Oxygen

[caseydog]

Roly, the Cloudcroft gathering is a South Central event. I have not been given an exact date for the 2011 gathering to add to the 2011 schedule, but it happens around July 4th. I'm trying to build the 2011 SC schedule thread now, so check from time-to-time, and it should be on there soon.

CD

[satch]

Gage, I'm not an expert on oxygen, since I spit out nothing but hot air!
If anyone can figure out a solution it's you. Hang in there Bro!

[godskid]

EBay has lunch box sized oxygen concentrators -- coming from China -- for about $350 including shipping. I just bought one
($335) to use overnight. I really need to talk to my doctor and get a professional US unit from insurance, but in the
meanwhile I thought I'd see if this would help. (Solution for me will probably be a CPAP with an oxygen concentrator added,
at night only.)

Anyway, the unit is the size of a lunch box -- about 4" x 10 x 8 (from memory and guessing). I have no idea of the quality
of these units, or the lifetime one can expect. They run on A/C and/or battery, and they include a car charger too. Settings
include 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or 8 hrs.
Here's a sample ebay listing ebay clicky

I tested mine with an O2 meter from my workplace. I cannot verify the "29% oxygen" claim, since my meter is only looking
for "too low for life" -- but it did peg out the meter at 22%, which is higher than normal. So it is producing something more
than straight air.

You might at least be able to tell you doctor that they do exist, in a small size. If, that is, a concentrator is able to supply enough
oxygen for you.

[Mightydog]

Gage--

I know zero about oxygen. It's great to have a resource like this forum to help. Having had problems with the whole oxygen exchange process a few years ago, I'd like to encourage you to continue doing it.

This board becomes bored without you. Post pix of the inventions you come up with to carry your oxygen around with you.

[asianflava]

I went to a sleep study this year, and even with a CPAP they found my O2 levels dropping. My doc ordered supplemental O2 at night so I use an oxygen concentrator when I sleep. It plumbs into my CPAP which is no big deal. I don't use it at lower elevations, just the CPAP.

My mother-in-law was ordered on 24/7 O2 before she passed away. She used a combination of a concentrator, tanks, and liquid O2. At home, she used the concentrator with a long tube (so she could walk around). When she left the house, she used a portable liquid pack She used the Helios system http://www.heliosoxygen.com . She used the bottles if we were gone for an extended time and for backup. Airlines won't let you fly with tanks, but we would get them from a supplier at our destination.

The concentrator plugs into the wall. It pumps air thru canisters that remove the Nitrogen, 98% Oxygen comes out. It will give you an almost infinite supply. The liquid system has a small pack that you carry around, I don't remember how long it lasts. They also put tank out in the garage, yhat you use to fill the pack. The oxygen service replaces or fills the garage tank when it runs out.

We had 2 concentrators before we left TX. One was broken but fixable, the replacement was almost new. We ended up giving them back to the Oxygen service even though we owned them outright. Who knew that we would end up needing one again.