Intransit

Thursday

At last.
J informed me last Thursday that I have a date to see the Apnoea Unit. Their letter arrived a couple of days ago. I have another couple of weeks to wait before the appointment.
J said that when she spoke to the Unit last week she was told the doctor had reviewed my computer readout from my overnight stay. The doctor wrote up my notes and passed my file to his secretary. My file then spent several weeks sitting and waiting for someone to see it and do something with it. The doctor had done his job, but...
I can confirm that fellow clients of that Sleep Unit have experienced long delays because their files had been lost, misfiled, mislaid, whatever! One patient's file was lost for over a year. He kept pestering the Unit until someone took the time to search for it. This particular factor is the subject of an ongoing thread in the Apnoea Forum.
My appointment is in the daytime. Most appointments take place in the evenings. Therefore, I am expecting one of two outcomes; I haven't got OSA, or, I have got it and I will be sent home with a CPAP machine, which will be an automatic air pressure machine. The APAP's monitor every breath and set the appropriate air pressure for each breath. The chip inside the machine records the details over a period of a couple of weeks. When the machine is taken back to the Unit, the doctors can see what air pressure is best for the individual patient and set that pressure on a machine they give to the patient for his/her permanent use.
I know that in some parts of the country, people are having to wait for 18 months to be given their own machine. They've had the results of their tests, been told they have OSA, but have to wait to be given a machine.
If I do have OSA, and I am told that I have to wait for a machine, it is then that I shall tell the Unit that I will buy my own machine. The machines cost less than the cost of a holiday. I am unable to go on holiday because of my condition. Buying a machine will mean that I can start saving up to go on a holiday. The machines can be used anywhere in the world as long as your hotel room has an electric socket to plug the machine into. The voltage on the machine can be set to accept different inputs from different countries.
However, this is all conjecture at the moment. I have to be patient. (No pun intended)

posted by john @ 8:19 am