Data Collection - Please educate me.

[Shastzi]

Hi Snuffles!
Finding a good sleep tech, it seems, is like finding a good car mechanic.
I am with the "Trust but verify" crowd.
If you can get going on data capable hardware, by all means do so.
Learn how to run everything and capture data.
If an unexpected issue comes up you'll know about it first and can take action to expidite a remedy!
'Nuff said.
=^.^=

[snuffles]

Howdy snuffles, welcome to the forum!

Nothing against what you posted and it's a bit off-topic here, but I'll say it anyway, since this is a very good example of a point I try to make regularly here. [Bold emphasis in the quote is mine]

Costs nothing to me. I sleep over using my own mask but the clinic's machine and I'm wired up like The Borg. I just blindly go along and do what they tell me knowing I'm being looked after. No charge to me for any of this.

Ah, but it does cost you. If you're an average citizen, you've been paying taxes for years for it.

This is the problem with taxpayer-funded medicine. Folks mistakenly think (understandably so) that "it's free" with "no charge". This results in a state of mind that eliminates a lot of the normal incentive to spend health care dollars in a thrifty manner, since we think "it's free".

One of the reasons we promote data-capable CPAP machines is that we know that ultimately, it would reduce health care costs, whether we're providing for our own care, or we obtain it through insurance or a government medical program. This is really what Apnea Board is all about: Patient Empowerment. (patients playing a more active and educated role in their own treatment).

The small cost of investing in a data-capable CPAP over a non-data-capable "Brick" CPAP is small compared with the future returns of both monetary savings and improved health due to properly adjusted treatment.

As always, just my personal opinions. Your mileage may vary.

I'm only allowed 7 comments in 24 hours….. REALLY.??
Good thing my mother-in-law doesn't belong to this site..



Yes off topic but I'd like the opportunity to respond:

You have a point although a very weak point... I always hear about how poor the Canadian Medical System is because it’s Government run but oddly only from Americans.

Yes we pay for it through taxes but our system is far cheaper than the US system to operate. It's more cost effective and not based on profit. Our medical, drugs, and anything medical have always been cheaper. So your belief is not totally true.

When I run my hand through a saw I don’t have to select which finger to fix because my HMO will only fix one. Here they all get fixed.

It's not perfect for sure but it's still a pretty good system. People here sometimes complain about long wait times but what they don't get is: it's a triage system. Those who are the most urgent are treated first. In this instant everything society though some hate to wait and whine and whine even though they only have a hang-nail.

I prefer to leave the CPAP needs to a professional who is educated in the field rather than trying to figure it out myself and risk doing it wrong... maybe. Although I need to ask more questions. I’d like to know more. The data collection never entered my head before but now I’m curious. So thank you all for your input. Very interesting. I'm going to pursue this.

As one of you pointed out though the proof is how you feel in the morning and I feel great. The CPAP routine has truly saved my life I think. If I didn’t have it I’d probably have had a stroke by now or killed myself falling a sleep while driving.

I’ll continue to read others experiences here and learn more.

---

Anyway, I installed the ResScan software, and I'm making a deal with a guy through kijiji to purchase his card reader and new card so I hope to be seeing my own results soon.

All this thanks to you all on here. I've learned a lot in only 24 hours.

Thanks to all.

[Shastzi]

Well, Snuffles, it also helps that in the U.S. the health care system is a total Charlie Foxtrot situation...
sad, but true.

[SuperSleeper]

I'm only allowed 7 comments in 24 hours….. REALLY.??
Good thing my mother-in-law doesn't belong to this site..

The 7 posts limit is only in effect for brand new members. It's a spam avoidance feature we've implemented. A couple more posts and a bit more time and you'll be good to go with no limit.

And, no worries, I won't tell your mother-in-law what you said.

[snuffles]

I'm only allowed 7 comments in 24 hours….. REALLY.??
Good thing my mother-in-law doesn't belong to this site..

And, no worries, I won't tell your mother-in-law what you said.

I'd appreciate that...

[snuffles]

So, I successfully purchased a card reader for $30.. and it's on the way to me and my CPAP supplier gave me a card for free... and I have now downloaded and installed the ResScan software although it only runs on Windoze... yuk.. but even so I'm all ready and I'm now anxious to see some results.

So my next quest will be knowledge here on the interpretation.

By the way someone on here I read was interested in ResScan for Windoze 8... but the newest version I downloaded installed and ran just fine. I was able to add myself in as a new patient and set it up without issue. I'll see if that continues when I receive the card reader. I did instruct Win8 to run the program as if in Win7 however. Maybe that helped.

So now I wait..

[Dawei]

I prefer to leave the CPAP needs to a professional who is educated in the field rather than trying to figure it out myself and risk doing it wrong... maybe. Although I need to ask more questions.

snuffles- There is a third path between leaving CPAP entirely to a professional or trying to figure it out yourself. That is, educating yourself as much as possible and working with the doc. This would include making suggestions to him/her when appropriate, asking questions to learn more about his/her concerns and goals in your treatment and yet remaining a compliant patient. Docs don't often get patients who want to be in the loop of their own care, and I have found with sleep specialists who are pulmonologists that they have reacted quite favorably. Come to think of it, so have my primary care docs through the years. Just wanted to share this way of looking at it with you.

[archangle]

I prefer to leave the CPAP needs to a professional who is educated in the field rather than trying to figure it out myself and risk doing it wrong.

Unfortunately, "professionals" who are educated in the field and know or care enough to the the job right are very hard to find in the US medical system. From what I hear, they're pretty rare in the Canadian medical system, too.

These days, trying to get good management of your CPAP treatment from the medical system is like trying to get good technical support for your computer from the big box store you bought it from.

[PaulaO2]

Some people manage to find a good sleep doc and/or a good CPAP supplier. Sadly, that number is a low percentage compared to those who find one and not the other or neither of them.

It is the same with any doc. I've had a few GPs I only saw once because I didn't like them.

And DMEs are the same as mechanics. Some you trust completely, others you wouldn't trust them to change the oil right.

[u2canbuild]

Why would I collect data? For what purpose?

I collect data and download it to the sleephead software.......... and collect data from my recording oxygen meter......... Not because it is a fun task, but to give me some feedback as to how my daily activities, food and CPAP pressure levels affect how I feel and function.

For me, my oxygen levels are paramount to feeling well and having enough energy to function.

For me seeing the sleep doctor once every few months just is not enough........ to make good decisions that affect my life.

I have found that I need to be very proactive, and work very hard to keep healthy in todays world.

If I had simply sat on my butt, been passive and listened 100 percent to doctors opinions, I would have been dead 15 years ago.

IMHO, doctors vary widly, they are human just like you and me; some really care, some are just in it for the money, some are smart and have good advice, some are burned out just riding the system till they retire.

I try to learn about this Sleep Apnea thing, and collect data because it helps me live a better life.


Enjoy the Journey,

Eric