My First Look at Encore Pro Data

Sleep Pilgrim · Post by **Sleep Pilgrim** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 4:17 pm

Howdy All!

I had my first post-sleep clinic doc visit and surprisingly he didn't want to look at my Encore Pro data. I don't have the software at home so I was hoping to at least see how I have been doing for the past 3 weeks. We basically just went over my sleep studies and that was that. I'm feeling well. Have had a few "bad" days but mostly it's been good.

Anyway, on my way home I happen to be in my DME's neighborhood, so I dropped by and requested a download and copy of my data. No problem. So now I have 12 pages of stuff, most I can interpret but without a baseline to compare these results to. Hence, I've listed the info from the "Sleep Therapy Long Term Trend page. I'm hoping some one will give me a bit of perspective on my data. Thanks.

8/18 - 9/7 (that's with 3 different masks)

APAP Range: 6 - 15

Avg non-responsive AHI: 0.0
Avg Obstructive Apnea Index: 0.3
Avg Hypopnea Index: 3.2
Avg AHI: 3.5
Avg Flow Limitation: 1.0
Avg Snore Index: 9.2
Avg Max Leak: 78.5
Avg 90% Leak: 36.3
Avg Leak; 29.9
Avg Large Leak: 22.9 secs

Anything I should be concerned about?

Otherwise, as far as I can tell... I think I'm doing well.

Thanks.

Will

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 10:20 pm

Looks great to me. Falls right in with how you feel.
O.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 2:55 am

Will, I agree with ozij. Looks like everything's going well for you with your machine!

Your sleep doctor's disinterest in your Encore data doesn't surprise me.

At least he didn't give you this kind of look when you offered to let him download it:

-SWS said:
"My former doctor's staff looked at me as if I were carrying a plague-infested rat when I proudly brought my first AutoPAP data disk in for a routine check up."

rotfl!!

Sleep Pilgrim · Post by **Sleep Pilgrim** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 9:16 am

Thanks!

My doctor, who is supposedly one of the preeminent sleep gurus in the state, said that most of his patients had little or no interest in the data. How can you NOT want to know?

He was actually amazed at how much I knew about my condition. And even impressed at my eagerness to learn more. This really says a lot about many apnea patients. I'm beginning to think that the folks who habitually post on this forum are a minority--albeit an educated and very supportive minority amongst OSA patients.

I told him about this forum and how it was a treasure house of information and support. I did the same for my DME guy. I was mentioning various new cpaps and masks and my DME rep had no idea. Nice guy and very helpful but not really up on his field. Which lead me to wonder, how can one not be aware of all the advancements taking place? I wonder if I should do a career change (I work for a computer game company) and bring my experiences, my passion, and thirst for knowledge into the sleep disorder business.

After spending a good few hours looking at my data, I'm encouraged by this "hardcopy" validation of how I've been feeling. One concern surfaced however, in that I can foresee myself getting mentally stuck on those occasional anomalies that surface. You know, that night with an odd indication of a Flow Limitation (when you've had 0 for weeks) or that single "What the hell?" occurrence of an AHI of 5.1 in a month of 2.6 -3.5s.

Sometimes too much information--for some folks--can be a problem.

Still, it's my body and my life... taking charge means knowing the tools at my disposal and how to use them correctly.

Will

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 10:10 am

Here ya go....Pilgrim.

http://www.respironics.appone.com/

They have some openings in the IT division.

Go get em.

Den

neversleeps · Post by **neversleeps** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 12:10 pm

Hi Sleep Pilgrim. You know I thought of doing the same thing; maybe taking courses to become an RT. But I have gathered (from this site, among others) it would be extremely difficult to find someone to work for who supports the encouragement of patient self-directed therapy. They, (and I admit, it's an elusive 'they') strongly discourage the use of auto machines. They want to avoid at all costs having CPAP-users get the software and see their data. They absolutely refuse to explain to CPAP-users the method (or that they even have the ability) to adjust their own pressure. Heck, they even withhold the clinician's manual that comes with the machine their client has paid for!!!

So I came to the conclusion I would end up being a frustrated (and quickly unemployed) RT.

I wish I could think of a niche where I would fit in within the industry.