Need advice on transportation to medical facilities

Don Alaska said:
You must realize @Beth Gallagher that MDA is an outstanding institution and why I told you how lucky you were to be so close to them when you suffered. Not all hospitals work that well, and, like I said before, many have degraded since Obamacare was passed, and changes since have only made most things worse. I haven't had contact with the East Coast in decades, so I don't know how Florida operates. I know that the University of Florida hospitals were once great, and so were the New York area ones that @Tony Page uses were also. I have no idea how things are in Nevada and Colorado where @Cody Fousnough is getting treated. I think @Marie Mallory and @Jake Smith are going through Hell now though, and I am very sad that they cannot get the treatment they need.
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You have that right Don; it's been "hell"; can't imagine how other folks made it thru the loss. And still not sure I will make it thru this either.
 
Jake Smith said:
Yeah, I've tossed that one around over and over in my head
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Yes. The important thing is that you know what is available to you from where you live, then you can make whatever seems to be the best choice, realizing nothing is going to make everything okay again. Once you've made a choice, unless it's something that can be changed or undone, don't go back later and wish you'd made another choice, because that kind of thinking can only lead to senseless regret.
 
Ken Anderson said:
Yes. The important thing is that you know what is available to you from where you live, then you can make whatever seems to be the best choice, realizing nothing is going to make everything okay again. Once you've made a choice, unless it's something that can be changed or undone, don't go back later and wish you'd made another choice, because that kind of thinking can only lead to senseless regret.
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So true don't want anymore senseless regret for sure; enough of that over the years. The advocate for hospice came out after firing them to talk her back into it. And she told us if they would've admitted her we would've been responsible for the whole bill, they would've not paid it. So that let me know a lot about hospice, only there for seeing your love one off, not quality care while you are still alive. I've watched the nurses and doctors caring for Marie during time being admitted twice and they really care about her well being and comfort not just making a buck.

That's not to say all hospice is bad, just our experience with them was; and Marie's comfort and care, is the most important thing to me.
 
Jake Smith said:
So true don't want anymore senseless regret for sure; enough of that over the years.
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I've spent too much of my life wishing I had done things differently - I should have stayed at that job, I wish I had been paying closer attention, I should have seen this, why didn't I do that, and so on - and beating yourself up over anything that you can't go back and change is pointless self-abuse. It hurts you, and it doesn't help anyone else. Life is like triage. Start where you are, fix the things you can fix, try to make things better when you can't fix them, and ignore the stuff you can't do anything about.
 
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I've done the same, and "you're" right, but controlling the mind, to ignore certain things now is extremely hard, just dealing with what's happening with Marie is by far the hardest thing I've ever been thru, and I've been thru a bunch of stuff. I keep wondering how in the world does any spouse make it after losing their spouse? I posted about last week when Dwayne was leaving that I had the worse panic attack of my life, as he was leaving I went back and forth thru the screen door to stop him before stopping him from leaving. Made it worse thinking who's going to care for Marie? Theresa went to pick up script for her mom and Marie is asleep and I wonder around here with my mind driving me nuts, hoping to not have another attack like the one I had which I thought I was dying for over an hour.

Honestly I'm not looking for pitty or anything just the sanity of my mind. I've known quite a few spouses who don't make it who weren't together 47 years like Marie and I, and others who were that went on after losing their spouse. It's just hard to feel out of place in everything you do, and seeing this happening to her drives me insane. Thanks
 
Jake, you might consider asking for some anxiety medication for yourself. You are operating at extreme levels of anxiety which is terrible to go through. You don't have to take medication all the time, just when you feel yourself slipping into an "episode."

I never wanted to take any type of anxiety meds but when I was in treatment I was so terrified that I finally got some. It made a world of difference in calming me down. The medicine I got is called Ativan.
 
Beth Gallagher said:
Jake, you might consider asking for some anxiety medication for yourself. You are operating at extreme levels of anxiety which is terrible to go through. You don't have to take medication all the time, just when you feel yourself slipping into an "episode."

I never wanted to take any type of anxiety meds but when I was in treatment I was so terrified that I finally got some. It made a world of difference in calming me down. The medicine I got is called Ativan.
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Yes I agree, the last few days he has been taking small dose of Xanax that the doctor prescribed for him. It has helped with the anxiety. (Theresa)
 
Having once owned an ambulance company, I am still in touch with some people in the business, largely in Texas, and, while many ambulance companies do provide non-emergency transports for patients who aren't mobile, these have to be pre-approved. Medicare, Medicaid, and insurance will pay for some non-emergency transports, but the requirements and eligibility change from time to time. When kidney dialysis centers were popping up everywhere, there was a time when transports to and from dialysis centers were approved; we even transported some patients who would begin walking home if we were late picking them up. This lax policy on approvals was probably the government's way of getting dialysis centers up and running. Then, they began cracking down on that, and patients had to have a reason why they needed to be transported by ambulance, as opposed to other modes of transportation. There should be something available, but it's possible that there isn't because medical care differs from region to region.
 
Reading about all these problems Jake and Marie are having is just so frustrating to me. Here in NJ/NY area, Sloan Kettering is on top of cancer care with many satellite centers available to patients. Besides hospital Hospice groups, there are several individual Hospice agencies for every need cancer patients and their families require. That even includes taking care of the family pets. Transportation is no problem at all and as far as pharmacy issues, they co-operate with each other, making certain the patient is not without their pain medication.

Beth has MDA, a friend of mine has the Pittsburgh set-up which is similar, and Cleveland Clinic has a marvelous arrangement as well. There are many others, so, I don't know why Florida cannot get with the program and do a better job.
 
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