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Anesthesia Concerns...Should I use CPAP in Recovery?
#21
RE: Anesthesia Concerns...Should I use CPAP in Recovery?
I recently had a flare up of cellulitis in my left leg. Off to hospital for intravenous antibiotics.
My temperature would not drop below 38.5 centigrade and I had to spend the night getting repeat doses through the canula.

I packed by CPAP and dragged it in with me "just in case" they kept me in. I was very glad I had.
Does the Hospital have CPAP machines - probably, and I could probably have gotten one sorted for the night if I had to,
Mine is set up just as I like it. I slept (as well as the ward noises allowed in the observation ward).

My point is it is no issue to have the CPAP in its bag and just take it home if its not needed - its a major pain to want it then have to muck around getting a strange one sorted etc when you are feeling totally rotten to start with.

Take your CPAP
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#22
RE: Anesthesia Concerns...Should I use CPAP in Recovery?
Thanks alby_c,
I plan on taking my CPAP with me, although I do worry about all the "germs" in hospitals and bringing home something unwanted. But it's probably better than using one of their cpap's and who knows if their hoses are clean. Mabye I am just paranoid.
Bug-eyed
OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

_______________________
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INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE.  ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA.  INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#23
RE: Anesthesia Concerns...Should I use CPAP in Recovery?
The only negative experience with the hospital that I had my septoplasty at was they jerked me around in claiming I wasn't allowed to bring my vpap and I would have to use their machine. No one would give me a straight answer and I stupidly didn't bring mine when I should have.

They did have machine ready to go in recovery but it was never used since I woke very quickly. However, the problems occurred when I was bought to my room and there wasn't a machine there. Now in all fairness, I ended up staying 5 hours in recovery room due to the lack of room availability so perhaps that threw things off.

But getting a machine up there and then not being able to go to sleep until a respiratory therapist set it up was a living nightmare. And because it had many problems, an RT kept having to be called back which didn't make that person happy and the issues were never solved. This was when I was kicking myself for not having my machine as the floor nurses could have cared less. I didn't ask a relative to go get mine at home because I was only staying one night and it would have been way out of this person's way who already spent a very tiresome day picking me up and then staying with me all day.

Obviously, I learned a hard lesson which was to bring my machine no matter what hospital authorities say and let the person with me advocate on my behalf if there was trouble which my relative would have done.

By the way, I was so angry about this issue that I told the patient rep that the charges for using the hospital machine had better not be on the patient bill and they weren't.

49er

PS - I tried to talk to someone about this issue after my surgery but that was an exercise in extreme frustration in trying to find someone who was in a position to do anything about it.
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#24
RE: Anesthesia Concerns...Should I use CPAP in Recovery?
(07-23-2015, 11:05 AM)OpalRose Wrote: Background: About 3 years ago, I had gall bladder surgery. The surgery itself went well, but the recovery did not. They were unable to wake me up for several hours. Of course, I didn't know that I had sleep apnea at the time! Since that experience, I am scared to death of being put out, and not waking up.

This is exactly what happened to me! I had gall gladder surgery earlier this year, afterwards they told me that they had a very hard time getting me off the anesthesia - they said I had one of the worst cases of apnea they'd ever had to deal with. I don't believe that it was "the worst" of course but hearing that from a medical professional is what finally pushed me to talk to my GP (then ENT, then sleep doctor) about doing something about my sleep apnea.

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#25
RE: Anesthesia Concerns...Should I use CPAP in Recovery?
Yea, I'm beginning to notice that you can't get a straight answer from anyone, not the admissions staff who seem to know very little, or my doctor who can't or won't t give me a straight answer.
So I will bring my own CPAP. I have a feeling that the nurses in the recovery room probably won't care if I have it with me.

OpalRose
Apnea Board Administrator
www.apneaboard.com

_______________________
OSCAR Chart Organization
How to Attach Images and Files.
OSCAR - The Guide
Soft Cervical Collar
Optimizing therapy
OSCAR supported machines
Mask Primer



INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE.  ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA.  INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#26
RE: Anesthesia Concerns...Should I use CPAP in Recovery?
(07-24-2015, 08:54 AM)OpalRose Wrote: Yea, I'm beginning to notice that you can't get a straight answer from anyone, not the admissions staff who seem to know very little, or my doctor who can't or won't t give me a straight answer.
So I will bring my own CPAP. I have a feeling that the nurses in the recovery room probably won't care if I have it with me.

That is exactly what I would do Opal Rose. Best of luck in your situation.

49er
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#27
RE: Anesthesia Concerns...Should I use CPAP in Recovery?
(07-24-2015, 08:54 AM)OpalRose Wrote: Yea, I'm beginning to notice that you can't get a straight answer from anyone, not the admissions staff who seem to know very little, or my doctor who can't or won't t give me a straight answer.
So I will bring my own CPAP. I have a feeling that the nurses in the recovery room probably won't care if I have it with me.
OpalRose, pre-op assignments are nearly always already scheduled by the day before the procedure. You can try calling the hospital in the afternoon the day before the surgery, and tell them you will not have the surgery until you are able to speak with the anesthesiologist over the phone today. I have done this, and was successful in getting to speak with mine. In fact, he was rather flattered that I cared about his role in my surgery so much.

Wishing for a stress-free and speedy recovery!
-Ailu
Reformed CPAP Outlaw
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#28
RE: Anesthesia Concerns...Should I use CPAP in Recovery?
(07-23-2015, 08:05 PM)PaulaO2 Wrote: Here in the US, the anesthesia is usually handled by a "group office". Usually you will first see someone (a peon) from within that group then see the actual person just prior to the procedure.

Take your CPAP with you. Tell them ahead of time you will be bringing it with you. Make sure your family member knows how to work it.

My last colonoscopy, we chose to not take mine since the recovery room time was to be so short (less than an hour). It was longer than an hour and I won't do it again. I don't wake up from anesthesia well, never have. They always tell me "Oh, I know what I'm doing, I'll wake you up", but it always happens.

I am curious, if anyone knows, how the anesthesia "assignments" are determined? By that I mean, if the patient is known to be a 'hard-to-intubate' patient - does the person handing out assignments give that patient a "gas-passer" who might be especially good with this type of patient?

Several weeks ago when I spoke with a person from the anesthesia group, I definitely told him I was the hard to intubate person and gave him a printed list of the reasons why I am that way. Surgeries I have had in the past have also revealed this particular problem. Apparently my surgeon must have listened when I spoke of my anesthesia concerns because I was able to talk with someone and my surgery is not until August 11th.

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#29
RE: Anesthesia Concerns...Should I use CPAP in Recovery?
Great question Gramma Bear. Supposedly, all anesthesiologists should be able to intubate difficult patients as part of their training so who knows?

I hadn't had surgery in years and didn't have any problems so I don't think I was assigned someone in particular. And during the pro op meeting with the anesthesia resident, she felt I would have no problems being intubated and she obviously was right. I didn't even have a sore throat which I understand is not uncommon from having this done.

Glad your surgeon listened to you so you could speak with someone ahead of time. That is the way things should be done.

49er
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#30
RE: Anesthesia Concerns...Should I use CPAP in Recovery?
I use an ASV machine. When I went in for surgery almost a year ago, the hospital wanted to have an oxygen feed but their oxygen line was incompatible with my machine. So they brought in their CPAP machine (which of course, they would charge for), which isn't what I need. Turns out that almost nobody at the hospital knew what ASV is. Fortunately my sleep doctor is on staff and he got them straightened out once I got them to call him.
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