There, there, dear...Managing the sleep specialist at the first follow up

[Doza]

Haaaa the only disappointment is that clearly I don't have my brain back yet... Regardless, the well wishes stand as intended

[PsychoMike]

There's been a lot of good recommendations here to try. The unknown is the person you are dealing with on the other end.

If they are the typical DME zombie, their goals for the meeting will be 1) Are you compliant? If so, great, encourage patient to continue. If not, make suggestions on how to be compliant so that they have success and the DME gets paid. After that, they might talk about 2) keeping the mask on, proper cleaning and so on and so forth.  In other words, they could be dumb as a post when it comes to getting effective treatment for you (only interested in an AHI <5 and >75% compliance). In that case, you're going to have to be well informed and have good information to push forward toward what you need for your treatment.  I agree that you'll probably nee to wait until you get past the compliance / maintenance stuff before you can hit them with the effectiveness of your therapy and that you feel tired.

If they are worth their weight in gold (i.e. a "good one"), then get past the first minute and initial data download / compliments on compliance and dive right into your data and how you feel. Hit them with the 100% compliant, keeping the mask on, no major leaks but feeling more tired (plus with info on centrals or issues in exhaling against the pressure and such). If they are one of the good ones, you'll get traction pretty quickly toward the next step in resolving the issues that are impacting your therapy.

Here's wishing you good luck and a "good one" for your appointment.

[Phill]

In all seriousness, be polite and professional. AND state YOUR case in a clear, concise, factual fashion. Then if that doesn't work...mallet time!   

sarcasm with mallets may be hard to accept and only you can prevent mallet bumps! the author of this post is covered by the law firm Dewey Cheatum and Howe...

I see where you are coming from, however if you consider the people you are dealing with to be worthless, incompetent  and little better than snake oil salesmen, it can be very difficult to maintain a measure of civility.

[SarcasticDave94]

Be certain I'm in agreement and understand as I've had lots of difficulty getting the ASV machine. Nevertheless, not in an an attempt to instigate pride, I act in a fashion that doesn't permit lowering self's actions to their level of frustrating incompetence. I do attempt to become a patient mentor/teacher to those that require a push in the right direction. Of course, another motivating factor is it helps me to get what I'm in need of with their cooperation.

Dave B



PS I'm not saying every RT, DME, doctor is incompetent. But there sure are a few out there that makes me wonder how they got the position they did. And FWIW my Apria RT is rather more competent than it sounds is the norm. Likely because she hoses too.