1 year sleep Eval tue

have a 1 year sleep evaluation tue with the VA . was thinking about taking along the laptop to show statistics. would welcome any comments pro or con. ok, i know they will probably cut a switch and use it on my rump when they find i have been tweeking the M series, but then again maybe not ...what say you ? tim

If you bring the laptop and can show improvements, it will make it kinda hard for them to argue with you. My doctor wasn't thrilled when I told him I changed pressure, until I showed him the reports. He actually took the reports and showed them to other doctors in the group just so they could see how successful I was with cpap. When he went for his sleep study he actually asked me to help him get it all working! So you never know what the reaction will be. It's your therapy and you are in control, even if they don't like it.

Brenda

Tim, I say they are interested in nothing more than compliance numbers. Your VA seems to work a bit different than mine so bring your evidence, just in case.

Mine sends a DME RT to the house, all he does is write down the numbers from my machine. Oh with a bunch of small talk, etc. This is the time to get your list of supplies needed to them. Ask them for an Aussie Heated hose - they never heard of them. Keep in mind the VA will discontinue your equipment, if they can. Sometimes I think that is the goal.

Let us know how it goes.
GumbyCT

Wouldn't hurt to have it with you, although you might want to take printouts of a few key pages that they can get an at-a-glance view of what you are saying, in case it's a busy day and they are pressed for time. I would think they'd want details only if you are having ongoing problems, although what is working for one could help them help someone who is having trouble. Let us know how it goes.

Gumby, right you are -compliance was the first thing the doctor a.k.a.Staff Neurologist / sleep disorder specialist wanted to know. this was the first time i had met this gentleman & i was impressed with dr. Choudhury Salekin,MD.......This man not only had knowledge but tempered with wisdom and common sense. he listened and also gave praise for me being so involved with & taking control of my cpap treatment and thus making it work. ..very encouraging

Good deal. So it sounds like it will work out for you.

I had to wait over a month for replacement mask parts, then gave the DME the correct PN for the last mask they sent me and I was using. Hope you have better luck.

GumbyCT

yep, gonna be a wait and see on the parts requested. every time i mentioned the RT to anyone there they just shook their heads.seems like this individual is like civil service(cannot be replaced) type thing,lol. ....am a little confused that the Doc was unaware of the term(rainout) hmmmmmm ?

I just had my 1 yr VA checkup today. I was originally scripted at 7cm, and have since raised it to 9cm. And knowing the VA, I had printed out a few sheets showing my AHI's at 7, 8, 8.5 and 9cm. I knew I'd get yelled at, so I wanted to be prepared, and I wanted to have some fun. I announced I had changed my pressure from 7 to 9, and they immediately said, you can't do that, and I just said here is why I changed it, and showed the drop in AHI'S from 5.8 at 7cm to .1 at 9cm. I had to show these to about 4 different people before they finally said, well, we can allow 2 cm's difference. part of their reasoning story is " if you raise it too much, you might blow up your lungs". I had a really hard time keeping a straight face. They also wanted to know how I got a printout, so I explained that I bought my own copy of Encore Viewer which they knew nothing about. They also don't even bother to red the smart card. In the end, I felt great that I could stand my ground, and they even changed my script to 9cm's and collected a few filters etc. before I left.
My sincere thanks to all the help I gotten from all you here at CPAP TALK, it's been a great year, and thanks a lot, Bob

Yeah...when you bring in a printout showing the positive effects it makes it a little hard for them to argue with you.

Brenda

Bob, you are exactly right. if we had not found this site to support us and lead us in the right direction, most likely we'd go over the cliff with the rest of the lemmings. like one contributor on this site posted-thy set you up to fail. another example of very little or no over site. i wonder how many of us, especially those that will have nothing to do with the computer will just say the heck with it and throw their mask in a drawer for good ?