I recently had O2 prescribed by my doc.  I called it in to the Praxair folks (the one's my Dr's office recommended) and went through the red tape of getting the insurance approval and delivery and whatnot...

...Today I received a call that from the customer service rep (as it was supposed to be here) informing me that they were waiting on 'Clarification' from the Dr.

When I asked what type of 'clarification' she replied that she couldn't fill the script with a non-rebreathing mask.  

I told her that if they were out, or didn't have any on hand that I could find one. myself, just do whatever necessary to get me my O2.

She told me that it wasn't that they didn't have any it was that I would not be using a non-rebreathing mask on their equipment.

So now I don't know what to do...

Doctors orders are doctors orders. Call the doc and have them give the 02 supplier a tune up.
the bb

To me, it's a question of how much you are willing to suffer while you wait for other people to sort things out.

If it were me, I would have already had the O2 delivered and gotten my own mask.

But then, that's just me - because I refuse to suffer needlessly

What a pain in the arse.  

I would suggest you call your doctors office and speak to the on-call MD.  Have them get in touch with the Praxair and clarify the order right now.  It is a pain issue and should be resolved ASAP.  Hope all goes well.

I'd click on the yellow oxygen info button on the left.  It takes you to the LifeGas site page with the information about the 02ptimask.  It is FAR superior to anything a med supply company will provide.  Those non-rebreather masks need to be modified to be effective anyway:  tape over the hole on the mask that isn't closed, remove the small bag and tape on a one gallon freezer baggie.

The 02ptimask costs $25 and comes with a 3 litre bag.  :)

Laurie

Have you actually saw this prescription? If your Doctors office faxed it to Praxair, my guess is, it does not read for a NRB mask. You would not be the first person this has happened to. I hope I'm wrong.

Welcome to CH.com and Good Luck, Don

FIRST, be very nice and polite, and call the supplier, and tell them to just deliver what they have.  (call them names, once you hang up)  Once you have the oxygen, with a regulator that goes up to at least 15 LPM, we can get you a mask.  I have several that I keep on hand, just for times like this.  Let me know if you need one!

SECOND, call your doctor and let him/her ream the supplier with a new anal orifice!

Good luck, and let us know how you are progressing!

Chuck

Chuck, you truly are an amazing 02 pusher! [smiley=kiss.gif]

Laurie

Hell, gimme their number and I'll have my wife call 'em. She can change the sky color with a phone call. I wouldn't have O2 if she hadn't called. I am too short tempered to deal with stupid people over a phone. I wanna reach through and poke 'em in the eye.

I talked to the girl (in the above post) right at closing time (5:15 or so, yesterday) so there was little I could do to get anything done last night.

Thankfully, I wasn't due for another simulated aneurysm last night.

I am tonight...(my CH's come like clockwork, every-other-day for me); I plot to spend the rest of the day either getting the Praxair folks getting a damn tank to my house regardless of what type of plastic they think I should be strapping to my face.

In point of fact, while I was typing this, I just got a call from them informing me that they are still trying to get clarification from the Dr...When I asked what the holdup was I was told "It is praxair policy to not supply non-rebreathing masks"

...

I told them, politely, that if they were not able to get the mask in question to please just get O2 to me today, we can worry about the specifics of the mask later and let me know by noon, and if they're  still unable, I'd be forced to go with someone more accommodating (e.g. LifeGas, which will require that I take (more) time off of work and go for a bit of a drive...)

Is it wrong for me to want to beat them senseless with the very tanks they provide? </Grumble>

Chuck:  Thank youI truly appreciate the offer and I may take you up on the offer if I can't get one locally.

Thank you, all of you, for your support and advice;  it was helpful, invaluable, and gave me the boost I needed to keep pushing these folks.

Anyway, As a final note to this hop down the bunny-trail-of-stupid, I (to make a long story short) got fed up with Praxair, as even after being informed as to the nature, biology [Kudos to Batch for this], and effects of CH they were still unforthcoming, told them in no uncertain terms what I needed, got fed more BS, and ultimately dumped them for another provider who doesn't make medical decisions based on corporate policy.  

...I may have also voiced some opinions as to the circumstances of their sundry births, general viability of their genetic lineage, and the effect of abysmal customer service reps that make it plain that a treatment plan hashed together between a Doctor with a specialty in headaches and an Engineer must be obviously flawed or poorly-thought-through  as it goes against policy (as it is well known that Doctors pay no attention to the orders they write and Engineers inherently gloss over details of apparati they will be spending significant time applying to themselves which the all-knowing policy takes into account to protect them from themselves...)

At any rate, I digress.  (Engineers only gloss over and forget the details of any apparatus that we employ for the use of other people ;) )

The new folks were able to not only handle the insurance and medical red-tape in under an hour, but will have me supplied, set up, and taken care of in whatever capacity necessary by 6:00PM this evening.

Thanks again for all the support;  Its good to know that others are out there that understand and give a shit.

Great news. Now you will be ready to do battle tonight. Good luck!

Quote:

Thanks again for all the support;  Its good to know that others are out there that understand and give a shit.

Priceless.
now kick some demon ass.
all the best
the bb

Whompy,

Good on you and all the folks that helped.  


V/R, Batch

Years ago, when I was still paying for my 02...the freaking WAREHOUSE  manager said, "well I've never seen any studies that show high flow 02 is effective for headaches." The FREAKING WAREHOUSE MANAGER!!!!  )No disrespect intended to any warehouse managers on the board...especially of you possess a PHD in Neuro sciences.  ;D)

Yeah, petty people in powerful positions....they can be a little annoying! Damn glad to here you finally prevailed.  ;)

Joe

Well I learned something today. PRAXAIR doesn't care what a CH sufferer needs, period. I can only hope that whatever reason they have for witholding a Doctor ordered treatment, costs them what it's worth.   :P

Glad you got it fixed, Don

wrote on Dec 16^th, 2008 at 9:51pm:

What a pain in the arse.   I would suggest you call your doctors office and speak to the on-call MD.  Have them get in touch with the Praxair and clarify the order right now.  It is a pain issue and should be resolved ASAP.  Hope all goes well.

I agree. Your pain should become thier pain. Get my drift? Make it the Docs problem.
TomM