Oct 6-12 Sleep Tech Appreciation Week !!

Wow, polysomo-man!!! Welcome to the forum. You certainly go above and beyond what most RPSGTs do or are even allowed to do in our area! Most of our sleep docs don't even allow patients access to the RPSGTs except for their evaluation & titration studies and even then restrict the amount of information the RPSGTs can provide!

My first sleep tech ripped the tape off my face, giving me a 3- to 4-inch long gash where skin was ripped off. It was infected with HA-MRSA and I was sick as a dog for weeks while on doxycycline. The hospital apparently also didn't give me a split sleep test as they were supposed to, then refused to talk to either me or my doctor about the error or the injury.

So I don't want to give them cookies, but I would love to give them a pie... in the face.

Polysomo-man wrote: . . . a certain art form that I think "jnk" did a good job of describing. . . .

Thanks for the kind words, Polysomo-man. My heartfelt admiration and respect always goes out to those on the front lines fighting the complicated battle of helping people find what they need to get effective sleep.

As for carbonman's point:

carbonman wrote: . . . Since I have been strapping on a mask everynight,
I wonder how someone who doesn't can possibly help someone who does. . . .

you commented on his statement with the following:

Polysomo-man wrote: . . . [that] thinking is flawed. That would be like telling a OB doctor who is a man that he can't deliver a baby since he never had one of his own. . . .

Valid point. And carbonman doesn't need the likes of me to defend him. However, I think what my hose-brother was getting at was the importance of also getting help with the finer points and nuances of the day-to-day battles and struggles of continued PAP therapy.

If I may expand on your OB illustration, it is true that a woman mostly wants an OB who is good at what he/she does, not necessarily one who has given birth. But I think you would likely agree that a woman will then probably look to the people she knows have successfully raised children for advice on how to do that, while still listening to docs and techs for other important information. For example, many new mothers look to experienced women in their own families for suggestions on the process of successfully raising a child. I believe it may have been in that spirit that carbonman made his statement in the discussion. He himself said he appreciated the the need for a tech "for a diagnosis and to get the therapy going." The thing is that many of us have no one in our literal families with the practical experience to help us find a way to fit our little new addition into our family routines, so we benefit greatly from our adopted cpaptalk.com family.

I don't think anyone here seriously questions the value of a well-trained, sharp-eyed, informative, helpful tech or therapist. (There are even one or two sleep doctors who fit that description. I consider mine to be one.) But for the everyday questions about how to route the hose, what kind of pillow is comfortable, what smells nice, how to modify masks, what machines work well, how to monitor the effectiveness of therapy over the long haul, etc., those of us here tend to look to the people next to us in the trenches, our cpap family, in our nightly fight for daily quality of life. That is no slight, or reflection, on the fine work of those in the profession doing the professional things that are important in their own right.

Thanks for your post. Feel free to sign up, stick around, and post further helpful posts. You may have some very nice things to share with us hosers from your experienced perspective. A number of pros do just that on this board and are welcome whether they strap up every night themselves or not.

jeff