Well, of course I didn't have the print out. Also, since I'd bought my last two C-pap machines on Craigslist used and out of pocket (thanks to my ever weakening medical insurance and a six thousand dollar deductible.) my used C-pap machine didn't have the data card in it. The Doctor there at First In Health recommended Mill Plain Medical across the river in Vancouver Wa So, I took Radio Cab over to Mill Plain Medical, (Cab ran me around 27 dollars with tip one way), to talk to area expert on C-pap's Russ Thurgood. Well, thank goodness for Russ. He was able to find the data stored on the machine even without the card and for only around five bucks set me up with a new card. End of story right? Nope, turns out since I have two C-pap's one for my truck and one for the house, that the average I was showing for the last 30 days on that particular C-pap was less than 4.75 hours per day. Well, now my next step is... When I get by the house in Tri Cities is to see if my other C-pap has its data card and get someone to run a printout of it. I may end up just taking it with me in my truck until I get back to Portland. Then hopefully, I will be able to get my DOT physical done because time is starting to run out.
Getting my DOT Physical and dealing with new C-pap Regulations C-pap adventures in Portland Oregon.10/17/2014 My DOT physical is coming up and they changed the rules and one of the changes is Doctors must be certified in order to do the physical. Well, my regular doctor at home isn't certified. I thought since I was in Portland why not walk over to First In Health clinic there at Jubitz. The receptionist told me they have an account set up with the company I work for. This is great because I don't have to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed later. The Dr. at First In Health was happy to talk to me before the actual physical and tell me the scoop on what I'd need in order to get my DOT medical card. Turns out since I have a C-pap machine (actually I have two) new DOT reg's require that I needed to get a print out of at least a 30 day period. On this printout I need to show that I've used my machine at least 4.75 hours per day avg for that 30 day period.
Well, of course I didn't have the print out. Also, since I'd bought my last two C-pap machines on Craigslist used and out of pocket (thanks to my ever weakening medical insurance and a six thousand dollar deductible.) my used C-pap machine didn't have the data card in it. The Doctor there at First In Health recommended Mill Plain Medical across the river in Vancouver Wa So, I took Radio Cab over to Mill Plain Medical, (Cab ran me around 27 dollars with tip one way), to talk to area expert on C-pap's Russ Thurgood. Well, thank goodness for Russ. He was able to find the data stored on the machine even without the card and for only around five bucks set me up with a new card. End of story right? Nope, turns out since I have two C-pap's one for my truck and one for the house, that the average I was showing for the last 30 days on that particular C-pap was less than 4.75 hours per day. Well, now my next step is... When I get by the house in Tri Cities is to see if my other C-pap has its data card and get someone to run a printout of it. I may end up just taking it with me in my truck until I get back to Portland. Then hopefully, I will be able to get my DOT physical done because time is starting to run out.
1 Comment
One of the four pillars of good health is sleep. Back in my early thirties I started noticing I was having a lot of lucid dreaming and really vivid dreams that I could actually remember. I didn't realize at the time that this was a sign of sleep apnea. sleep apnea is when you arent breathing well while sleeping so your body in order to keep you breathing keeps waking you up! Well looking back I realize it is around this time that I started my slow progression of weight gain as well as started having high blood pressure. Both weight gain and high blood pressure can be caused by sleep apnea, and also it can work the other way, weight gain can cause sleep apnea too! Well, ignorance is bliss or in my case slow death, it wasnt until about three years ago that I took my doctors advice and went in for a sleep study. A sleep study is a test where they place sensors all over your head and wrists and basically watch you sleep. They then give all this info to a doctor and he makes a suggestion as to what you need to get a good nights sleep. I had pretty severe sleep apnea. This was very bad,
Sleep apnea and driving truck dont mix. For obvious reasons, truckers need to be well rested and alert, so they put me on a breathing machine called a C-Pap. This machine takes some getting used to, it has a squirrel cage pump inside it that's controlled by complex computer algorithms, and pumps air through a tube and into a mask over your face that keeps your airway clear and free from choking events so You can get a good nights sleep. For over the road trucking and travelers in general a very good cpap I've found is called the Transcend mini cpap. I bought mine re furbished here. The Transcend mini cpap is smaller than paper back novel, weighs less than a pound and saves all my data so when I need to get my DOT physical I can plug into my windows computer where there's an app that lets me/and my physician, access my information, So if You're serious about losing weight and getting healthy, Consider Taking time to visit a sleep doctor B |
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March 2020
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