We had a rough couple of days, but I think we are finally out of the rut. So we have 2 suction machine for Casey. One that is a little more portable that we use during the day then another larger backup one that we keep in the bedroom and use at night. Anyway, the good one seemed like it was getting harder and harder to use. The suction just seemed to be getting so weak. After a couple of days the suction was almost none at all. Tim called and we had run out of warranty a few months prior. So he ordered a bunch of replacement parts hoping that one of them would fix it and we could find a way around having to buy a whole new machine. Then as luck would have it while we are waiting for the parts to come in another item broke. We have a pulse ox that we use to see the levels of oxygen in Casey’s blood to determine if she is having breathing troubles or not. We have only had this item for 6 months. Out of nowhere the charger stopped working. We were not sure if the machine was broke or the plug but something was making it no longer register the charge. The Casey’s nurse (who we love) called to say that she has a lot on her plate right now and that she doesn’t think she can keep watching Casey for at least a few months.
I called to get the pulse ox replaced since it was still under warranty. Rather than replacing it they wanted us to just go without for days or weeks possibly more to send it in for repairs. WHAT?!!! This is medical equipment that we paid a lot of money for. That was just not acceptable to me. I went round and round then ended up having to deal with the manufacturer instead of the retailer. The manufacturer agreed to send me a new plug to see if it could ix the problem. If it can not then he wanted me to send the item in as the retailer was suggesting.
The suction parts Tim ordered finally came in and they did not help. We had to buy a whole new machine. Luckily when we called to order the new machine they did let us return all the parts. The new one works great and we got it really quick.
The company we get nursing through sent out a nurse to interview on our nurse’s last day. She came out and spent a good 2 hours here going over everything. She seemed okay (we still did not want to loose Laura, but the new one was fine). She was set to start the next day. So the next morning the office called to say the new nurse was sick and could not come. No big deal, I would rather her stay home than risk getting Casey sick. So she was going to start on Tuesday. Then Friday we got another call from the office saying she is not going to work out after all. She was driving in from Marble Falls and decided the drive was just too much. I was not really surprised by that. I would not be able to do that drive and was shocked when the office told us about her drive to begin with. Tomorrow morning we have another nurse coming out to interview/orientate. Hopefully this one works out. She lives MUCH closer so at least we have the drive factor removed. Now we just have to see if her skills and personality are a good match for Casey.
We got the new plug for the pulse ox on Friday. It worked!!!! Thank goodness. I need to pack up and send back the bad one. This weekend has been going much better. We have gotten a lot of stuff done around the house and we are looking forward to meeting a new nurse tomorrow. I think the little storm cloud has finally blown past.
Casey has an ENT appointment and a Halloween party. I will post updates and pictures later this week. As always we hope everyone is doing well.