Oxygen again

21 Aug, 2011 - 1:26 am

sorry, i know this is not a new topic, but i could not figure out how to post a question.
i am confused about how to get oxygen treatment. i have seen posts that say if you go to an ER and tell them you have CH you will be treated as a class a emergency and get oxygen immediately. in more than 30 years of going to ER's , not once have i seen a doctor in less than two hours. then i usually get given panadol. last year (not for the first time) i was taken to hospital by ambulance, luckily (in the ambulance) i was given oxygen at 15 lpm through a non rebreathable mask. the effect was dramatic, i went from a wreck to reasonably ok in less than 10 minuets.
my GP rang BOC medical (while i was in his office) to try and arrange an oxygen bottle etc, they told him that it could not be done under any circumstances.
I would really appreciate it if someone could explain how i can get hold of the oxygen and mask. suggestion, mabey we need to lobby to get oxygen available to all CH sufferers.

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21 Aug, 2011 - 3:06 am

Hi Kim, welcome to the forum, good and bad to see another sandgroper here. As I understand it, all you have to do is open an account with BOC to be able to order medical oxygen (will take a week or so).
Barry T Coles is the man to turn to (and dare I say it), the full bottle on oxygen. Geez, that's atrocious- go to your room...
cheers peter

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21 Aug, 2011 - 11:29 am

Hi Kim
Welcome aboard.

Ah the old ooh no we couldn’t do that story again.

Go over to the BOC outlet in Malaga just off Alexander Drive & near Colli Hardware, Google BOC outlets & you will get the exact address & open an account there, you could also get your Doc to give you a letter to that effect.

The guys know me there as I went into a cycle when I was down in Perth earlier this year but I already had an account so I didn’t have to go through the account set up wait, it used to take about 2 weeks to set up an account when I first opened mine but now it should happen a lot quicker.
Brandon & Michael are a couple of good guys who do understand; I gave them a copy of the letter to friends & colleagues from the OUCH site so they could understand what we deal with, Michael told me that there was another chap who gets oxygen for the same thing so honestly you shouldn’t have any drama.

You will need a regulator, hose & mask; the regulator you can purchase from BOC but the mask is another story, one option is to go ER and see if they will give you one, that’s what I do up here but then again I’m in the country & the local people are a little more tolerant, the only other way I know is to look on EBay they are usually available there, chemists don’t usually stock them.

Choice of bottle size is up to you; I have a NE which is 4000 litres for home & I carry a NC 490 litre bottle in my work Ute, the NC is only good for about 3 hits & really is only for the one that grabs you while travelling.
Depending on the level of medical cover you have may help with the cost; I’m with HBF at a high level & they cover 50% of the hire of the bottles & the cost of the gas up to $ 600/year.

If you have trouble getting a mask there is a temporary one you can make out of a large zippy bag, a length of oxy tube & the centre out of a dunny roll, push the tube into the zippy bag at the opposite end of the zip & secure it with a lacky band, make a hole in the other corner away from the zip and secure the dunny roll centre there & you have a workable non-rebreather mask that you can breathe the air through your mouth & exhale through your nose & the bag will act as a reservoir .

Hope this helps
Cheers
Barry

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21 Aug, 2011 - 11:31 am

saintpeter said:
Geez, that's atrocious- go to your room...
cheers peter"

Peter you quack me up.

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21 Aug, 2011 - 1:54 pm

Welcome Kim
Barry has given you the info you needed!
There is some great information on this site, have a read--you may find something else that will help you.
I have used oxygen in the past and it definitely helps, especially if used as start of an attack.
Cheers
Heather

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