three specialized CPAP pillows in the linen closet. We were not happy with any of them and went back to our "plain ole" pillows.

I would say try using your current pillow for some nights and then you might have a better idea about whether you want to spend money on something specialized.

Good advice. Thank you, kindly.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

JV1967 wrote: I have an appointment for them to come to my house, early next week.

Did they tell you the exact name/model number of the machine they are bringing? If not call them back to get it and then post it in this thread.

I will call them now and try to find out.

Just got off of the phone with the study lab. My doctor is mailing me a copy of both my prescription, and both sleep study nights. I also asked for a callback on which machine I am being prescribed, so they don't bring the wrong one to my house. Thank you again for all of your help. It means a lot to me. Thank goodness I found this site!

BlackSpinner wrote:

JV1967 wrote:My doctor phoned the DME, and they got right back to me. I have an appointment for them to come to my house, early next week. The thing that scared me was the lady on the phone sounded completely freaked out about my central apnea score of 5.1. I hope to God that it's just spinal arthritis (neck) and not some scary-ass brain issue. Again, I am a total noob at all of this, and this is why I am frightened. If you have mostly central apnea, please talk with me. I would like to know how you're doing after being on your ASV. Please help. Thank you, kindly.

It is not that unusual. Many people here are on an ASV. It is just one of the many sleep disorder breathing issues, just not the common garden weed variety. However it does require a much more expensive machine to deal with. Call them back and get the complete details of the name and people will come and tell you all about it.

You are a sweetie. Thank you so much. I just called the doctor's office, and they are going to call me back and let me know which machine I get, so they don't deliver the wrong one. Everyone here is so helpful and kind. Thank you again.

Hang Fire wrote:

JV1967 wrote:the lady on the phone sounded completely freaked out about my central apnea score of 5.1.

She is a stupid unprofessional idiot to unnecessarily alarm a patient like that.

Just remember you are dealing with these kind of people and be very careful about what model machine you accept delivery of. If they bring the wrong one, don't be afraid to refuse delivery.

She was not the first person I talked with, and I agree, she should not have done that. As mentioned in another response, I called the doctor's office, and they are sending me copies of both nights of my study, my prescription, and they will let me know which machine they should be delivering (and teaching me to set up) at my house. Thank you for responding.

I have another question, so I might as well ask it on this thread. I'm a domestic violence survivor, and when my ex hit me in the head, I went deaf for almost an hour. I've heard that head injury can contribute to central/mixed apnea. Is this true?

This is what my doc has prescribed for me, and she just called me back to let me know. http://www.resmed.com/us/en/consumer/pr ... 0-asv.html

One of the women at the DME is a really cool person, she is incredibly nice, and we like a lot of the same music. Made a new buddy today, and when I call there from now on, I will specifically ask for her. It comforts me to know that she's there and she will help me.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

JV1967 wrote: I have an appointment for them to come to my house, early next week.

Did they tell you the exact name/model number of the machine they are bringing? If not call them back to get it and then post it in this thread.

http://www.resmed.com/us/en/consumer/pr ... 0-asv.html

JV1967 wrote:This is what my doc has prescribed for me, and she just called me back to let me know. http://www.resmed.com/us/en/consumer/pr ... 0-asv.html

A very nice machine and what I would have expected given your history of sleep onset centrals being a problem.
It can and will deal with the centrals quite nicely and also deal with any obstructive issues you might have.
Full data machine and you can use SleepyHead or ResScan software with it.
I am using a similar model but in the older S9 model series.

I don't know what to say about the head injury thing and any correlation to your sleep onset centrals....in theory yeah, maybe it could have been a factor but it also might just be something that happens with no known causative factor. Sometimes stuff just happens and we don't always know why. Sometimes people who have brain damage (like with a stroke) can have centrals pop up but again there's a lot of people out there who have had strokes that don't have centrals pop up.
Same thing about the congestive heart thing...yes it can be a factor but it isn't always the factor. Best we can do is rule out stuff like make sure the heart is healthy and move on with treatment.