[Diagnosis] Hi, new here- Question Please

[ShelaghDB]

Thank you. Will do. On my way there tomorrow morning. I only hope he's there tomorrow..........and hasn't taken the week off early for Xmas ;-(


Tomorrow will tell but I believe he will likely be there and if so I will follow your instructions to a T
Thanks ;-)


I don't like being taken advantage of and with their giving me the cheaper machine, i feel very much as if they have tried to do so.

[me50]

Also, you can take your machine back to the DME if you are unable to get a new prescription tomorrow then you won't be stuck with a lower quality machine. Try and look at other DME's that are contracted with your insurance company.

I would ask the DME for the prescription that your doctor gave them. they may not have filled the prescription as he ordered and instructed. Then I would truck on over to another DME who will help you and listen to you and provide for you what is best for you.

I hope you get yours all worked out and also get your husband's all worked out.

[ShelaghDB]

Also, you can take your machine back to the DME if you are unable to get a new prescription tomorrow then you won't be stuck with a lower quality machine. Try and look at other DME's that are contracted with your insurance company.

I would ask the DME for the prescription that your doctor gave them. they may not have filled the prescription as he ordered and instructed. Then I would truck on over to another DME who will help you and listen to you and provide for you what is best for you.

I hope you get yours all worked out and also get your husband's all worked out.

Yes, that was my thought as well and i have sent them an email telling them of my plans tomorrow. I have mentioned if for any reason I cannot reach the doctor tomorrow, I will be dropping off the machine, mask, etc until i can get what it is I want or going elsewhere.

By emailing them I wanted them to know I was serious and wasn't going to be brushed off easily. Hoping that by realizing that they may just respond and say to come on up to the office and not needing to go to the doctors office etc......but thats unlikely LOL


In any event, I just don't appreciate anyone taking shots and want that machine if for no other reason than that is what they tried to do and I was not familiar enough with the procedure to know any better.
I did tell them the day I went up there that I wanted the best model on that series and i can't remember what his answer was right now, for not being familiar with it whatever technical answer he gave me went in one ear and out the other anyhow.
Now i am a bit more informed thanks to a few of you on this board here.

I only wish I had had the time to have been as informed then, but I was both too busy and sometimes it takes a bit of time to become familiar with something before understanding what it is..........
Tomorrow that hopefully will be fixed.......


Of course here in Toronto we have been hit by a major ice storm the worst storm I have ever seen here so its the worst day to have chosen that I must leave the home LOL (figures) ;-)

[ImaSurvivor]

Good luck with everything ShelaghDB. Sounds like you have had a run around. I was told to sleep in any position during my titration. They knew from my first sleep study that I snored worse on my back but I had signs of it in other positions too. Since sleeping on the back is often worse with snoring, they may need to determine a pressure that is affective in that position.

I was glad to have found this forum right after my first sleep study and had a month to read and learn before I had titration. I was very specific with them at the lab which machine I wanted.

[me50]

Good luck with everything ShelaghDB. Sounds like you have had a run around. I was told to sleep in any position during my titration. They knew from my first sleep study that I snored worse on my back but I had signs of it in other positions too. Since sleeping on the back is often worse with snoring, they may need to determine a pressure that is affective in that position.

I was glad to have found this forum right after my first sleep study and had a month to read and learn before I had titration. I was very specific with them at the lab which machine I wanted.

I agree with you about sleeping on your back. The lab where I had my titration a few weeks ago told me that I could sleep on my side but if I did, he would have to come wake me up to sleep on my back. I went to sleep on my back rather than waste time on my side. I am glad that I did because he had more time to see what I needed.

[ShelaghDB]

If I am right it sounds to me as if some are told to sleep on their back and some on their side.

Well I won't be getting the machine I want and at this present moment, I am not at all impressed with either the Respirologist himself or the Sleep Clinic.
I don't know if they are in partnership together or not.
If I knew for sure that they were, it might explain a few things but I don't have any reason to say that they are, other than I just don't like or trust the answers i have been given.


I called the Doctors office this morning in stead of going in as I feared travelling a long distance and not being able to see him, knowing that if I had to go in, I still had time.
I left the instructions with the Secretary and the doctor just now called me back and I ended the call very nicely and said that i was not impressed and simply hung up on him.
He called back but i have turned off my phone for now.
I am done with him and I won't have any choice but to accept this machine, I will get the mask changed but I won't be taking Kevin back to either of those two and will go somewhere else.
And the second sleep study I will do will also be done at that second place and any future purchases, etc. through there.


Had this sleep study been done correctly from the beginning I believe none of these problems would have come up but we were given the prescription in September and only got the machine in November. As I explained to the doctor, I was dealing with a different medical issue at the time and needed it to end before i could start these machines but that didn't seem to sit right with him. I had to explain twice but it seemed to give him something negative to grab on to.

First of all he told me that he could not give me the AutoSet as its a more expensive machine and would have required the second sleep study, in order to get some numbers from it ( i can't remember what they were now) at which point he could have given me the machine.
He asked me why didn't I have the sleep study done in September and i explained again about the medical issue, etc and that I had assumed I could start using the machine and mask and at some point shortly thereafter, exchange what needed to be exchanged. I was told that i only had 30 days in which to exchange, which is why i have been trying to reach this doctor.
I explained that that had not been expressed to me properly but then he said that the machine was likely a month old of use now, as if to imply I had used it to long? I wasn’t sure what he meant but I told him that no, I had only used the machine once and he used that to grab onto and asked me with some indignation why I had only used it once?

Again I explained that he was away until the 11th which we of course had not known but that once i had one it for one night, I knew instantly that the mask was wrong as it was letting air out but more importantly for me, who has highly sensitive teeth to begin with, it was spraying cold air on m front teeth all night long and and it woke me up slightly a few times due to the uncomfortableness of it and then the frozen teeth when I woke up in the Am. it was very uncomfortable but i knew that I needed a different mask, one that did not blow this air on my teeth all night and came up with one mentioned to me in the forum here with a chin restraint. My understanding was that it would keep my mouth closed or help to keep it away from my teeth and up the nostrils i believe, perhaps?

From that point on he just jumped on the one night issue, how could i know anything about it after only using it one night..again i explained that he had been away and I had to wait but in the last 2 weeks since i used it, I have been going back and forth with the other office trying to get this machine changed and since i knew the mask was being changed anyhow, I could see no reason to keep using it.
But he only heard that i had used it one night since September when the prescription was first issued…. at which point i said thank you, goodbye………..I felt there was no point in talking to him further.

I will change the mask and live with the machine and 5 years from now, or whenever it is, I will change the machine but in the meantime I will find a different doctor and different sleep clinic all together to deal with.
In the meantime I will do the best with what I have ;-)


I do take some blame for this and should have asked Questions point by point OR I should have insisted on the second sleep study before getting these machines but he wanted me apparently to do a sleep study after I had used t he equipment, although I don’t know why.

The day we were there, we were hit with so much information and this was all new to us so I did ask as much as I could think of at the time but one can’t think of everything to ask. and its only afterwards, as you learn something that you then think of another question you could have asked. But in this case, it was all confusing because the original sleep study which is done first for most people, confused it all from the beginning, I believe..

Even Kevin, he’s a bright fellow but he never told me that the doctor told him that he was not getting a prescription for his mask/machine until he did another sleep study. I don’t think he understood this or had it explained to him well bough for he he was angry to find out that day we picked mine up, that his was not included and hadn’t any memory of the doctor explaining this to him. So all way round it just seemed a bit of a mess. ;-(



Anyhow, that is the story and where it stands and I will move forward regardless and know better next time, AHEAD of time..... ;-)


IMASURVIVOR:

"I was glad to have found this forum right after my first sleep study and had a month to read and learn before I had titration. I was very specific with them at the lab which machine I wanted."


I did tell them the day I went in which mask i wanted but they told me that this FF mask was the only one that they had on hand at the moment.
Im not s rue what they do in this office but i get the impression that the guy that gives you the make and machine and shows you how to use it, etc, doesn't seem to be there full time. I think they have to call him in for specific appointment times.

I am not without some blame in this, I admit.

[me50]

well, if the DME is close, just return the machine and get another one AFTER your sleep study from ANOTHER DME!

[ShelaghDB]

Thats what I will be thinking about tonight.

It gets even more amusing....

The doctor (respirologist) called me after 6pm tonight. I picked up the phone not knowing who it was or I likely would not have answered and he started off by asking me if I were less upset now.
I didn't say a word. He knew i wasn't impressed but he seemed to want to know if I were still going ahead with the sleep study and if so he was going to be talking to the place I got the materials from to see if they would extend the 30 days.
He went on to say again that its not likely I would be allowed to get that machine as you have to have to have to in pretty rough shape to get it, so he says.....

He asked me at one point if I had asked if they would extend it past the 30 day mark and i said no but i could safely assume that they wouldn't.
He then told me not to be so sure and when i expressed disbelief he said he was going to write to them now and see about that being done, which led me to believe he may be more connected to this place financially then just passing on his patients to them.

He then asked me why Kevin had not gone for the sleep study yet and i told him that we would go together to which he sort of sighed as if to imply he had little patience for someone who cold not just go and get it done and had to wait for me.
I then told him since i don't drive, I prefer if we were to both do it to ether as it makes it easier and as it were, he told Kevin he was not that bad and that he may not really have it......I am not sure at this point they really know whats what but he then had the audacity to suggest to me I should not be angry with this situation for this company had been nice enough to LEND me a machine for a month and they didn't have to do that...



At that point I just had to laugh.
I shall make my decision tonight as to what i shall do.

I don't like these people but IF it is true here in Canada which might be different than the States for this is being covered 100% for me, I don't have to pay at all, that I cannot get that machine unless I am at a certain level, I don't want to cut off my nose to spite my face so to speak.
In other words, I must decide if this is a fight I wish to bother with or just go ahead, change the mask and accept the machine as is and just get it all done and not deal with them a few years from now.....

[ShelaghDB]

Finally Back!!!! Hope everyone is well?

Ok, here is the latest. As you might remember without having to read the whole thread back, I had to go for a second test as they apparently messed up the first one by not turning me over on my side.
As well the doctor forgot to write down the prescription for the hubbys machine so he was still without one and needed to be tested again in order to get one.
I was given the dreaded S9 ESCAPE which I did not want, and you all advised to go for the S9 AUTO-SET but I feared that the doctor was going to insist on my keeping the ESCAPE no matter what.
I have the Full Face Mask, QUATTRO AIR for Woman but it seems to leak on me.

This is apparently one of the best doctors in this field but I DO NOT like him at all.


Anyhow, 2 weeks ago we went for our sleep study. Because my FF is leaking, I said i wanted to try out a Nasal Pillow and chin restraint since I am a mouth breather but of course they did not have any there and only had the newest and most expensive FF gear.

I was given one FF mask, I am not sure which one and fell asleep for about 2 hours but woke up finally to it leaking although it hadn't up until then.
She then tried on about 4 other ones and each one leaked worse than the last. We tried to sleep a few times but the leaking was just too much, or the masks were making funny noises while doing this which caused me to laugh and i was unable to sleep.
She tried to get me on my side but that occurred even more leakage so i lay there for a while but do not remember going to sleep in that position at all and finally just moved over to my back where i was much more comfortable.
But i ws unable to sleep after that first 2 hour bit for in her effort to stop the masks from leaking, she had velcrosed and taped them so tightly i was now getting headaches from it but she came into my room and pleaded with me to try and get one more hour as that was the minimum she needed in order to test me properly.
I think I fell asleep for another 30 mins and did try to give her an hour but it was just highly uncomfortable by then with these things digging into my face and head. I had a wire running under the mask to the cheek and it was on so tight that that small cord was now digging into my cheek so I finally gave up but she said i had just hit the hour mark and was ok.

Kevin however slept like a baby. Better than he sleeps at home. Whether he was just lucky that night and without a TV to distract him, or whether he really does have SA and this mask etc, was helping him to sleep, I don't know and can't say.

So today we went for a follow up with the Doctor who I might add i do not like one bit.
I was fully prepared and did whatever I could to get the Auto-set but he was rude and there was no way I was getting it unless I wanted to pay extra or unless i wanted to do a 3rd sleep study, out of pocket again, which he knew i was not going to do, which is why as a smart ass he offered me that choice.

I read here somewhere that one had to get a number of 10 in order to qualify. If that is all it is, I do qualify but as soon as i mentioned that, he came up with something else.
I asked him to repeat his reasons and wrote it down and I will write down what he said.
I will be curious to hear from you experts if he's full of (&$^%%^ or telling the truth ;-)

I do just know that i do not like this man, in case i haven't mentioned that before LOL

Oh, I also did ask for nasal pillows and a chin restraint to which he said fine, although he didnt think I would need the chin restraint. He said once people are reaching the air from this system directly into their nose, most no longer open their mouth.
True? I can't say.

He also told me that the AUTO SET is no great shakes and very little difference between it and the one I have the Escape..
He was trying to suggest someone was giving me false information, which I also didnt believe and was another strike against liking this man...

I will post all my info here in a minute but here is the reason he gave me for not qualifying for the Auto-Set, whatever it means...

" You have to show a difference of 4% H20 in the pressure ( a word i don't recall and can't make out..."ueocrrestin?") to treat the sleep apnea between Supron and No Supron Sleep"


Here are jpegs of my report, prescription, etc..in order

http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx321...30321e.png

http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx321...7cd8be.png

http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx321...3cb5d9.png

http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx321...b22473.png

http://i768.photobucket.com/albums/xx321...48178d.png


LOL AS it turned out, the first time the hubby went, he didnt seem so sure that he was going to give him a machine although he said the hubby had Sleep Apnea but I don't think he thought it was that serious OR maybe the hubby said something to him t hat led him to believe he wasn't serious. I am not sure but he never did write out a prescription for him so today, he had to look over his notes and couldn't quite remember what he had done but told Kevin he needed a pressure of 8, sent him out the door and then Kevin realized he had not written it in the prescription again, went back and made him do it.
Even then for some reason, he wrote down the he was "lending" him a machine for 8 weeks and if he found that he liked it, then he could get a permanent one.
Don't ask me why, I have no idea why he was doing that with Kevin specifically but we sill see how he does with it and take it from there.


And in case no one got the point the first time, did i mention i REALLY DONT LIKE THIS DOCTOR? ;-)

Dr Vanek is his name for any others from Toronto, don't use him!

;-)

[me50]

so, what machine did he lend your husband? If I were you, I would find another doctor, take your sleep study report to him/her, and get another machine. The escape does not provide anyone any info other than compliance info. Why, if they did not do the first sleep study right are you having to pay out of pocket for the redo? Usually, they want you to sleep on your back in a sleep study so I am wondering why they wanted you to sleep on your side. Hope you and your husband get it all worked out.