Oxygen

I am still without a CPAP; I have spent most of the past two days searching for either company to repair mine or for a replacement. The former seems impossible to find here in Louisville. For several years I dealt with a company for the repair of my previous CPAP and purchasing replacement breathing masks, which are not only expensive but tend to break at the points where the actual mask is connected to the straps that hold in on to one’s face. Unfortunately, that company seems to have disappeared: it is no longer located where it was and there is no listing for it in the telephone book. There was also not listings for CPAP repair. The medical supply companies I contacted regarding the repair of my machine were less than helpful.

Thus, I have searched the Internet for a replacement CPAP. Generally, a CPAP such as the one I now own would retail for about $600.00+. However, I located a smaller machine for about half that price that claims to be just as good and comes with a breathing mask, which one must purchase separately with many CPAPs. That cheaper CPAP sounds good to me!

The next problem is that I must have a physician’s prescription showing the machine setting in order to purchase one anywhere. When I learned that this morning, I telephoned my primary physician only to learn that he is on vacation until Monday. Can I hold out until Monday?

As part of the CPAP system that I was originally prescribed about fifteen or so years ago, was an oxygen generator. This was designed to pass oxygen into a small tank containing water, over which the air created by the CPAP would pass, picking up the oxygen and moisture before the air entered the breathing mask. I have not used the oxygen generator since the first year or so that I had a CPAP. However, I still owned it and, in the middle of last night, I got out of bed, found the generator, and hauled and pushed its 50-odd-pounds over my bed to where I could set it up and use it. Thankfully, I was able to locate enough tubing that was sent home with me from those times I have been hospitalized with pneumonia to run the oxygen from the generator to my nose.

Breathing the oxygen doesn’t replace my need for a CPAP. However, I am hoping that it may help my blood oxygen level not drop to as low as it did when I had the sleep apnea tests at the sleep clinic prior to being prescribed the CPAP. And I think I may have slept a bit last night—not much, but at least a little!

My thanks to all who left comments, prayers, and blessings to my last post.