Medical Transport Services

In this new world of Covid-19 restrictions, those involved with making arrangements for medical procedures, don’t always take in to account every possible situation nor can they, so one needs to asks lots of questions if you don’t fit the usual and customary model, that being a person living with close family, driving a typical car.

For example I am having my second cataract done next week, as per the usual procedure, they require I have a responsible adult with me during the surgery and the patient can’t drive. No problem, Nancy & I would Uber to the clinic. But now I don’t have Nancy to accompany me.

I had a couple of good friends offer to drive me to my surgery. But they are about 30 miles away and my surgery is at 7:30 am. I really didn’t want them to have to get up early, fight Houston traffic and then not be able to even wait in the clinic, because they don’t allow anyone but patients now inside. Luckily, I had looked into this as a back up plan even before the Covid stuff and Nancy’s passing, just in case she was admitted to the hospital just prior to my surgery, or if she just was to weak to go with me to the surgery as the responsible adult.

I was given the name of a medical transport company, AmeraSolutions, this is the take away for any solo travelers. They are an International Medical Coordination and Transportation company. They have CNAs who are licensed to pick you up, transport you, sign you in and out of surgery and then drive you home. A round trip Uber, which the surgery clinic won’t release me to, is $20, this service is $100, so it’s pretty reasonable. They will keep in touch with the clinic and come back and pick me up when I’m ready to go home. Amerasolutions was very easy to work with, they asked all the questions and took care of all the details over the phone. Then I made a reservation back at So Main RV Park in Houston for the night before and the day of surgery. I have a post-op appointment the morning after surgery and then I’ll head back to Livingston in the truck camper.  

I appreciate Bob & Judy's offer, but I'm all set and instead we'll get together another time socially instead.

So I thought I had handled all the details when I received a phone call from the clinic and was informed that I would need to be tested for Covid three days before my surgery and then remain quarantined until my surgery. Okay that sounds pretty simple, until they told me the test would be done at a drive through testing site and I told them that my everyday driver is a truck with a camper and I need over 8 feet 4 inches of clearance. Hold please, was the response. A few minutes later the person came back and said, no problem we have a location for oversize vehicles and we think it has enough clearance for your truck, just get there a little early in case there is a problem. They may have to bring the testing supplies out to you. So Monday should be interesting.

Here is the info for the transport company:

Amerasolutions

855-263-7215

www.amerasolutions.com

I'll let you know how the testing, transport and surgery went next time. 

Tight Lines and Safe Travels,

Larry

A Little History and a peek into the future

In 1998 at age 43, we quit our jobs in healthcare and hit the road. We traveled and camped in  46 of the 48  lower United States, the west coast & Baja of Mexico as well as Eastern and Central Canada. We earned a living as workampers, selling Christmas trees, Wagon Masters for a Caravan company and independent sales representatives for a Campground site map company called AGS.

We began our adventure in a 21 foot class C motorhome, gradually moving to a 27 foot class A, then a 32 foot class A and finally a 40 foot diesel pusher towing a F150, 4x4, with a small pop-up truck camper installed in the truck's bed. We were living our dream. Like anyone we had minor hurdles which we either went over or around. In 2006 my wife was diagnosed with her first of three blood cancers, but did not require treatment. In 2015 she required treatment so we lived in our motorhome while she went through 7 1/2 months of treatment and eventually remission in 2016. We continued our work and travels and finally retired in the winter of 2018 when she was diagnosed with her second blood cancer. We continued to live in our motorhome as she went through treatment again, until she finally lost her cancer battle with a third blood cancer in the spring of 2020, when she passed away from leukemia at MD Anderson. She was an hiker, rock climber, canoeist, fly fisherwoman, artist and my best friend.

My story begins here, as I transition to a solo full-time RVer. I left Houston about a month after she passed, but the Covid-19 restrictions limited my travel. So, like many full-time RVers I decided to find a place to hunker down, and settled in about 90 miles north of Houston. I need to complete some dental work as well as get my second cataract surgery done, the first eye was done before the Cover-19 restrictions, and then I will leave Texas.

I am keeping my current setup, the diesel pusher and the F150 with the pop up truck camper. I am slowly making changes to each rig to better accommodate my new solo life. I donated much of my wife's clothing to a shelter, but I kept a number of her things which I plan to give to friends, family and some will become keepsakes.

The diesel pusher tows the F150 with the truck camper very easily, and will be my home. The truck camper, which we named Enzo, is my camper and overland vehicle. My current plan is to use the motorhome as my base and Enzo as my Trout Bum camper. The motorhome doesn't leave the pavement, while Enzo is equipped to travel off-road to each and every Trout stream, river, or alpine lake I can find. My goal once I leave Texas is to become a first class Trout Bum. Secondary activities will be hiking, visiting friends & family as well as the usual RV sightseeing activities. At times I will live in the motorhome and other times I may park it or store it and take off in Enzo for weeks or even months at a time. I'm very comfortable in either setup.

So follow my journey both as I become more adept at being a solo RVer and as I travel this great country of ours.

Tight lines