Hello, beautiful circle, my name is Rita Hesse. Three years ago, my dad, Ron Hesse, came to live with me full-time. There were many adjustments made on both sides of that equation as we worked toward a new normal... and for the most part, we have.
Dad is an incredibly kind and generous human and doesn't ask for much. As a third-generation farmer, he worked hard in the dust, fumes, and chemicals his entire life until chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) now requires him to be on oxygen 24/7, severely limiting what he is able to do these days.
What he does enjoy, though, is being outside as much as possible. He takes his portable oxygen concentrator (POC) out on the front patio to get fresh air and wave to our neighbors. The POC allows him the freedom to ride around the neighborhood on his golf cart, as well as get out in the car for rides out to the country areas of his youth.
Which brings me to the reason for this page. He has been renting these machines for years, and his insurance has covered them. Both the in-home unit and the POC. He needed to change insurance providers, and with that change went the company he had been working with for over a decade. Everything became very complicated, and service quality plummeted. The portable needs servicing or replacement, but once the company finally responded to my message, the initial answer was those big rolling oxygen tanks, which I really cannot fathom Dad hauling around on the golf cart or in the car. Meaning the already limited quality of his life would diminish further... quickly.
A portable oxygen concentrator is also Dad's only source of oxygen in the event of a power outage. A few months ago, we purchased an in-home unit (mainly so we don't need to depend on the unreliable service of this oxygen rental company), an expense that was unexpected but necessary for Dad's continued health and well-being. I would like to purchase a brand-new portable oxygen concentrator at this point. As noted, the company that we have been forced to deal with through the different insurance provider is unsatisfactory.
Sometimes it's better to go straight to the manufacturer rather than renting. Unfortunately, this is not an expense I am prepared for. It's tough to imagine with the temperatures pushing 100 degrees today, but winter and cold weather are on the horizon. Dad needs a reliable portable oxygen concentrator for the freedom it provides to get out of the house.