Don't Like It One Bit...!

Because I don't like it I'm horrible to it...I yank it up and down steps and drag it across the stones in the yard and sometimes find myself giving it a vicious shake and telling it that's it's stupid and it's just as well I didn't have to pay for it 'cos it'd be on its way back to wherever it hailed from...

It's that new machine...the Eclipse SeQual No.3...the one I waited ages for the battery. It doesn't hold the charge for longer than a couple of hours and when I put it onto pulse to make it last longer it rattled and spat and I didn't know whether I was breathing or not...in fact there were long periods when it didn't produce any oxygen at all when it was on the pulse setting...

Malachi had told me to ask for a spare battery but the girl I spoke to thought that was a dreadful idea...Baywater would have given me a spare as a matter of course according to Malachi...he was gob-smacked when I said British Oxygen wouldn't.

It takes a good three hours to recharge the battery so I can't use the silly machine outside in the garden while it's recharging 'cos of needing to be plugged into the electricity...rather defeats the object of having it in the first place...

I wouldn't mind betting that the lemon-sucking nurse deliberately went to B.O rather than Baywater because I turn up at the out-patients wearing purple nail polish...she's the one responsible for ordering oxygen and the last time I saw the Consultant I'd probably over-stated how helpful and pleasant Brendan and Malachi are to deal with...old grumpy guts was standing in a corner of the consulting room nodding away like one of those dogs people put in the parcel shelf of their cars...

Do you have any problems with deliveries etc. asked the Consultant...I do not I replied...I 'phone and ask for more ambulant oxygen and it's delivered the following day...same with the nodules and tubing...the postie hammers on the front door the day after I've asked for more please.

The grumpy one probably thought she could get her own back by sending the prescription to B.O. rather than Baywater...

It is a nuisance having to carry heavy bottles about...there's no denying that...but this portable machine is a waste of space.

[redted]

Is there any chance of you having a different model,or perhaps your consultant will let you have one from Baywater,if you tell him it is not really very good for you. Might be worth a try, good luck.

[Hidden in reply to redted]

It's just taking up space at the moment...stupid machine...I was so looking forward to being able to go out for longer and it doesn't last nearly so long as my ambulant oxygen bottles!

[O2Trees]

OHHH! Ive just replied to your painting post, thinking you'd got a much longer length of tubing (I had this when briefly on O2 24/7 when I was ill earlier in the year) and all was well. Crazy not to have a spare battery.

What a bummer these companies are - there should be a national protocol where they all supply the same. Could you telephone your consultant's secretary and explain what is happening and could they ask the nurse to change the prescription to include a spare battery as not having one is limiting your activity, which you need to keep as fit as possible? Maybe ask the lemon sucking one to do this first, and if she won't, then contact the secretary? There must be an answer to this, it really needs sorting. xxx

[Hidden in reply to O2Trees]

I'm going to ring the hospital and say I don't have a spare battery and I think this one is knackered...it isn't holding the charge for as long as it ought to...pointless 'phoning the company...I rather have the impression they either don't know and/or don't much care...

I can tackle the lemon sucking person over the 'phone...it's when I meet her face to face I have the dreadful urge to laugh...lol

[Azure_Sky]

You could complain to the hospital. They tend to jump on over officious consultants from a great height. The hospitals have their reputation to consider.

[Hidden in reply to Azure_Sky]

The Consultant is grand...it's the nurse who is the thorn in my side!

[Azure_Sky in reply to Hidden]

Ah..so you can address your requests to him instead of the lemon sucker!

[Azure_Sky in reply to Hidden]

Have you seen this Vashti? It is about Wife selling

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wife_...

I bet the lemonsucker's husband wouldn't have got much for her!

[Hidden]

What a pain - I really think that some of these nurses should spend a day trying to cope with the problems that lung patients have. It would be a real eye-opener for them! Let's hope that this can be sorted before too long. Jan xx

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I'm going to ring the hospital and sigh heavily...lol

[Offcut]

goassured.com/2012/02/sequa...

Do not know if this will help at all but worth a read.

Is the battery a li-on type or lead acid I think it looks like a li-on type so needs to be fully flat or 50% before a full charge is attempted.

Be Well

[Hidden in reply to Offcut]

Thanks for the link Offcut...I have been leaving it until it's totally flat before re-charging...it's the fact it doesn't appear to hold the charge for as long as it ought to...even using it on pulse it'll 'run out' within a couple of hours and according to the info it ought to last for at least four hours on pulse...

It doesn't much matter because I still have the ambulant oxygen tanks to use...but I was hoping the Eclipse would save me needing to carry the tanks about.

[Offcut in reply to Hidden]

get your best complaining pen out and insist on another so that you can change it over to give you more time with the machine as intended.

[Colours23]

Blimey that's why I am going to rent portable oxy when I need it,now really ,I've given up on NHS useless!!! Yea if for some reason nurse does not like you that does happen ,I ve had a terrible time arguing with t hem about my stats .if they can't control you not happy. Well I won't be treated like an idiot or a old person ,so I will go private,when I think I would not dream of a NHS for my teeth so why should I be NHS for anything else,my experience is you get treated like shit.

[Hidden in reply to Colours23]

Our health service is fine...much better I've found than the NHS but going private isn't an option for us...!

[Lolly2]

Hi Vashti,

I can relate to your description of the machine, as this is the kind I get (in France) for going on holiday, as you can fly using it. Having spent a month in UK in April/May, I actually was glad to see the back of it. It is great up and down the motorway, as long as you check it is charging while you are driving. I made a dash for a loo at one stop, and it started intermittent screaming at me to let me know it was going to run out.

I have to use the Eclipse as I cannot use pulsed oxygen. I have to say that your supplier is being very remiss not making sure you are kitted out with the extra battery and a charger to go along with it....that way you can leave the battery charging inside while you are in the garden.

We returned from holiday thinking about buying an Eclipse, until we saw the price of one! I spoke to my lung specialist on Monday, saying that the Eclipse gave me more freedom and a longer time out of the house. He has increased the number of small oxygen bottles I can have from 2 a week to 4. One of those lasts me for one long shopping trip, but means we have to have another in the car. We have guests staying this week, so I will be able to travel to the coast for a delicious fish lunch with them.

I did curse the machine while on holiday, and was black and blue around my ankles from the new areas it hit. Now I'm back to the bruises from the small bottle trolleys.

I wish you luck getting it all sorted out!

[Hidden in reply to Lolly2]

I do have a charger of course...but the battery seems unable to hold the charge for longer than a couple of hours even on pulse...think it's a dud!

[Valcopd]

Dear Vashti, forgive me if you are aware of this, on Pulse it is the IN breath that triggers a pulse. Just holding it nothing will come out. It will also set off an alarm if you fail to breathe in regularly. This is frequently mistaken for a low battery. love XX

[Hidden in reply to Valcopd]

My usual ambulant oxygen is on pulse and it works perfectly well...think it's the Eclipse which is the problem...!

[Sooki]

I have a Inogen one G2 thru Baywater with extra batteries and a charger,you need to ask your oxygen nurse to prescribe it for you,We are entitled to what's best for us not them,keep on at them,Sooki.

[Hidden in reply to Sooki]

I think it's probably a dodgy battery...lol

[DecD]

Hi, Vashti

If you can still use it whilst it is recharging, can you not attach a longer flex to (or a cheap extension lead) onto it, for in the garden ?

Take care,

Dec

[Colours23]

Blimey can't get it right,such a bloody effort ,probably. Cheap.

[Azure_Sky]

so sorry to hear you are having trouble with your new machine. I agree with you, it does sound as if the battery is faulty. I hope you can get a new one plus a spare. x