CPAP and Company #1

Little did we know, but one of our biggest hurdles in starting this journey was the fact that hubby uses a cpap machine. Boy did I feel guilty when I realized it might keep him from getting a job!! The only reason he had the testing done and got the machine was because I couldn't stand his snoring anymore!!! I mean all I wanted was a little sleep now and then. Sheesh.

Well hubby went off to orientation with company number one. Truthfully the entire experience with this company was absolutely horrible!! The hotel room was a dive with graffitti inside the drawers and the lampshades and patched holes in the walls. The company treated them like cattle and kept changing their story along the way. It was a prime example of all the bad things you hear about orientation.

Our biggest issue was that hubby passed everything with flying colors. We just had a couple of medical issues to clear up. Issues that he told them about before he went to orientation. He brought the paperwork with him. We were prepared.... Well the doc that did the physical was a real jerk. He asked what setting the cpap was on, was annoyed that hubby didn't have the exact dosage of his medication memorized and was just an overall jerk.

At the end of the week the company said that all they needed was a release from his doctors. Thus began the endless phone calls. I called the doctors, told them what we needed, they faxed it, then the company would say it wasn't good enough. Then they'd tell us what else it had to say. It was absolutely ridiculous. In hindsight, it's pretty clear that they never intended to hire hubby, but instead of telling us that, they made us jump through hoops for two weeks!!

Bottom line - the company wanted the doctors to write releases that stated there were absolutely no restrictions. Doctors don't want to write something like that because they don't want to get sued. So here we were, stuck in the middle. We knew hubby could do the job. His doctor knew he was going to school and pursuing it, but it became a paperwork nightmare.

Company number 1 required hubby to quit his current job to go to orientation. So here we were. He was unemployed, we had no medical benefits and now we weren't sure if he'd get a job anywhere.

We started over at square 1. We called companies. We called safety departments. We asked specific questions about what would be required. We talked to the doctors.

Finally we settled on SRT. Their safety department said that he needed a sleep test every year and that was it. The doctor wrote him a prescription for a sleep test, we paid $500 for the test and had the results faxed to SRT while hubby was in orientation.

That was it. Simple. Easy. They didn't change their story. They didn't make ridiculous requests. Of course he was armed with everything we thought we would possibly need, but they didn't even ask for some of it. Since he travels into Canada, we did have to get his doctor to sign something, listing all of his prescriptions, but that was it. (Most of the prescriptions are for asthma, which was never an issue, just means he takes lots of stuff.)

So here's the scoop.

Yes, you can get a job if you use a CPAP machine.

The prevailing train of thought appears to be that you need to get a sleep test each year.

*We're coming up on his one year anniversary so the doctor has already requested it and hubby will be taking his test in a couple of weeks....Thank goodness he's on my insurance now. We won't be spending the $500 this year.