The Latest Medical Machine . . .

The latest medical machine is Judies CPAP rig.  I call it a rig because it has a control box, hoses and even a small water reservoir (with heater of course).  And there is no cheating on this machine, it reports electronically to the supplier and to the doctor.   No escape not using it.

The mask, or the delivery device is simple.  It has two soft ports that fit into the nose and are held in place with head straps.  The straps are rubberized and provide tension to keep the nose mount in place.  It also comes with a chin strap that makes sure your mouth stays closed.  And it has a port in the back where the air line where one is supplied for the Oxygen.

So she continues to get an Oxygen boost along with the CPAP push.  I guess that has to be better than hooked up to IVs and an Oxygen cannulas in the hospital.  No more Oxygen tents and that is good thing but all the new crap, excuse me, equipment, is not.

It has a complicated array of commands and of course has small video screen with all the stuff on it.  And it comes with a nice travel kit and expansive instruction booklet.   And yes, it records all the usage and as said before reports the same to the doctor's office and to the machine supplier.  We have no privacy any more.  No trust.  We give you the machine and we dam well make sure you are using machine kind of life now.

Judie's sleep test, and there were two of them, was marginal that she needed the device.  She had been sleeping with a cannulas that supplied Oxygen to her nose.  It was a simple set up with large Oxygen concentrator off in the corner.  The concentrator literally filters Oxygen out of the atmosphere and pumps into the nose.  A flow regulator is mounted on the concentrator and is variable.  It is set a two liters per minute flow.  So that is just plugged into the back of the CPAP unit on the side table by the bed.

So far we have learned that the water reservoir has enough water for one session so one has to load the dam thing every night with no less than distilled water.  It also has an air filter that has to be changed every two weeks.  Spares of the filters are provided but not the distilled water.  That we get off the shelf at Walmart.

I do not doubt that Judie has lung disease.  But I am not sure quality of life sacrifice is necessary at this stage.  I get that antsy feeling that the doctor is just loading us up with stuff.  It is true Medicare and TRICARE for Life will pay for it all but is it really necessary?

I went though this with the old Ophthalmologist and his staff Optometrist.  And as I suspected, I did not need all the testing etc. that I was receiving.  I view Optometrists, perhaps unfairly, as just an eye mechanic that are intent upon selling you things.  I got a new prescription annually for glasses under the myriad of Optometrists I used for the decades.  When I first dealt with my old Ophthalmologist he would do annual check but did not bother to write a prescription for new glasses as I really did not need one.  We switched from my old Ophthalmologist/Optometrist group to a new one because of the Optometrists on the staff.  And the old Opthalmologist would not see old patients that did not need surgery so we moved on.  And, guess what, I did not need all those super duper tests anymore with the new Opthalmologist.

So under the world of Obamacare I worry that physicians are padding the system to earn the big bucks.  It is not so much of what we need, it seems to be more of "I can prescribe this treatment and get paid for the visit no matter what happens."  I question often now, the necessity of all these different specialists and what we really need.  My trust in doctors is declining unless I know the doctor well.  Even now our family physician is transitioning to retirement and new doctors are now seeing me.

As of yet nothing has changed but then I know the old doctor is supervising the whole thing.  But he is a short timer and will soon be gone.