gigglechick.com : the blog

so, it's about quarter after 6pm on sunday evening and i am waiting for my mom's respiratory therapist to ring me back. i just had to call the surgical supply place.

no, i am not waiting on a box of scalpels to hack her up with. not yet, anyway.

the stupid oxygen concentrator that supplies my mom with the air that she needs to breathe (oh. just that. no biggie.) well, the concentrator is on the stinkin' fritz.

first the amber light went on around 4pm and the thing started going "BEEP. BEEP. BEEP." - so i shut it off and turned it back on to see if that'd fix it.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

frig. okay so i washed the filter. shut it off. turned it on.

quiet. all breathing on the western front.

10 minutes later: "BEEP.... BEEEEEEP.... BEEEEEEEP!!!!"

okay. so that hadn't worked.

i then moved it off the rug (that it's been on for the past 2 years) and onto the kitchen floor. shut it off for a few and then turned it back on.

quiet.

okay. so i went back to the couch and started watching the teevee... 10 minutes later:

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!!!"

@&#$%

okay. so, there's a little blurb that says "if the amber light is on for more than 15 minutes, call the supply company immediately"

(i'd read that from the get-go, but gigglemom thinks the place is a mess... true. it is. but let's see, the last time she thought the place was too messy, she waited a week before she let the ambulance come get her.)

so, i called the medical supply place and they said they were going to page the respiratory therapist who would call me.

it's been 10 minutes.

i mean, i guess i could keep getting up every 5 to 10 minutes throughout the night whilst that thing freaks out.... but... i really don't want to.

anyway, gigglemom is sleeping right now (actually i turned the machine off, i probably should turn it back on)

if worse comes to worst we've got the portable tanks, but they only last between 1.5 and 2 hours. and she has a doctor's appointment on tuesday that we need 2 for. (she only has 8 portables total)

and yes, the place is a mess. i swear that since she came home the house deteriorated from the slightly picked up version i'd had when she was in the rehab.)