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A couple of weeks ago, the doc put my wife on oxygen, day and night. We still have more tests to do, but it is looking like this may be a long term thing.

Medicare will pay for rental of a big home oxygen concentrator, and for tanks of oxygen delivered to our home. The tanks that are small enough to carry don't last long, and that seriously restricts how far she can go. Trips to visit her Mom, 2 1/2 hours away, are just not manageable. So the solution seems to be a battery powered portable concentrator which Medicare won't pay for.

Chinese concentrators are available on eBay, but they only output 29% oxygen, vs. the 90-95% most concentrators put out.

Does anybody have any useful knowledge to impart, and ideas on where to get the best deal on a good concentrator? I'm seeing $2600 or so, which seems absurd, given the manufacturing cost.

I wish I could be of help denton, have you asked other places?

Hello Denton, and I am sorry to hear that your wife is ill to the point where she will need to use supplementary 02. I am no expert but have some personal experience to share. I sleep with CPAP and when at high altitude use a concentrator in line with it in efforts to stay ahead of deficits. A portable conc unit can greatly reduce some of the hassles with 02 bottles large and small while traveling, The core power is battery - those are being improved constantly - and the powering/charging unit can be driven directly by 12v in a vehicle and with 120 AC through a converter that comes wit the unit.

The two key issues seem to be weight and batter sustenance. In 2017 the best units seem to be getting lighter and some come with a back pack that can help with tiredness and strain when ambulatory. The better setups seem to come with two batteries (maybe even more) and it seems that a user can get as much as 7 or 8 hours of continuous batter power by using one battery after another. For certain, the draw down on the battery will be affected by the setting for 02 demand from the concentrator. Some folks need a higher 02 supply than others.

Most seem to have good tech features - sensors for demand/breathing pattern, warnings for low batt, etc. And the best ones seem to be able to take some jostling and banging without problems. Most brands have excellent brochures showing lots of stuff and that all seems to be on line. If your have the doctor prescription and Medicare or other insurance that will help, I would suggest contact with the local Lincare or similar med equipment outfit. Some of the rental companies seem to not like to deal with portable concentrators - am thinking that, due to cost, their profit margin may be low - but Medicare will force them to provide if the doc says it must be done. Those suppliers do know how to get stuff done quickly and clear away a lot of the insurance-related issues - but sometimes they need external motivation.

I sure hope this works as well as possible for you and your wife.

I work around portable 02 concentrators some. The smaller they are, the sooner they break down, usually right after the warranty runs out. Hence, the shorter the warranty, the sooner they break down, like clockwork. The ones that seem to work the best and require little maintenance, are about the size of a 12 pack of can beer, best size as I can describe, and can be used with a shoulder strap, though a little heavy, or on a luggage type stroller on 2 wheels. Can be plugged into a 12v car plug and recharged that way while running as well.
The one I'm specifically thinking of is a German manufacture I believe. I can tell you the name when I get back to the office tomorrow.

I can't offer advice, but I can say that Claudia and I are aggrieved at this news. Keep us all posted, please.

Yes, I used to deliver DME (durable medical equipment). It's not going to be cheap to get the concentrated (90%+) O2. I used to work for this company 10 years ago and they didn't do liquid O2 at that time but they might now: https://bellevuehealthcare.com/

They don't have anything in UT but do in some bordering states. You might want to contact other DME providers, I believe Apria is nationwide. Generally, you should get a cash discount if not going through insurance. Also, despite the high cost of outright purchase, it may be better to rent on a monthly basis from a DME provider, both financially spreading the cost over time AND because if something goes wrong they'll come out in the middle of the night if needed to repair/replace.

Like I said, it's been ten years for me but PM if you have further questions.

No that it answers your question, but the average concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere is roughly 21.5%.

Been out of the business for a while, but I believe you can also get small Liquid systems, small enough to carry and that you can refill from a 40 gallon liquid container that you keep at home.
Standard medical Liquid O2 is 99.5% or better.

Sorry, oxygen in atmosphere is 20.8%, whatever the apparatus produces is up to device.

OK I googled, and found it--- its Respironics Evergo Portable Concentrator. I think they were originally made by Vienna Med. But now its by Phillips.

My wife was on oxygen, when we traveled, I just loaded the concentrator into vehicle and took it with us. We had an attachment to the concentrator so we could fill portable bottles, I took that too. The concentrator is a bit on the heavy side but I could lift it into our Jeep Liberty without any problems. She would use the portable bottles while we traveled, then once I had everything set up, she went back on the machine. FWIW, we were dealing with Apria in Monroeville, Pa. they were good folks to deal with.

BTW, I'm a 56 year old desk jockey, not a weight lifter.

Dale

The concentrator unit was the size and weight of a decent sized (wife packed) suitcase and had casters so it rolled pretty easy. The filler unit was smaller and lighter.

10 years ago, my mother in law had a liquid O2 system. 2 years ago, when my wife went on oxygen, Apria said they didn't use liquid anymore. I've no idea if that is industry wide or just them.

Dale

Yeah, I retired in April of 07 and have been actively trying to forget everything I knew about the business. Even now, when the phone rings at night I think it's a service call.

This is good. Denton, I should have earlier mentioned the liquid 02 method - easier and less bulky than the concentrator. I bump into a guy at the gas station that lives off the grid but uses oxygen 24/7. He downloads to small bottles and carries those with the metering device. I enjoy chatting with the fellow but do not stand very close to him - because he also also smokes while using the liquid 02. Go figure.

My 87 year old mom has been on O2 for 4-5 years. At home she uses the machine. The small bottles are good for about 1 hour at 2 liters/minute which is where mom was until recently.

We have traveled with her for up to 14 hours. To be honest when sitting in the car she used to do pretty good without it. Within the last 4 months she has taken a turn for the worse though. Now bedridden and in a nursing home. The company we used was good about supplying her with up to 15-20 small bottles with advance warning for long trips. She also has a larger tank that is good for several hours in case of power outage.

We bought a small oximeter

https://www.concordhealthsupply.com/Choicemmed-Pulse-Oximeter-SpO2-Monitor-p/choice-300c.htm

to measure her O2 levels. As long as she stayed above 90% on road trips she didn't use the tanks at all. She needed them to move from the car into restaurants and such and for a few minutes after she got back into the car until her levels got back to normal. She has a sister that used to live in Dallas TX. We drove her out from GA a few years ago for a 10 day visit and she did fine. We took about a dozen small bottles, but she only used 3-4 on the whole trip. Of course after we got to Dallas she pretty much stayed in the house.

Thanks. I have an inquiry in to them.

My bad, I was way off base with that, and we all know the concentration is exactly the same, everywhere all the time. The point being that the 29% the op mentioned, is around 8% (feel free to calculate the exact percentage for the rel time local atmospheric oxygen concentration) higher than atmospheric, but a long way from 90% the Dr. has prescribed.

Concentration isn't the same anywhere, all the time.

Prescription considers the volume of "air" in each respiration.

Less volume in each respiration requires more O2 to adjust for the difference in capacity, as per "normal".

About 4 years ago my dad had to go on oxygen due to heart disease. Medicare was pretty useless, as they would only provide the big o2 cylinders. We went out and bought two concentrators...one, a Respironics EverFlo is a big wheeled unit for night use, the other is a portable Inogen One G2. The EverFlo was about $600, the Inogen closer to $2500. They both have been trouble free, but the Inogen is the real lifesaver. It works just as well as the full sized unit and I suspect that we could have been fine with it as the sole concentrator. It's very easy to transport, not loud and the battery holds a good charge.

In terms of where to buy, the online stores that deal in things like concentrators, wheelchairs and electric scooters all seem to be pretty much the same, with the only difference being how much they'll deal on price. We called around to a few until we saw that we were going to not get a better price and then went with the one that had the lowest price (since the warranty is from Inogen, it didn't seem to matter who we bought through). The dealer we used was an online place that was shipping from Las Vegas.

Personally, I wouldn't trust a Chinese knockoff for something so important. You may be able to get a used Inogen for a decent deal on eBay or Craigslist. The real Inogens are quality machines and well worth the investment.

So far the best we have done is to get the larger o2 tanks for the car, on a 2-3 setting the little ones last 1 1/2-2 hours max.

Best of wishes to your wife. o2 is a blessing in results, and a curse in application.