I'm brand new to CPAP and was hoping someone might be able to give me some advice regarding a situation that I find a bit odd...
My doctor placed my CPAP order in mid April with her choice of local DME supplier. After much prodding I finally received my machine on July 12th. (Roughly three months delivery time seems a bit excessive, no?) There was no discussion of options or really much else, just a very brief mini-lesson and that was it. I managed to read up on specifics and all was well. I had very little trouble and absolutely LOVED how much better I felt. The machine was AirSense 10 by ResMed, and I was using the MyAir app. Everything was going splendidly.
Then out of the blue, about two weeks in, the supplier called me to inform me that a driver would be out to switch out the machine. When I asked why they told me they "didn't know". I specifically asked if it had anything to do with the recall and was told no, absolutely not. I thought this was weird, but complied. The driver gave me a "new" machine in a clear plastic bag. It didn't look new, but what do I know..? I asked him as well why it was being switched and he had no idea.
Anyway, immediately when I started it that night it had a weird smell, reminiscent of incense. I'm super sensitive to smoke so that annoyed me right away. I got up and changed the filter which made no difference. I had trouble going to sleep due to the throat and airway irritation it was causing but managed to go to sleep a little after midnight I believe.
About 3 am I was awakened by the mask flapping and refusing to stay in place. I tried to adjust it thinking maybe I had moved and messed it up. Nope. Couldn't keep it in place. I checked the machine and the pressure said 13.2. I'm supposed to be at max 7. At that point I was angry because my lungs were burning. My heart was pounding and I felt very bloated. From swallowing air I suppose..?
I couldn't go back to sleep so spent some time finding out that my "new" machine had 667 runtime hours on it. This I presume is perfectly fine and allowable, but for the life of me I cannot understand why they would have taken my machine, which was working perfectly for me, and swap it for one that was not even properly set up. The clinician has been unreachable by the way, so I returned this machine yesterday.
I'm on Medicare and according to them I'm well within my rights to switch suppliers. Trouble is that my primary doctor seems set on not giving my prescription to anyone but this local DME. She says SHE likes them and they'll work it out. They had just changed the unit due to a recall... She tells me that X from this supplier will call me today, but this person is the exact same person who handled my return yesterday and at that time said there were no notes or comments whatsoever and he couldn't explain why the unit was switched. It was not recalled.
I just don't want anything else to do with them now. The whole thing feels deceptive. Am I really in the wrong here? Thoughts, anyone...?