Be Prepared
Just wanted to throw this suggestion out there if it hasn't been brought up before. But, after Monday's wild goose chase . . . I wanted to share what I think most of us would want to consider in readying for that unforeseen "emergency" we've all faced at one time or another . . . whether as patient or caregiver.
Long ago when Terry was suffering from one serious affliction or another, and now with this lymphoma . . . we . . . I, I guess, decided to shove our essentials into a large suitcase with everything from comfortable clothing to clean unmentionables and keep it in the trunk of my makeshift "ambulance" I seem to find myself driving in the middle of the night sometimes. I also have a bag of snacks and one with toiletries I keep in our closet, all ready to throw into that larger luggage, should we need to leave in a hurry. That stuff doesn't really keep well in a hot or cold trunk of a car, so I just keep those things packed in the house. All I have to do is grab some cash (for bottled water, or cafeteria meals), our digital photo frame (which gives us a piece of our family to take with us) . . . . and all is ready for that overnight, or week-long stay. It's sort of like that bag everyone packs when they're expecting a baby, you know?
Just thought this planning may save some of you that burden of having to grab things at the last minute, in a hurry, or have to make all those unnecessary trips back and forth to wherever you live, or asking someone to pick this or that up and bring it to the hospital.
It's come in handy for us a few times now. Hope it helps someone else with the same challenges.
Dawn
Comments
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Go-bag
In the CIA it's called a go-bag.
Good idea there, good idea everywhere.
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CIA??? Now, Max, would youGo-bag
In the CIA it's called a go-bag.
Good idea there, good idea everywhere.
CIA??? Now, Max, would you be speaking from personal experience with those folks or is this morsel of information something you read about? You ARE an interesting fellow, I will admit; but I never would have guessed you to be a secret agent.
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EarthQuakes!!!
Evarista, we also need to have lots of water on hand, medications at the ready, and all those extra pet supplies. And now here in California it's not just for earthquakes but seasonal fires. My son came a month early so I never did have a hospital bag prepared. Remember my then husband trying to get one ready as I moaned in pain.
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Of course notunknown said:CIA??? Now, Max, would you
CIA??? Now, Max, would you be speaking from personal experience with those folks or is this morsel of information something you read about? You ARE an interesting fellow, I will admit; but I never would have guessed you to be a secret agent.
I did years in fast attack submarine ops, but even if I denied "other work," who would believe it one way or another ?
I got the term from my favorite shows: The Amerikans, Blacklist, and Person of Interest (I walk and move like 'Harold' in that show). Jack, on the series 24, also used go bags frequently. So I have plausible deniability.....
As you can see, most of my TV comes from Netflicks. [ Most of my news from Fox, most of my clothes from Goodwill
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HugoEvarista said:"Earthquake preparedness"
What Californians call it
You only have to not be ready once!I was in Charleston for Hurrican Hugo (1989). We had no electricity for 11 days. A cousin in a remote area had no electricity for 22 days, and he had well water only (no electricity to run the pump). No stores open for days, National Guard prohibited return to the coastal islands, and patrolled downtown Charleston. Power crews from all over the east coast of the US; an Ohip crew got our lights back on.
The day after HUGO, the only radio station we could get was WAPE, Jacksonville, FL ('The APE Man'). One TV station could transmit audio; most TV towers were blown down. The skies were crystal clear, no wind. And the humidity was probably 80%.
If an EMP were to take out the power grid, the people in the highrises, like NYC, would (in my opinion) likely starve to death. If they did not starve, there would be food riots, mass violence, anarchy. How would a disabled person get down from a 40th floor apartment with no elevator ? It would be like the 2011 Matt Damon movie, Contagion .
Why would someone live there ?
max
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You are hilarious!Of course not
I did years in fast attack submarine ops, but even if I denied "other work," who would believe it one way or another ?
I got the term from my favorite shows: The Amerikans, Blacklist, and Person of Interest (I walk and move like 'Harold' in that show). Jack, on the series 24, also used go bags frequently. So I have plausible deniability.....
As you can see, most of my TV comes from Netflicks. [ Most of my news from Fox, most of my clothes from Goodwill
]You are hilarious!
Here I thought I had connected with a "special ops" contact.
My kids have been after us to start watching the "Amerikans" series. They say it's top notch. Will have to check it out, for sure, now. Person of Interest was one of our favorites and "24" was pretty good. So, I guess my emergency bag wasn't as much an original idea as I thought it was. HOWEVER, I'll wager the contents of mine are far more interesting than anyone else's. You should see how huge it has become. With each hospital stay and each rush to the ER that turns into a hospital stay . . . we've learned what we "NEED" to survive the horrors of that facility. Soft tissues are a definite MUST, as are the Cottonelle "wipes" (wink, wink) . . . and the clean undergarments, socks, pillow and of course my make-up and hair products that give me that confidence I've learned I need to converse with those doctors who think they know everything but know NOTHING about my Terry.
I, in contrast to your admission . . . reserve my news sources and where I purchase the "runway" fashions I wear.
Hugs,
Dawn
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EXCELLENT point!Evarista said:"Earthquake preparedness"
What Californians call it
You only have to not be ready once!EXCELLENT point! Refer to my response to Max. Here in the heartland . . . in the midst of all that is Terry's "close calls" (and mine) . . . I have lived through the horror of not packing those Cottonelle wipes! Never again!
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Illeadyesyes2 said:EarthQuakes!!!
Evarista, we also need to have lots of water on hand, medications at the ready, and all those extra pet supplies. And now here in California it's not just for earthquakes but seasonal fires. My son came a month early so I never did have a hospital bag prepared. Remember my then husband trying to get one ready as I moaned in pain.
yes yes,
You omitted to mention the mud slides....
Illead lives in Yuba City, above Sacramento. About two years ago, when the dam spillway washed out, they were under evac warning, in case the town were about to get washed away.... (Lake was flooding over due to excessive mountain snows melting; the previous year, officials were discussing depopulating the state to address massive drought)
Reminds me of the old Navy joke:
"Captain, the good news is that the fire is out. The bad news is that the flooding put out the fire."
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Not too long ago
More on the emergency bag . . .
Not too long ago, after Terry's last surgery . . . he had developed a nasty infection. I hadn't had time to ready that stupid suitcase, so we took off without one. Sure enough, just when you AREN'T prepared, you wish to heaven you had been. I had to leave the Urgent Care facility to go home and grab things in a mad rush . . . . did the pedal to the metal thing again to go home but when I tried to get back to the Urgent Care place, there had been a traffic accident in the short time I was gone, on the only road I was familiar with to get back. I, not only, was throwing crap into a bag we didn't even really need before I left the house but then had to frantically try and get back before they transported Terry to the hospital. I was crying on the phone with them, with a nurse trying to figure out where in the "H" I was and give me directions. She kept saying that if I could make it back in time, I could drive him to the hospital myself and they wouldn't need the ambulance. So, that only added to the stress. I made it back in time but we were left with a bag full of nonsense and a few less brain cells because of all the chaos.
NEVER AGAIN. So now, even though that thing is huge and extremely heavy . . . all I have to do is pop those cosmetics and snacks that are packed in "pods" into that larger bag, grab Terry's special pillow and some cash . . . and, oh . . . of course that electronic photo frame we treasure whilst staring out the window of our hospital room watching the nurses and docs shove medicine into Terry.
Ah, yes . . . the wonders of serious illness.
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Memories
Yep, that was one crazy experience. We threw our evacuation kits in the truck, hooked up to our 5th wheel and headed out to a complete stop. Hiway 99 was a literal parking lot 2/3 of the way to Sac. We ended up spending the first nite on the street in front of the home of a friend of a friend. Our friend still laughs at opening the door to our 5th wheel and seeing a pineapple, roll of toilet paper, and about 1/4 of a bottle of bourbon thrown on the floor. He didn't complain when we shared the bourbon with him though, and it sure tasted good. The next day we found a beautiful RV park, so we dubbed it our evacucation.
Cheers,
Becky
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Our kind of folks, for sure,illead said:Memories
Yep, that was one crazy experience. We threw our evacuation kits in the truck, hooked up to our 5th wheel and headed out to a complete stop. Hiway 99 was a literal parking lot 2/3 of the way to Sac. We ended up spending the first nite on the street in front of the home of a friend of a friend. Our friend still laughs at opening the door to our 5th wheel and seeing a pineapple, roll of toilet paper, and about 1/4 of a bottle of bourbon thrown on the floor. He didn't complain when we shared the bourbon with him though, and it sure tasted good. The next day we found a beautiful RV park, so we dubbed it our evacucation.
Cheers,
Becky
Our kind of folks, for sure, Becky! Kindred spirits all the way.
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Amerikansunknown said:You are hilarious!
You are hilarious!
Here I thought I had connected with a "special ops" contact.
My kids have been after us to start watching the "Amerikans" series. They say it's top notch. Will have to check it out, for sure, now. Person of Interest was one of our favorites and "24" was pretty good. So, I guess my emergency bag wasn't as much an original idea as I thought it was. HOWEVER, I'll wager the contents of mine are far more interesting than anyone else's. You should see how huge it has become. With each hospital stay and each rush to the ER that turns into a hospital stay . . . we've learned what we "NEED" to survive the horrors of that facility. Soft tissues are a definite MUST, as are the Cottonelle "wipes" (wink, wink) . . . and the clean undergarments, socks, pillow and of course my make-up and hair products that give me that confidence I've learned I need to converse with those doctors who think they know everything but know NOTHING about my Terry.
I, in contrast to your admission . . . reserve my news sources and where I purchase the "runway" fashions I wear.
Hugs,
Dawn
The star couple in The Amerikans are a couple in real-life. Matthew Rhys is native Welsh, and speaks with a heavy accent when not pretending to be an American from the Soviet Union.
Rick, lead star in The Walkng Dead, is similiar: English, but no accent when on the show.
We discussed Deliverance a while back. The Walking Dead is filmed (mostly) in western Georgia, between Atlanta and the Alabama line, in piney woods.
Bango river attacks, zombie apocalypses: my area has it all.
max
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Our kids have told us thatAmerikans
The star couple in The Amerikans are a couple in real-life. Matthew Rhys is native Welsh, and speaks with a heavy accent when not pretending to be an American from the Soviet Union.
Rick, lead star in The Walkng Dead, is similiar: English, but no accent when on the show.
We discussed Deliverance a while back. The Walking Dead is filmed (mostly) in western Georgia, between Atlanta and the Alabama line, in piney woods.
Bango river attacks, zombie apocalypses: my area has it all.
max
Our kids have told us that the Amerikans is a must see. It sounds intriguing.
0
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