Attached is a picture of a nasal pillow mask (vendor unknown) that worked well for my wife and allowed for great TV watching and routine letter board use.

Bi-PAP was on 23.5/24 for 2 months with this mask and was tolerated far better than a full mask.

There was never a problem with the mouth being open.

We even used it to travel 700 miles by van round trip over the mountains to a wedding.

I'm on a C-Pap at night with a different nasal mask and tolerate it very well.

Full mask made me claustrophobic and cut my nose. (Note nose bridge bandaid in the attached photo, covering cut from the full mask.)

So I wonder what our PALS think of a full mask!!

-Charlie R.

ps. I do not know whether this photo attachment will go through the list-serv. If not, I can send directly on request.

On Jun 18, 2011, at 3:00 PM, Deborah Bell wrote:

Hello all,

I sure needed your expertise yesterday. I have a new patient on my caseload with ALS who is moving toward a trach in a couple of weeks. He is wearing his bi-pap 24/7 and cannot control head movement when he does not have it on due to respiration difficulty. He cannot use his hands, could use a switch with head movement but really is going to need eye gaze so we are moving toward that also. But I could not capture his gaze with the bi-pap. We could not get the device positioned on the rolling mount or holding it up over him so that the mask did not interfere. Any experience here? I have not yet had a patient with bipap on all the time.

Deborah Bell, MA/CCC

Licensed Speech Pathologist

Santa Cruz, CA

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Charles J. Robinson, D.Sc., P.E. Fellow IEEE, Fellow AIMBE, U.N.E.S.C.O. Academician

Director, Center for Rehabilitation Engineering, Science and Technology (CREST)

Herman L. Shulman Chair Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Office CAMP 227; Clarkson University Box 5730; Potsdam, NY 13699-5730

CREST office: CAMP 125; Phone: 315-268-6528 /6651 Fax: 315-268-6654

Cell Phone 315-244-6241

Offices hours 12:30 to 5:30 PM; Mon-Fri

Email <http://us.mc812.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=xxxxxx@xxxxxxxx> or <http://us.mc812.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

http://www.clarkson.edu/crest

Senior Rehabilitation Research Career Scientist

DUTY STATION: VA Potsdam Satellite Rehabilitation R&D Center

3rd Floor, Clarkson Hall, Potsdam, NY 13676

Phone: 315-425-vvvv; Fax 315-425-wwww

Offices hours 7 AM to 12 noon; Mon-Fri

HOME AFFILIATION: Syracuse VA Medical Center, Research Service 151

Rm D408; 800 Irvine Ave., Syracuse, NY 13210

Phone 315-425-4400 (X53606)

Also:

Adjunct Professor, Physical Medicine & Rehab Dept, Upstate Med Univ, Syracuse, NY

Founding, but Past Editor, IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering

Member, Community Leadership Board, ALS Assoc of Upstate NY

Grand Knight, Norfolk, NY, Knights of Columbus Council 11544

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I expect to pass through this world but once.

Any good that I can do, or any kindnesses that I can show,

let me do them now, for I shall not pass this way again.

-Paraphrased from British author John Galsworthy

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