The past few days were ones that I’ve been dreading for quite some time. Ever since I’ve become dependent on my BiPap machine for my ventilatory needs, I’ve been worried when a day would come that It would break down. I’d been in serious trouble when that happens. It did…
However it’s not as grave as it sounds. Well sort of. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough that over the years I’ve been able to build up my equipment. From the original BiPap S/T that my family bought 10 years ago, I’ve accumulated a total of 4 machines over the 10 years. Sounds a lot right? It is and I’m blessed to have them. But there are some problems.
I own a pair of BiPap S/T’s and a pair of BiPap Synchrony S/T’s. The Synchrony’s are the newer models. I got the first Synchrony about 3 years ago and the newest one around 2 years ago. Both were courtesy of two very very kind aunts and uncles in the United States. They knew that my equipment was getting old and so they bought me news ones. The other BiPap S/T was also given. This time through my good friend “Maryze”:http://www.pacesworld.com. She had known years back that I didn’t have a backup machine. So she asked her home care provider if they had one. The home care provider had a used but in good condition just sitting on the shelves. They gave it for free. Talk about lucky huh.
Anyway, as great as four machines sound, my problem lies in the fact that the 2 BiPap S/T’s are very old already that it’s not working very well already. The oldest one I can just use when I’m awake. I can’t use it while sleeping since it’s not giving the adequate pressure I need while asleep. Same goes for the slightly newer one. I can’t seem to sleep with it.
As for the two Synchrony’s for some reason again, I can only sleep with one of them. The one I use to sleep on a regular basis. I can’t seem to get to sleep with the other one. They’re both in the same settings and they both are identical models. Go figure. My intuition tells me that the software algorithim of the machine I use for sleep has got my breathing pattern right and the other one I use while I’m awake and seated is suited for seated ventilation. Thus when I lie down and try to sleep it’s not in sync. I’m not sure if this observation is correct. But that’s the explanation I can think of.
So with my luck, it’s the machine that i use for sleep that breaks down. Well 2 nights ago, I noticed I’ve been having trouble sleeping. I’d wake up in intervals. Gasping for breath. The machine is running and I can hear the motor but when I try to breathe it doesn’t seem to give me the pressure I need. I thought it was just me. So I tried switching machines. It was better I didn’t feel the gasping but I couldn’t sleep still.
For 2 days now, I’ve had a total of I think 3 to 4 hours of sleep put together. The rest is somewhere between awake and sleep. It’s been a rough two nights.
Again, with the luck that I’ve been having, It had to get worse on the weekend. The service center was closed. I had to make a lot of phone calls to see where and how I can get it looked at.
We finally ended up in the sleep center near our house. Luckily the technician who also happens to be the GM was there. He looked at my machine and he opened it up to check it. The verdict? The machine somehow got so hot that the coating of a pair of wires controlling the valve melted. The wires would touch sometimes and cause the valve not to open. Hence the shortness of breath sensation I was getting with the machine.
Long story short. We spent a good 6 hours in the sleep center. We also almost didn’t get the machine to work but the technician found a remedy to it. Parts for the machine isn’t available readily here apparently because very few Synchrony’s were sold here. I was really really worried by that time.
Buying a new one crossed my mind. The dealer had one here in stock I think. But the 200 plus thousand ($4000) pricetag stopped me. I didn’t have that much money to burn. I just hoped he could fix it. The prospect of not sleeping another night was terrible. My eyes hurt, my head is spinning and I really want to sleep. But not enough to not write this.
It’s been a tough day today. Please pray for me if you can. The search to get the replacement part starts tom. But oh no! it’s Sunday no work. Plus elections on Monday, no work again. Drats! Pray that the remedy for the machine holds up indefintely. I’ll also look into getting a new one. The cheapest I found was on the internet at cpap.com. It was $3,000…. Now to look for the money.