Going to be needing knee surgery soon... might lose my CPAP

pettyfan45 wrote:Ok so I heard from the insurance company today and also saw my sleep doctor. The sleep doctor mentioned that my insurance company still checks compliance to approve supplies and if I do have any issues getting supplies after I get home to just call his office and he will help sort it out. The insurance company said that I should not lose my machine if I get admitted. Also I talked to my Dad who had to have a hermriod surgically removed at the hospital I will be going to and he mentioned that in the recovery area they didn't have any bedside tables, so I am not sure what they will use while I am in recovery, but I will have my machine in the trunk of the car and if I am admitted I will have my family bring it up to my room, before they leave.

THIS is the best option. Show your family how to set it up AND get a written RX from your sleep doctor with the pressure settings and put it in the case. You might also talk to the surgeon and ask him to include post op orders for CPAP at your setting with "patient's own mask" (too many stories about stupid hospital personnel trying to use an oxygen mask on a CPAP set up). If you have a nasal or nasal pillow mask, talk to your DME about an adaptive device that will allow oxygen by nasal cannula to feed into your CPAP mask and have one available in case you need oxygen after surgery.

In the recovery room, it's their responsibility to watch you closely and monitor for airway. But once in your own room you'll want to sleep, and waiting for the keystone kops to get it together to have CPAP set up for you is frustrating. If the hospital isn't moving fast enough, that's when your family should bring in and set up your CPAP. Better to ask forgiveness than permission!

Janknitz wrote:

pettyfan45 wrote:Ok so I heard from the insurance company today and also saw my sleep doctor. The sleep doctor mentioned that my insurance company still checks compliance to approve supplies and if I do have any issues getting supplies after I get home to just call his office and he will help sort it out. The insurance company said that I should not lose my machine if I get admitted. Also I talked to my Dad who had to have a hermriod surgically removed at the hospital I will be going to and he mentioned that in the recovery area they didn't have any bedside tables, so I am not sure what they will use while I am in recovery, but I will have my machine in the trunk of the car and if I am admitted I will have my family bring it up to my room, before they leave.

THIS is the best option. Show your family how to set it up AND get a written RX from your sleep doctor with the pressure settings and put it in the case. You might also talk to the surgeon and ask him to include post op orders for CPAP at your setting with "patient's own mask" (too many stories about stupid hospital personnel trying to use an oxygen mask on a CPAP set up). If you have a nasal or nasal pillow mask, talk to your DME about an adaptive device that will allow oxygen by nasal cannula to feed into your CPAP mask and have one available in case you need oxygen after surgery.

In the recovery room, it's their responsibility to watch you closely and monitor for airway. But once in your own room you'll want to sleep, and waiting for the keystone kops to get it together to have CPAP set up for you is frustrating. If the hospital isn't moving fast enough, that's when your family should bring in and set up your CPAP. Better to ask forgiveness than permission!

Yeah I have my written perscrtipion from my sleep doctor though it has my old 5-20 setting (in hindsight I should have asked him for an updated on when I saw him Monday). When I had my gallbladder removed I had a regular oxygen mask put on me in recovery, though this was before I was diagnosed and a different hospital. I think I showed my family how to set my machine up, I might want to make sure on that. I use a full face mask (a F20 to be exact) and I do not think there is anyway to connect oxygen to my machine, though outside of just after surgery I don't think I should require it. As an aside will I need to bring my own distilled water or should that be available at the hospital?

I took a picture of my screen, showing my settings, and showed it to the hospital employee who brought the machine.