Okay guys.. let's talk apnea after surgery.

I still use mine, out of habit most likely ..  After many years I've gotten so used to it  -  it's like a deep-sea diver going down with his air lline (or an astronaut's air line during a spacewalk) ..  I probably don't need it at all now, though .  I'd like to try turning it down from 11, though, but it didn't come with the adjusting tool (card?) for it and the place I bought it at refuses to do so unless they have a prescription from the doctor to do so ..  (GRRRR) ..   I think it's a RACKET $$ !   I have posted before how I wish we could have a CPAP "burning" ceremony at OH events ..  !  (I guess we could donate them to some needy group or agency, but since they are a personal, prescribed "medical device" I've heard that is illegal) ..   I see some ins. cos. now are demanding you return any medical equipment they provided back to them if and when you no longer need it, as a condition of your policy ..  (I wonder what THEY do with it???)

sell it back to the manufacture for $5.00 so they can refurb it and charge us $1300 for it again... but that's just a guess.

Eric,

I stopped using mine about 2 months post surgery. You might see if your insurance will pay for one of the new self adjusting bi/cpap machines. They have a flow sensor inside the outlet and self adjust per demand. Everything I've heard is positive about them.

HIJACK-my wife's surgeon is Dr. Dyer. She had RNY in September 2006. They are really good folks at Centennial.

FYI-What do the DME dealers do with the used equipment? Well, when BCBS of TN stopped paying $185.00 a month lease on mine, they sold it to me for $25.00...LoL. I used to buy my masks and equipment from CPAPonline.com in TX after I lost my DME coverage.

Good luck.

Doug

So far I love Centennial.. the hospital stay was enjoyable, if there is such a thing..


Thanks for the help, I had them order me a chinstrap and I tried the tape idea last night. The wife said it looked like I got hijacked, but it worked flawlessly.

I also noticed I have been sleeping with my mouth open since my surgery 1 month ago.  I saw my pulmonologist on Monday and said I felt it was too strong for me, he dropped me from 11cm to 9 cm and it seems better. They just made changes to the card that stores the information about the use.  

Hey Atty,

Have you tried a Google search for how to reprogram your machine?  With mine you unplug the machine and hold down the two arrows as you plug it back in to access the special features.]

Jim