In case you aren't sure if you are reading this right I am talking about TUBE . . . as in inner tube, raft tube or in this case OXYGEN tube. No, I have not been rafting down river rapids in a tube, nor has Mr. D. Rather we are in close quarters in the 21 ft. RV for 2 full weeks, as of today, with the man being attached to at least 200 feet of oxygen hoses. And YES, I am talking multiple hoses, not just one!
Once again I will say that "I GET IT" . The poor guy is hooked to an oxygen hose 24/7. Not a life I would choose for myself but all things considered he does not let all this get in his way. Rather it gets in MY way. LITTERALY ! If I have fallen over the damn hoses once I have tripped on them a hundred times. It isn't too bad when we are at either of our homes because there is SPACE to move around the hose, and you can SEE the hose. Note I say HOSE . . . as in ONE hose. Not so on this trip. Because the man can not breathe without oxygen it is NECESSARY to be connected to some sort of tank or machine that gives him the added oxygen required. AND because we are on the road in Alaska where you can go for hours without seeing a town, no less a hospital, it is necessary to be prepared with plenty of O2. As a result of this we have in our tiny space 2 full size oxygen concentrators that are about the size of a mini fridge on wheels AND a small portable machine that draws oxygen from the air to give D a boost when he breaths in. This little machine is only used when he walks a very short distance. For anything else he needs the O2 from the bigger machines. He only needs one machine at a time but if one machine malfunctions he needs to have a back up. I totally agree with this and I don't have a problem with these 2 machines taking up space in the RV. In fact they fit very nicely behind the drivers seat and are able to plug in with a minimum of "trip wire". The electric chord runs across the RV behind the seats so it is sort of out of the way. Add to this the plug in for the little portable machine that he keeps on the floor NEXT to the drivers seat. That one is plugged into the cigaret lighten on the dash board along with the wire from the RV back up camera. This gives us a total of FOUR (4) electric wires crisscrossing the front of the RV cab. Now add to that the 300 feet of oxygen tubes attached to all three machines and you have a recipe for disaster every time the man says, "Hey Cathie, would you climb into the back and get me . . . (insert sandwich, water, tissue or what ever else he is in need of.) The fact that we are barreling down the bumpy, winding road at 60 miles an hour is challenge enough without the added challenge of playing Double Dutch jump rope with 3 sets of hoses.
It is wonderful that the oxygen company provides all this hose, all wrapped up in a nice tight bundle until you open the plastic bag and it springs out like a King Cobra in attack mode. Suddenly there is 25 feet of plastic hose curled up on the floor like a large green slinky. It conveniently keeps its coil so it "takes up less space" BUT because it is all coiled up it is so easy to get it wrapped around your leg, shoe, ankle or any other body part that it comes in contact with .
The "aisle" in the camper between the 2 bench seats is maybe 2 1/2 feet wide. Wide enough to walk through when the camper is stationary and the hoses are coiled up on the seats. (Note I say, "HOSES" plural. ALL THREE oxygen machines have equal lengths of hose attached so that no matter which one the man is attached to he can get in and out of the RV to pump gas or help hook up the electric and water when we stop for the night." ). BUT . . . if we are hurling down the road and I need to climb out of my seat and get into the living space I almost ALWAYS find myself wrapped up in the octopus like mass of O2 tubes. I'm forever getting about 2 steps in before I feel the tug on my leg that signals the attack of the hoses. It takes me 10 minutes to untangle myself before I can move on with my mission.
But the absolute worst is in the middle of the night when the bench seats are folded down for sleep and there is only about 8 inches between the beds. I wake up and lay there deciding just how badly I have to pee. Is it really worth the battle of the hoses? Yup, got to go so I SLOWLY swing my feet onto the floor and feel around with my toes to see just where the attack hose is hiding. Sometimes I luck out and find it right away so I can grab it and place it up on top of the man but then there are those other times when either my brain is not fully awake or the hose is lying in wait to attack. I slide my feet slowly forward, feeling no resistance so I move forward and WHAM, I'm brought to a screeching stop tangled beyond belief in the dark and having to pee like a race horse.
At this point I am tempted to grab the hose and wrap it around the sleeping man's neck. So far I have resisted this urge. And so I sit, untangle from the mass of hoses and move on with my mission knowing full well that I have yet to return to the bed without killing myself.
Come morning the man wakes up fully rested and can't understand why I am still so tired. I'd rather her wrestling alligators. At least you can see them!
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