Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 22304 – 788:
Here’s the haps:
Back in the saddle again. Thanks to everybody for your kind words and helpful support. I either had better get crackin’ or buy some asbestos boots.
Inspiration comes from a wide variety of sources and now, realizing that I have tens of people who actually come here and read this blog I wonder if there are not some untapped resources out there. For instance, I need some real-life practical advice on a problem. When Mrs. Herb got Covid it turned into “Double Covid Pneumonia” and she has had to be on oxygen for some time and perhaps will be for some time to come. We are learning to deal with that but she is an active woman with adult ADHD and is used to going and going. She could make the Energizer Bunny look like a slot with a discharged battery most days. This has taken some of the wind out of her sails but she still wants to keep going like she did before. One of the biggest problems we seem to be having is this:
She has this fifty-foot hose that goes from the O2 concentrator and lets her travel all around the house. what happens is that a lot of time it winds up looping back on itself and getting a kink in it, similar, I guess, to a garden hose where the water supply gets cut off only it’s her air supply. No, not the eighties band, but her O2 goes down. The real problem is that, even though you straighten the kink in the line out, it seems to always want to go back that way. How do I get it to straighten out and stay straight? With all the stuff she continues to do she can’t carry around a tank all day. You know, this is the twenty-first century, someone should have fixed this in the last millennium.
Comments
33 responses to “This Problem Has Me All Hosed Up!”
Kinks seem to have increased in the 21st century. That’s called progress.
Progress schmogress, I say.
I’d say to search l’internet for a material one can use for a respirator that doesn’t kink. For the existing ones, try heating it somewhat and straightening with pipe-fix type stuff (or duct tape! ).
As a more permanent fix, is she able to get a more lightweight model of O2 dispenser she can carry around with her?
Duct tape may be a good choice, really. You kind of have to take whatever the company sends but the more portable equipment (which is like pulling teeth to get) and smaller tanks are not that much lighter, really. As far as tubing goes if you get your own they still don’t make anything really different from what she has.
My solution would be to duct tape thin wooden rods to the pipe such as gardening canes , sometimes the crazy ideas work the best lol , i hope she makes a full recovery very soon.
Thanks. I hope so too. I hadn’t thought of using something in conjunction with the duct tape. That might help where it connects to the machine.
Ask for a swivel connector that connects the nasal cannula to the oxygen hose. In addition, the O2 tubing is much like a garden hose- it only wants to roll out one way! When putting new tubing on, connect the outside end to the concentrator and unroll from the inside end. Pull out all the length straight ( just like a garden hose…)!
PS- I can never stop being a respiratory therapist…
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081S5B8PN/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_glt_fabc_TYZ6PV6EA4XZFK6VY61B
It helps in this instance.
Happy to help! I’m still a Respiratory Therapist… lol
One more thing- if Mrs. Herb’s liter flow is <4 ask for a Portable Oxygen Concentrator to go out with!
Medicaid told her they wouldn’t pay for one.
I am so 😢 sorry. Maybe an oxygen conserving device (doctor’s order) and smaller tanks?
Thanks for the tips. It gets very annoying jumping through the hoops.
I hear you loud and clear… healthcare is confusing as well as annoying. Especially when dealing with insurance…
👍. I agree with this suggestion. 🙏
Thank you! I appreciate it, especially coming from you.
You’re welcome! Thank you! 🙏
I hope it works out. Too much energy can be a good thing.
It usually is. She’s normally got to be doing something.
My Grand mother went to the Hardware store and got a light-weight spring-loaded cord retractor. She put her hose into that and it worked for years. Although I’m sure her place was much smaller than yours. but it’s an idea
More laughter means more of everything else
Others have beat me to this one, but I would also suggest duct tape right at the area that wants to kink. Even the use of popsicle sticks on the sides would work (craft sticks are the same and come in different sizes and lengths).
I really like the “splint” idea.
I have used it and it works quite good, just never used it on that kind of hose, but I’m sure it would work the same.
Well, I sure appreciate it and I plan to try it.
Scrolling back though the comments I see that someone has already suggested swivel connectors. That was my first thought. Don’t know if they can be used with your setup, but might be worth looking into. I’m so sorry she’s having such a rough time of it.
Thanks for the tip. We’re hoping this isn’t permanent but we have to treat it like it is for now.
True that!
No smart thoughts on that one that the others haven’t already suggested, but I wish her the best of health!
Thank you so much!
Hope Mrs. Herb is better now.
She is still on oxygen but some of the worst symptoms have subsided.