Portable Oxygen Nightmares

After fighting with the ER staff for five hours, I just want to go home, get my O2 concentrator set up, and collapse into bed. Nope. Not going to be that easy.

There's no one waiting for us at our house when we get there. Dale's absolutely exhausted, so I send him to bed while I wait. And wait. And wait.

When I've waited about an hour, I call the phone number that the hospital gave me for Alpine Home Medical. I reach their answering service but tell them I'm waiting for a delivery, so they connect me directly to him.

He's in Riverton, heading to our house; but it will take another 30-45 minutes to arrive.

Aaaarrrrrggggghhhh! Really? It's 4:00 a.m. I was told you'd be waiting for us? There's nothing I can do now but sit and wait some more.

He arrives in about 35 minutes as promised and quickly unloads the concentrator and sets it up. Where's the connection piece that I need for my BiPAP machine? Oh, he wasn't told I needed one (even though I was there in the hospital listening to them give the orders for it), so he'll have to bring one in the morning. That doesn't really help me tonight, but at least I'll get the oxygen I need.

After learning that I got rid of supplemental oxygen about six months ago (it was only that brief of a break I got from it? Darn!), he hurries through all of the paperwork. Do I need portable oxygen? No, I just need it at night, so the concentrator will work great.

He's pretty efficient and gone about 15 minutes later.

Whew! Time for bed!!!!

The next morning, a different driver for Alpine Home Medical brings by a connection piece that I need. Yay! We're in business. Or are we?

Late morning or early afternoon, I realize that I'm struggling to breathe even while sitting quietly at home. Crud! Not only do I need supplemental oxygen while I sleep, it looks like I'm going to need portable oxygen so that I can have it 24/7 as I go to work and church and run errands.

I call Alpine Home Medical's answering service again and tell them I need to speak with their delivery person. It's the same person that delivered the concentrator early this morning, but now he's decided that he doesn't want to do his job. At least, that's my only explanation for what ensues.

After a LOT of going back and forth between me and this man, a couple things are evident. 1) calling to arrange the delivery of portable oxygen isn't going to be the easy thing I thought it would be and 2) this guy doesn't want to come to my house today under any circumstances.

First I'm told that he can't just deliver oxygen tanks. They have to be on the order they received from the hospital. Luckily, I had called the ER department before I spoke with him; and Luke assured me that the order would cover portable oxygen as well. Not true, according to Mr. I-don't-want-to-work-on-a-Saturday.

So I have to give the delivery guy Luke's phone number so that Alpine can get the order they need. Whew! That's squared away. Then, I get another call from Alpine. He won't deliver portable oxygen tanks on a Saturday. Period. That's their company policy. Why the heck didn't you tell me that before we wasted all that time getting the order then?

If I knew I needed portable oxygen, why didn't I mention that earlier this morning when he delivered the concentrator? I didn't know that I needed it then, but I know it now. They delivered the concentrator on Saturday. Why can't they deliver portable O2 tanks on a Saturday? He tells me, "Because it's not an emergency."

Well, it is critical to me. I'm supposed to play a musical number and play the organ in Sacrament Meeting tomorrow and teach a Relief Society lesson. That's pretty hard to do when you feel like you're going to pass out because you're not getting enough oxygen. Plus, I need to go to work on Monday. How am I going to do all of that without portable oxygen tanks?

Finally, he acquiesces and agrees to bring the O2 tanks much later that evening. I don't care what time they arrive, as long as I have them for Sunday, so I'm good.

Then, I make the mistake of asking him to bring a conserving regulator for the tanks. It's a device that doesn't permit oxygen to escape from the tanks constantly but releases oxygen only when you inhale. That way, each tank lasts longer and I don't have to haul as many tanks to work.

Now the real trouble starts. He informs me "There's no way that you're getting a regulator today. Just give up on that idea. Even when I bring your tanks, I'm not going to bring you a regulator."

What's the problem? I've had oxygen before. I've never had to ask for the conserving device. In fact, the delivery people offered it to me. What in the world? Where is this attitude coming from? I'm the customer. You're in a very customer-oriented field, but you're giving me this crap?

Apparently, I need a specific order for the conserving regulator. "Okay. You've obviously talked to Luke and he got you the order you needed before. Can you call him again and ask him to add a regulator to the order? Do you really need me to play go-between for you? What's the problem? I can tell that you don't want to do your job on a Saturday. I understand that. I wouldn't be necessarily thrilled with the idea either, but it's your job! You're on call. It's up to you to be pleasant. It wasn't my choice that my lungs decided to give out on a Saturday. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience that you're having to go through. What about my inconvenience as the customer who's dealing with cancer for the fourth freaking time, chemo for the fifth time, lungs that are failing from the first time, and a whole slew of other affects? What about me? What about the person you're serving that you're supposed to be making life easier for?"

"Well, things have changed with the state and local laws in the past six months," I'm brusquely informed. "You can't just snap your fingers, write a list of things you want, and expect that I'll jump and deliver them."

He reluctantly agrees to call Luke to add a regulator to the order. However, he won't bring me one today. Instead, I have to wait for a respiratory therapist to come to my house and validate the settings on it before they'll give me one. "And they work only on weekdays. There's no way you're getting one today" is his parting, triumphant revelation.

Really? That's how you want to treat your customers? I've had it. I get on the phone with two other home medical companies. Even though they are both usually closed on Saturdays, they are happy to deliver portable oxygen tanks and a conserving regulator if they can get a copy of the order from Luke. And, they're both willing to call Luke and get that order faxed to them.

After figuring out which company is accepted by our insurance, I call Luke to thank him for all of his patience with taking phone calls today and helping me get the order I needed. When I mention that I'm going to switch companies, he's not surprised. "In fact, that guy from Alpine was complaining to me over the phone about you."

What? He told Luke that he'd already been to my house three times today. That I was the most demanding person he'd ever met, and that I would never be happy with their service.

Really? I just want some portable oxygen tanks and a conserving regulator. That's not hard, demanding, or difficult. His first statement is a blatant lie and his second statement, also a lie, should never be shared by professionals about their customers.

My experience with Petersen Medical, in Orem, could not be more different. Zach was happy to come and make a delivery, even staying a little extra time to make sure everything was set up the way I wanted it in our spare bedroom.

Thank you, for people that want to do their job, that make working with them easier when you're in a critical state and need them!

Alpine's main office manager got a terse, but truthful accounting from me on Monday about why I would no longer be using their services and why I needed them to come pick up their equipment.