Seattle - top sleep doc + top DME provider?

I'm interested in learning from others located in Seattle as to who you consider to be the best sleep doc. The sleep doc I've been going to, Dr. Pascualy, is spending more time traveling the country as a speaker on sleep medicine. Hence, I've been seeing the Physician Assistant in Pascualy's clinic. Nice guy, but I don't think he knows how to read the data on the SD card.

Is there such a thing as a good DME provider? It seems that every one of them gets mixed reviews. I'd still be interested in knowing if there is a particular person you'd recommend at a Greater Seattle DME provider who is just the best at what they do in sleep therapy.

Thanks.

Chuck

Hi Chuck! I go to William DePaso at Virginia Mason. I went to the sleep clinic at the main hospital.

I like DePaso because he actually LIKES it that I know my own data and am very proactive in my own care. I haven't seen him in over a year now because I'm doing fine. He was very supportive of my trying some different meds to help combat my severe claustrophobia and other adjustment issues, and continued to be very supportive and gave suggestions for things to try. At first he was a bit surprised at how proactive I was, but he quickly adjusted and was happy that I was so determined to make it all work and gave suggestions of what to look for re pressures, leaks, etc.

The hospital also has a DME right there and it is GREAT. I think they're just part of the hospital. They only carry top-of-the-line full data machines and both the RTs I've worked with there are very good and very responsive. For a very brief time I tried using Apria in Redmond and it was MISERABLE so I quickly went back to the DME at Virginia Mason. They don't always carry every mask I want to try, and the one fault I have with them is that they seem to only carry ResMed masks, but that's OK since I seem to usually end up liking one (I am currently in love with the Bella loops). Given the consistent good service and support, this is a small price to pay in my opinion. One example: this week I realized I needed more pillows so I sent an early email asking if they could be at the sleep center's front desk by 8:30 a.m. I got a phone text at 7:30 saying they were ready so I could stop by and pick them up between other appointments.

No one there told me how to change my own settings (I learned that here by getting the manual), but when I told DePaso I was doing that, he was very supportive and encouraging.

The turnaround time from first appointment with DePaso to first sleep study was a couple days; titration study was a couple days after that and I left that day with a ResMed S9 Autoset and climateline hose. All together, it was about a week from first appointment through having the machine.

Considering how bad I was when I started on xpap, and how clueless I was (I didn't find this board until I had my machine), I'm glad I chose them because I got a great machine and solid support without any of the hassle that so many have to go through.

But then again, I've found this level of customer service throughout the Virginia Mason system, so it isn't surprising that the sleep center is also very customer service oriented. But this is just my experience, YMMV.


Weezy

I would have to agree with the praise for Virginia Mason. They are not my DME, and I do not live near Seattle, but I have had interactions with them and they really do care about the patients. I would recommend that you visit them and see for yourself. Tell them Pad A Cheek says Hi.

Karen

I have seen Dr Chang at the Polyclinic. I don't have anything to compare him too, no complaints since he diagnosed me last summer. He doesn't seem to take the accuracy of the data from a cpap that seriously which I am actually growing to agree with the longer I have been on cpap. I have noticed days where my #s where over 5 and I felt great and vice versa. So I barely even bother checking data anymore. He just wants to make sure I use the machine and feel better and I do both. I will say that he doesn't seem to favor surgery and he also doesn't believe in sleep meds. I am wondering what makes a sleep doc good or bad. Seems like they have a pretty easy job frankly. Send you to sleep study... put you on CPAP, mission complete.

Oh one other thing that is a positive that I forgot to mention was they were going to give me a basic machine and any mask I wanted for free. I could afford to buy all my gear online so I didn't take them up on the offer but it's nice to see this is an option for folks who can't afford treatment.

soundersfootballclub wrote:I have seen Dr Chang at the Polyclinic. I don't have anything to compare him too, no complaints since he diagnosed me last summer. He doesn't seem to take the accuracy of the data from a cpap that seriously which I am actually growing to agree with the longer I have been on cpap. I have noticed days where my #s where over 5 and I felt great and vice versa. So I barely even bother checking data anymore. He just wants to make sure I use the machine and feel better and I do both. I will say that he doesn't seem to favor surgery and he also doesn't believe in sleep meds. I am wondering what makes a sleep doc good or bad. Seems like they have a pretty easy job frankly. Send you to sleep study... put you on CPAP, mission complete.

Oh one other thing that is a positive that I forgot to mention was they were going to give me a basic machine and any mask I wanted for free. I could afford to buy all my gear online so I didn't take them up on the offer but it's nice to see this is an option for folks who can't afford treatment.

A low AHI is not always an indicator of really good sleep--it just means that your apneas are being controlled. Your cpap may be accurate, but you may have other sleep issues or physical issues that impact how you feel. I was surprised to discover that even a consistently good AHI did not mean that I felt energetic or good, so I got a Zeo and discovered that my sleep was very fragmented and I was getting almost no REM or deep sleep. Once I knew that, I could begin to deal with those issues in order to improve my sleep overall.

I'm not pushing a Zeo or anything like that....just want to let you know that sometimes treating and controlling apnea is just the first step in improving sleep and feeling better. It's like unpeeling an onion--get rid of one layer and there's another. So if your numbers are good, you may want to consider exploring other things that may or may not be sleep related to find out why you're not feeling better.

Weezy

Weezy I do feel better now that I am on CPAP.

I am new to this, less than 2 weeks with my machine. But I had a great experience with my sleep study at St, Francis in Federal Way. My sleep doctor is Dr David Brown at Federal Way Neurology and Headache Clinic, which is part of St. Francis. I have only been to him once so far, My followup is in June. But I was very happy with my appointment. He showed me the detailed graphs from my study and explained them. They have their own DME, but I told him I planned to go teh same one as my mom which is only 10 minutes from me in Kent. Performance Home Medical.

The doctor's office faxed the info for me. I had my doctor appointment Thursday afternoon. The DME called Friday morning to tell me they had the info and it would take 24-48 hours to do the insurance verification process. They called again 2 hours later to tell me that was done, and they scheduled my appointment for Monday. When I arrived, they had my machine all ready for me. It is a Resmed S9 as my doctor wants to be able to review the data. I told the person helping me that I really liked the mask I used at the sleep study. I showed him a picture of the Quattro FX as I had found it online, and it looked the same. He measured me and came back with that mask, which I really like.

I have been very happy with the experience, and my mom is going to see if she can get a new sleep study with same lab and doctor. She used to go to a place in Burien, and she didn't like it. My neighbors also both use machines. They disliked the place in Burien, and they also go to Performance Home Medical and like it.

I've only been to one sleep doc, but I consider myself a fairly sophisticated consumer of medical care.

I like Randy Mandell of the UW Medicine system. The office where I see him is in Issaquah. I don't know if he "floats" between UW clinics or not. His office was really good about getting me on my machine lickety-split after he saw my PSG. I had my machine in hand less than two weeks after my study. Although I am apparently the only patient he has who digs into her own data (he said once I was the "most advanced patient" he'd ever had), he's okay with it and with my modest dial-winging, once he got over the shock that I figured out how to change my own settings. My last appointment I took my laptop with me to show him my data as presented in SleepyHead and asked him questions about certain trends I thought I was seeing in the data.

Speaking of PSGs, I had mine done at Harborview in Seattle. The tech administering it and doing my titration was very good, but Harborview was HORRIBLE about actually releasing the study to me. It took a month and some very unpleasant phone calls on my part (I was the unpleasant one) to get my copy.

My DME is Apria in Redmond. Most of my dealings with them have occurred after I had the very great good fortune to find this forum, so they've been okay mostly because I have been very pushy with them, but I'm not exactly turning cartwheels over them.

My auntie uses a mchaine to help her breath because she also has sleep apnea. She's very heavy and has been put on a diet by her doctor. Weight has a lot to do with it. You may want to start eating healthier so you don't have more health problems. But I think you're beautiful and I love your show.

Thanky Thanky for all this good informaiton!