The Eclipse Sequal will give you the benefit of both pulse (to use during the day) and continuous (for sleeping). It is considered a lightweight concentrator. Then there are the POC's (portable oxygen concentrators) like the Inogen One (very quiet, light, can be carried or pulled), the Respironics Evergo (also light - less than 10 lbs) and one more. All 3 of these have been approved for use on airlines and most, but not all, airlines allow them. The truly portable ones (Inogen, Evergo and the one which name I forget) can run off your accessory outlet in your vehicle, an AC outlet, or the POC's own batteries. So far, the Inogen One seems to be in the front as far as noise level and excellent service from the supplier and/or manufacturer.
Our Home - 2002 Glendale Titanium, 32/37DS
Our Home's Leader - Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins Turbo Diesel Dually Our Leaders - Pounce the Perfect(Dog), Taco the Terror (Dog), and Sam the Social (CAG)
Pitapony wrote: The Eclipse Sequal will give you the benefit of both pulse (to use during the day) and continuous (for sleeping). It is considered a lightweight concentrator. Then there are the POC's (portable oxygen concentrators) like the Inogen One (very quiet, light, can be carried or pulled), the Respironics Evergo (also light - less than 10 lbs) and one more. All 3 of these have been approved for use on airlines and most, but not all, airlines allow them. The truly portable ones (Inogen, Evergo and the one which name I forget) can run off your accessory outlet in your vehicle, an AC outlet, or the POC's own batteries. So far, the Inogen One seems to be in the front as far as noise level and excellent service from the supplier and/or manufacturer.
thanks
have any idea what a portable should cost to rent for a week?
bumpy
No, I don't. It depends on the supplier. I've read of some people getting to use one for a week for free and others do pay rent. Ask your supplier. I don't use one 'cause I have the Homefill unit that I just fill my own portables from my concentrator that lives in the w/d closet of my fiver.
saw my pulmonologist yesterday. she wrote me a Rx for liquid 02 for use at lake house. said there were several advantages. if I rent a concentrator, I would be paying for it 24/7/365 unless I would periodically rent for a week, etc. whereas with liquid 02 i would just be paying for it as I used it. also, said that there was no loss with liquid, if I had tanks of compressed there would be some loss. trying to locate supplier of liquid 02 in the boonies.
bumpy
I think your pulmo doc is confused. If I fill my compressed portable at 9:00 a.m. in the morning, and just let it sit all day and all night, it will still be full at 9 the next morning. If you fill your helios at 9 a.m., it will not be full the next a.m. Plus, if you just want to rent a concentrator for a week or so (and don't need the portables), you won't be paying for compressed 24/7/365 any more than you would be paying for the liquid 24/7/365. However, I was under the impression that you needed O2 24/7. On the other hand, the liquid tank will be convenient if the electricity goes out. Since you don't need to use O2 24/7, either system would be fine. Get what you can find. What type of system do you have now? Ask your supplier if they will rent you a portable for one week. That's their job...to supply you with O2 wherever you might go. Personally, if I was going to go for a full week, I'd just take my home concentrator along.
* This post was
edited 09/13/07 06:08am by Pitapony *
i only need it at night. dr. was talking about long term sitting around, not overnight. if I can rent concentrator (small) for a few days, might be the way to go. the concentrator i have at home now is about the size of a dorm refrigeraTor. humidifier larger than that
dmartin@newarts.com wrote: A lot of people have misconcepetions about thier abilities - once you increase the flow >~4 lpm, you're actually decreasing the O2 percentage.
I'd be very surprised if that is generally true. I'd like to know more if you can cite a source.
Dave
That is the oxygen percentage delivered by the concentrator. Concentrators can only work so fast at separating the oxygen from the rest of the air. At higher flows, the percentage may decrease by 5-10 percentage points.
I use the Platinum XL and it is maxed out at 4LPM, even though the gage says 5 LPM. LOX has some advantages, heck, none are perfect. I like the Platinum XL with HomeFill II unit thru Apria. Medicare pays 80% and Tricare For Life pays the rest. BUT the concentrator weighs 51 pounds and is getting too heavy to be lifting in and out.
www.cpaptalk.com has an auction going on some machines, prices down pretty low. The point is, that is about the best website for CPAP.
What I started to say about CPAPs, BiPAPs, etc. is some have bad manners. I used the Respironics BiPap Auto for over a year and loved it. On CPAPTALK.COM you can ask who is using a certain mask and find out all the good and back with it.
Oxygen is a pain. I need the little M6 bottles or I would go to LOX.
How much oxygen? My respiratory system has been pretty bad. When I drove back to Denver the MAX I was told to use was 3.5 LPM. OH, watch for altitude restrictions on any oxygen equipment. I found a M6 bottle that was not supposed to used above 5280 ft. I was going to Denver, crossing the Sierras and Rockies. I couldn't use it.
Wow, that's news to me...about some equipment not working well at altitudes. So what did you do when you crossed the mountains?? I am pretty well resigned that I will have to take the "low" routes, LOL. But it will be a case of try it and see, I think.
My problem is that I'm with a local company right now so I'm not sure how we're going to handle my 6 E tanks that I keep in a trunk on my truck. I guess I could go with Lincare or Apria and swap tanks as we travel through an area but I'm paying zilch for O2 now and I don't want to have to start paying for these tanks. Suggestions??
Well, first thing I did was read the owner's manual that came with the M6 bottles. It told me serial numbers 0-69,999 should not be used above 5280ft, so I called Apria and got a lady who told me I already had three bottles, what was the problem? I told her the doctors at the National Jewish Hospital, the number one Respiratory Hospital in the USA ten years in a row said I would need 4. During the conversation, this poorly trained RT with an attitude asked me where I read that??? I had the pleasure of telling her it is in the owner's manual, have you ever read it? She said no and I told her something like "It shows."
I called the Apria operator, got her boss and told him what she said. He was not pleased.
I have talked to a lot of DMEs and RTs since I was diagnosed with breathing problems. Most are good people, but a lot are poorly trained and/or not well educated on the equipment they deal in. Too bad for us.
If you accept poor service, that is what you will get. I hit Denver and Apria made 3 straight mistakes on my needs, so I tried to call the boss in Denver. Three times I waited over five minutes on my cell phone, then hung up and dialed again. Finally I called Corporate HQ, told them the date, the time, the name of the employee who messed up and so on. I asked them if Apria has ANYONE in Denver who can do things correctly? A manager called me a few minutes later, wanting to know how he can correct my problems. I gave him the same details on what his people had done and why I called corporate. I told him I can call corporate every time his people make mistake after mistake or I can call him........his call. Any smart manager wants you and I to talk to them...NOT their boss. This guy is GOOD and the RT he sent out was golden. I took his phone number with me when I left Denver.
To answer your last question, see if you can get Pacific Pulmonary or
Prax Air or --- I can't remember the other one...Apria is the worst of the group unless you get a GOOD PERSON to work with. If you read the paragraph above and follow it, your local manager will assign a good, reliable person to work with. If you just go along with poor service, that will be your experience.
ASK the head RT wherever you go if there are altitude limitations on the equipment. I left my bottle empty and open while about 5280ft.
Since Aurora, CO is at about 5400ft, I never got to use it.
Good Luck.
PS - I have also written letters of commendation to Apria HQ about the good people I come across. I don't just criticize, I certainly praise the good ones.
Offline
