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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on July 23, 2009 at 8:45pm

Congrats Eric.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Thayer on July 24, 2009 at 8:02am

Thanks Rock. I'm liking this thing of less tiredness/lighter mood. :-)

Rock Hinkle said:

Congrats Eric.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Thayer on July 24, 2009 at 8:27am

After the night, the machine measured AHI at 15. Great to come back from morbid apnea to just moderate apnea. Feel like a huge load has been lifted off of me.

Going to continue to work w/ losing weight (BMI currently 45) and will be doing a followup sleep study the end of Aug. to see if there is more to do.

I've seen weight reduction results already with things that may sound obvious, but:
- I'm a hugely fast eater. I'm trying to take time and not rush.
- I'm consciously limiting my first portion to 3/4 of what I would normally take
- If I go for "seconds", I'll take 1/2 of what I would normally take
- No "thirds" :-)
- Try to make breakfast a bigger meal than lunch or dinner (hard to do; little time in the morning, hoping getting good sleep will help with this)
- If I'm craving something at night, I'll have a light salad or eat leftover veggies from dinner (skip the fatty/starch/sugar bonanzas!)
- If I fall off the eating wagon, I get back on it and don't give up. Setbacks can be overcome, giving up is not an option.
- Being conscious of calorie needs and having a rough estimate of the calories contained in what I eat (for me and my current state, 2600 a day is my target).

As far as exercise, taking steps instead of elevators, parking further away from things. Doing the "little" things first and seeing whether I'm on the right track. May need to add more over time if I get to a "plateau".

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Permalink Reply by Judy on July 24, 2009 at 8:58am

Whooo hoooo, Eric Thayer!!! Congratulations on the great VPAP you got and on the will power to eating!!! You are on the right path to success, my friend!!! Its so good to hear you got good DME supplier staff too. THAT will be a BIG help.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Thayer on July 24, 2009 at 9:07am

Thanks! I asked the Jody (DME staff) about getting to the data menu of the machine so I can see the therapy effectiveness data and she showed me the "secret keyboard trick" to get at it. She said "*DON'T* *CHANGE* *THE* *SETTINGS*!, but here it is" :-)

What's the harm with providing the patient the effectiveness data??!?! I understand that AHI on the machine is an estimate and not as accurate as you would get in a sleep study, but how else other than "feeling better/worse" are you going to know whether you are where you should be?

Judy said:

Whooo hoooo, Eric Thayer!!! Congratulations on the great VPAP you got and on the will power to eating!!! You are on the right path to success, my friend!!! Its so good to hear you got good DME supplier staff too. THAT will be a BIG help.

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Permalink Reply by Judy on July 24, 2009 at 9:57am

Eric, I am pretty sure that she probably showed you the WRONG patient access to your Efficacy and Usage data. If the button press she showed you was press Right and Left buttons for 4-5 seconds you should NOT be able to accidentally OR intentionally change your therapy settings. IF she showed you a DIFFERENT button press and hold then, yeah, she gave you access to the Clinicians Menu and you COULD accidentally - or intentionally - change your therapy settings.

I don't THINK that there is that much difference between the S8s and the S8 IIs when it comes to data access via the LCD screen.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Thayer on July 24, 2009 at 10:06am

Interesting, it was the left and right buttons simultaneously. I *could* see the settings that were in place, but don't know whether I could change them and didn't want to experiment either.

Judy said:

Eric, I am pretty sure that she probably showed you the WRONG patient access to your Efficacy and Usage data. If the button press she showed you was press Right and Left buttons for 4-5 seconds you should NOT be able to accidentally OR intentionally change your therapy settings. IF she showed you a DIFFERENT button press and hold then, yeah, she gave you access to the Clinicians Menu and you COULD accidentally - or intentionally - change your therapy settings.

I don't THINK that there is that much difference between the S8s and the S8 IIs when it comes to data access via the LCD screen.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Thayer on July 24, 2009 at 10:43am

Absolutely right Judy. I must have misunderstood her. Maybe she could tell that I was an inquisitive person and would eventually find the clinicians menu (which i did: down+right for three seconds).

Judy said:

Eric, I am pretty sure that she probably showed you the WRONG patient access to your Efficacy and Usage data. If the button press she showed you was press Right and Left buttons for 4-5 seconds you should NOT be able to accidentally OR intentionally change your therapy settings. IF she showed you a DIFFERENT button press and hold then, yeah, she gave you access to the Clinicians Menu and you COULD accidentally - or intentionally - change your therapy settings.

I don't THINK that there is that much difference between the S8s and the S8 IIs when it comes to data access via the LCD screen.

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Permalink Reply by Judy on July 24, 2009 at 11:04am

I would caution ANYONE who accesses the Clinicians Menu to FIRST have a pen and pencil handy and WRITE DOWN what appears on EACH screen BEFORE proceeding to the next screen. That way if you do accidentally - or intentionally - change any of your therapy settings you know what they SHOULD be.

I know sometimes when you have a new "toy" its difficult to resist the temptation to "play" w/it. Just remember this IS a MEDICAL DEVICE (and a very sophisticated one!) and NOT a toy! IF you MUST play w/it, at least make sure you know how to CORRECTLY undo what you've done.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Thayer on July 24, 2009 at 12:28pm

I totally agree. Since there is a way to review my data (left+right 3 seconds) w/o endangering my well-being, I'll use that. There's no reason to endanger myself or my relationship w/ DME/insurance/doctor/etc.

Still, i don't see that key combo mentioned in the user's guide. I guess ResMed wanted the clinician to have the option of informing the patient that it exists.

Judy said:

I would caution ANYONE who accesses the Clinicians Menu to FIRST have a pen and pencil handy and WRITE DOWN what appears on EACH screen BEFORE proceeding to the next screen. That way if you do accidentally - or intentionally - change any of your therapy settings you know what they SHOULD be.

I know sometimes when you have a new "toy" its difficult to resist the temptation to "play" w/it. Just remember this IS a MEDICAL DEVICE (and a very sophisticated one!) and NOT a toy! IF you MUST play w/it, at least make sure you know how to CORRECTLY undo what you've done.

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Permalink Reply by Judy on July 24, 2009 at 3:35pm

Yes, in the earlier Users Guide mention of the advanced patient menu is made and it also mentions IF your doctor has ordered access to it. I no longer have the Resmed S8 Elite w/EPR's Clinicians Manual. I sent it along w/the Elite when I sold it. However, a guick glance thru the S8 II Clinicians Manual .....

"The Detailed Menu
Your clinician may have enabled a detailed menu on your S8 Series II device. The picture shows the detailed menu in each mode."

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