Transportation

Next month, I’m having a small surgical procedure that will hopefully help reduce the number of headaches that I have. It has to be done in the hospital in Toulouse, as they're the only place nearby equipped to do this type of thing. The hospital has a great reputation, BTW.

Still, it's two-hours from here and I need to be there at 8 am. Now, although JM could drive me, he really doesn't drive all that much and it will mean a very, very long day, i.e. getting up at 4:30 so we can both shower, etc.

Then, I'm not sure how long things will take, and here, we don't have a garden where Maggie can come and go as she pleases. We'd have to find a neighbor who was available to take her out for walks during the day, etc. So, I started thinking it makes much more sense for JM just to stay here.

But, that left me with the little problem of getting home from the hospital. Clearly, after anesthesia, I'm not going to be allowed to drive (and probably won't feel like it either).

Then, I learned one of those things that really is different here from in the U.S. If you are going for a hospitalization (and this is considered one, even if it's out-patient surgery), you are eligible for an ambulance-taxi to take you there and back. It's paid for by your medical insurance if your doctor writes you a prescription!

So, I had some other paperwork that I needed my doc to fill out today, and he filled the transportation form out as well. Then, I merely called the local taxi service, she set me the appointment and she'll come and pick me up at 6 am the morning of surgery.

I asked about getting home. She told me that if the hospital knows what time I'll be finished, she'll just come back for me. Otherwise, the hospital will call her. That's all there is to it. I don't have to pay anything, I don't think.

When I told my doc that nothing like this exists in the U.S., he seemed really surprised. "What do you do?" he asked me. Well, that is the $64,000 question, isn't it?

Ciao for now.

Randy