Our recent trip was very traumatic, at least the first part. We arrived at my mom's around 3 Tuesday afternoon. The drive was uneventful with sparse traffic for the most part. There was one construction zone where 2 highways come together and we were bogged down there for a while. But, we knew that it was coming from 7 miles out. For the most part drivers were courteous, but there were some that were impatient.
After unpacking the car I set up Bill's oxygen concentrator and it ran for about 15 minutes and then it malfunctioned. Of course I don't travel with the owner's manual so got on line to see what the warning was. It was that it wasn't making the correct amount of oxygen. So, back to a tank he went while I called the company. The person I got was determined that I was talking about one of the portable units. I finally got him to understand that it was the "at home" unit. He said he would overnight a new one and I made sure he had mom's address. We had enough tank air to get us through the night so I wasn't too concerned.
Wednesday morning I called our supplier at home to arrange for more tanks. She was quite put out that we had not made prior travel arrangements. I told her that we arranged for extra tanks before we left and this event was something that couldn't be anticipated. I told her where the nearest service center was and she said she would call me back. We waited all day for the concentrator to be delivered, but it did not arrive, nor did I get a call-back from Tammy. By this time we were getting to the danger time of running out of oxygen. I changed his flow to pulse instead of continuous and told him he had to breathe through his nose more than his mouth.
Thursday morning I called the local supplier to see if ours had called and they had not. They also told me that they couldn't do anything without the travel orders, and besides, they didn't have any tanks! They could pull Bill's file and see that he was indeed a Lincare patient. I was very angry by now, and didn't want to talk to our supplier until I calmed down, so I moved on to the replacement concentrator. I was given a tracking number and when I tracked it, it showed that it was being sent to Richardson, TX instead of Ridge Farm, IL. I called them back and the rep I got was as helpful as she could be, including listening to me rant. She called UPS to see where the package was and...it was sent to Arkansas! She said she could re-route to Illinois, but we wouldn't receive it until Monday! At that point I threw the pen I was holding and said "by that time my husband will be dead"! I ended up having the address changed to our neighbor Joe and then called him. He told me he would take care of it, not to worry! As if...!
By this time Bill is down to 1 1/2 hours of O2. The only option I could see until I could get some replacement tanks, was to take Bill to an ER, explain the situation to them, and hope they would hook him into their system. I called my sister and she found a number for Lincare in the town she lives in. So, another phone call. I spoke to Lisa O'Brien and after explaining the situation for about the 15th time, in tears, she very quietly said "I have tanks". She pulled up Bill's file and saw what tanks we had and said she could take care of him. So, off to Champaign we go. While we were headed that way, I remembered that we still didn't have a concentrator and that we would be in the same situation in a few days without one. So, when we got there I told her that and she said no problem and added a concentrator to the order. She had already generated the paperwork for the tanks. It was so refreshing to have someone who works in customer service know how to deal with a customer! We arranged to have my sister return the unit for us so that we wouldn't have to go an hour out of our way on the way home and off we went!
I still haven't heard from our supplier except for a new delivery driver this week. He restocked us Thursday, and even replaced the extra tanks, so we are a little freer to go than we would have been.
Joe called me Friday and told me that they wouldn't leave the concentrator because the shipping order said that the new one had to be unpacked and the old one put into that same box to be returned! Wouldn't have been a problem if it had been sent to the right place! So, UPS said they would deliver again Wednesday.
My high school reunion was fun and Bill did well for not knowing anyone. Several people who have kept up with us here and on Facebook were so glad to meet him and see for themselves the miracle he is. The class is already planning the next "major" one, which will be the 50th! How can that be!?!
Mom had a mini ice cream social Monday evening. My sister, brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew, great-nephew, and 2 cousins with some of their grandchildren/spouses were there. It was a pretty good time, but we made it an early night. It seemed like all were tired.
We headed home early Tuesday morning and again it was a pretty uneventful drive. Traffic was heavier than it had been on the way up, but I've see it worse. We got home about 2:30 and then I headed out to pick up Miss Kitty. We ended up taking her to the vet instead of Brianna coming to stay with her. She scratched open a sore on her neck and when the vet looked at it he wanted to keep her.
Wednesday I put the old concentrator in it's original box and took it to Joe since we had to be in Memphis. He seemed to think that the replacement unit was in a smaller box. I was afraid that one of the rechargeable units had been sent instead of the at home unit. And, for any of you who are wondering, the unit we have is an extra one that Bill keeps in the apartment to use while he's on his treadmill. We have another unit provided by Lincare for in the house. I told Joe that if the box didn't say Inogen at Home to just have it sent back as the wrong product.
I found out that the problem with my foot is Achilles Tendonosis. The Dr. said that I had probably injured the tendon at some point even though I didn't remember doing anything. He gave me exercises to help stretch it. He said I will probably always have the "bulge" since it is mostly scar tissue, but the exercises should help with the pain. He said if it doesn't get better there are some more aggressive treatments. I also have to have shoes that have a small wedge heel. Now, I don't like shoes anyway, so that is a big challenge to me, she says as she sits barefoot typing this! At least it doesn't mean surgery!
We both woke up with headaches this morning and the cat is sneezing. I think it's probably from this dome of air just sitting over us. We're supposed to get some rain next week so maybe that will help clear things out.
That's it for this time. Hopefully I remembered everything that happened. I'll see you next week!
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