Saturday, March 5, 2011

Going Like Sixty

Going Like Sixty

Sleep Apnea Docs Mint Coin

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 01:45 PM PST

I have obstructive sleep apnea. (OSA)

I am a hoser.

Sleep Apnea

I was diagnosed at least 20 years ago. And I’ve been hooked to a machine when I sleep since then.

What a racket sleep apnea has become.

Here in Smallburg, one of the sleep apnea docs just built one of the largest medical facilities in the county – just to diagnose sleep apnea! This place is huge – and fairly plush as medical facilities go. Since 80% of Ap-nee-acks are undiagnosed this is a huge growth industry for these specialized docs and medical suppliers.

Apnea typically hits older overweight folks. Folks who are generally either:

1. Insured

2. On welfare

are usually diagnosed with sleep apnea because getting diagnosed means somebody has to cough up a boat-load of money for a sleep study. Sleep studies are done in sleep labs with sleep techs electrifying your noggin and loggin’ the data as you *cough* sleep in a strange bed, in a strange room, with strange wiring on your noodle.

It’s expensive. And that is just the beginning. Sleep apnea is treated by using a small blower to pump air up your snoot so your airways don’t collapse. Not cheap.

However! There is good news looming.  The choke hold big medical companies have on diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea may see a dramatic shift and the cost of diagnosis and treatment of OSA could plummet. {pdf}

There’s a reason why Philips paid $5 billion and a premium to buy Respironics. Sleep apnea is an enormous emerging opportunity: in the US, 38 million patients have the disease, and there are compelling clinical reasons to treat them. That’s big business for device companies, if only they can access patients and establish new referral patterns in a highly fragmented market.

Yeah, it’s a big business that needs to be cut down to size. Nothing would please me more than to see the New Giant Sleep Center be renting out space for low-income housing. When one doctor in Smallburg can build a multi-million dollar clinic by treating snoring, something is wrong.

Two things need to change:

First the gummit has to say OK to a new way to test for sleep apnea.

Check. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have approved home testing for OSA. No more staying over night at some expensive “sleep lab.”

Next a smaller, less intrusive, cheaper treatment is needed.

Check. Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, I present to you the Provent Therapy.

Yeppers, that’s it. Two little disposable thingies that stick to  my nose to prevent me from exhaling. Well not totally prevent, that would be called suffocation.

The Provent System doesn’t restrict inhaling, but it does restrict exhaling which (they say) keeps a pressure in my airways and keeps my epiglottis and trachea and lungs and rectum from collapsing.

I know a ton of people my age and younger who have sleep apnea – they snore! And I’m here to tell you, if you snore or your bed partner snores (the two-legged one) then they are not getting a restful sleep because of sleep apnea.

Ask your doctor about home testing for sleep apnea. If he doesn’t have a clue… tell him to check out the Provent Therapy home page and get educated.

I’m convinced that smart consumers of medical necessities will force drastic changes in what the big guys can charge and what the insurance companies are willing to pay.

I’m signed up for a ten-day trial. I sure hope these doo-hickies work. No more hoser!

Stay tuned. As soon as I convince my GP doc that he really needs to order these for me, I’ll be giving Provent Therapy a shot.

Warriors Die for Westboro Rights. Is Westboro Baptist Right? Wrong.

Posted: 04 Mar 2011 06:21 AM PST

Support the troops
Warriors have died and are dying precisely to protect the Westboro Baptist Church right to be rude, obnoxious, and mean.

The constitution says speech is protected (within limits) and now the Supremes have affirmed that the Westboro Baptist Church can protest near the funerals of fallen warriors.

The Supreme Court is right. Don’t prohibit the free speech, but restrict it. Across the country, right now, law makers should be introducing legislation prohibiting demonstrations – of any kind – within 1000 feet of a funeral service.

Honor our warriors who have fought to protect this basic freedom. Get mad at Westboro Baptist Church, but then swallow it.

Instead help a warrior.

Here are some unique ideas for us to honor our warriors:

Sister Soldier
Provides haircare products for black female soldiers

Air Compassion
Provides free air transportation for veterans to specialized medical treatment facilities.

America’s Vetdogs
Provides assistance dogs for disable vets. The also are deployed overseas to boost morale among the troops.

Cell Phones For Soliders
Donate your old cell phone and charger and they convert the old phones into phone cards that are given to troops overseas to call home.

My Care Crew
Start a support group via Wounded Warriors in your community.

Operation Shoebox Adopt a Troop
Send a shoe box full of goodies to connect troops to someone back home who cares.

The Pease Greeters
Citizens near Pease airport in New Hampshire make sure that every soldier in the airport is acknowledged as they pass through. Check your local airport. If there isn’t such a group. Start one.

Get even with Westboro Baptist, support as many soldiers as you can.  If not with your money with your attitude. That’s the right way to react to wrong-headed protesters.
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