Full timing & medical needs

[The-Breeze]

Clint & I are getting closer to hopping in the bus and just going with "The Breeze" full time. We still have a bit to finish up on the bus and then we hope to go down to Florida to get to warmer weather for awhile. We still have tons to do to get the house & property emptied out & sold so we most likely will be around this area for awhile.

My big concern is Medical right now. We both have medicine that we have to take daily and of course, in order to get these prescriptions filled we must see a doctor to tell the pharmacy that we need them. Does anyone have any suggestions on how we accomplish this while on the road? Do we carry our lives medical history with us to show each and every doctor we see along the way that this is our problem and this is what we take to help? Clint is under the VA and has his medicine mailed to him which will be creating another situation that we will work out (I think that will be easier than my situation).

Any ideas or know of anyone than has worked around this?

 

[dond]

Lots of full timers here: http://www.irv2.com/forums/f92/

 

[Crazy]

If you have meds shipped to you, why not sent to a friend and have them repackage to a USPS Priority box and send to you. Meds ahould fit in a $6 Flat Rate box.

 

[lornaschinske]

David is on heart meds. He uses a Walk-in Clinic and we have gotten the prescriptions filled almost exclusively at Sam's Club since his heart attack. We get a 6 month refill as it's cheaper. We have shifted from ABQ Sam's to Roswell Sam's. They just call the previous club. When we are ready to leave Roswell, we will procure a 6 month supply and head east. We know that no matter where we stop, we will have to be fairly close to a Sam's. It keeps the cost of the meds down. We have had to buy two one month refills at a Wal-Mart due to closed interstate and will try to never buy the meds from Wal-Mart again.

BTW, you do NOT need to be a member to use Sam's Club for refill prescription. On the other hand, having more than the basic membership will save a bit on meds. We use Sam's for most of our groceries, fuel and overnight parking.

 

[r_w]

Most chains will transfer ordinary scripts. Crossing state lines gets much more interesting with anything potentially abused.

When I was traveling all the time, asked my doc for a second script to build up a reserve of pills in case there were hiccups.

 

[The-Breeze]

Sounds like Clint & I are right there with Lorna & David. We both take heart meds and I also get some additional meds for other smaller problems I have today so what I'll be carrying across state lines will be just plain old blood pressure meds and a few other goodies that I don't think will become a problem carrying from state to state.

Lorna....we do plan on stopping at a few parking lots for the nite, here & there. Is there a reason why you prefer getting permission from Sam's Club vs Wallyworld? Around here they're most always in the same shopping center. I haven't renewed my Sam's membership (it expired a few years back) but do plan on getting back in there. Why the upgrade from the basic membership? What does that get you as an addon?

I am using a free clinic right now, that is funded from some Angels personal stash and don't imagine they will be around in the next town or state. Does David try to go to the same country wide clinic or just try his luck wherever? I still have a few to go before I can get on Medicare, when all this bull will just be a mute point, as I should hope I will then be able to go pretty much anywhere.

Along the lines of sending Clints meds to friends and forwarding, not a bad idea, once we establish a few friends. Those that we have now, I don't feel comfortable putting meds that we need in their hands. Sorry guys if your reading this but that's how I feel.

I suppose that the longer we're out & about the more routine we'll get around certain issues. Just call it the fun and games of being on the road.

 

[lornaschinske]

Lorna....we do plan on stopping at a few parking lots for the nite, here & there. Is there a reason why you prefer getting permission from Sam's Club vs Wallyworld? Around here they're most always in the same shopping center. I haven't renewed my Sam's membership (it expired a few years back) but do plan on getting back in there. Why the upgrade from the basic membership? What does that get you as an add on?

Sam's Clubs tend to be quieter at night (we've been locked into a gated parking lot more than once) with security physically patrolling a couple times per night. Members are allowed to stay even when Wal-Mart does not allow it. Every Club manager has told me it has some legal thing to do with the Club Member. We have stayed in Sam's Clubs when the Wal-Mart next door was a no-parking due to city ordinances. We have a business card that we upgraded to a Plus membership. Means we get in before "normal" club hours then David gets a freebie cup of coffee and we both get free fruit or a danish (sometimes both) for the business members. Business and Plus cards gets a little more discount on the non $4/$10 prescriptions.

I am using a free clinic right now, that is funded from some Angels personal stash and don't imagine they will be around in the next town or state. Does David try to go to the same country wide clinic or just try his luck wherever?

We simply ask the pharmacists in the Sam's Club where there are some walk-in clinics he can go to. It is not a county clinic. There is a chain of urgent care clinics in TX that I have used as well. I forget the name of it. They do everything including setting broken bones but not compound fractures. For the simple tests David has done, the Walk-in Clinic does just fine. It's called "Roswell Family Care". We pay cash. A visit costs us $50 plus whatever they "do" beyond the normal checkup. Sure beats the $$ we were paying in ABQ for the Heart Clinic visits at the hospital. We carry the paperwork from the Heart Clinic (gave them to the Walk-in Clinic) and when we leave here, we will get a copy of his patient files to carry with us. We have no insurance, we pay cash for everything (called self-pay). Hospitals will set you up on payment plans (discounted since they don't have to deal with insurance companies) and you can tell them how much per month you can pay. Been there, done that, multiple times over the decades.

 

[The-Breeze]

Love the idea of getting locked in a gated area. We could let the dogs out without a leash "WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?" (I KNOW>>forget about it, right?) We'll check into renewing/upgrading our membership (not to a business as we don't have one) but the next one up. Sounds like the extra cost will easily be recouped just in not having to find a campground close by etc. I'm not sure what all of my meds will be costing but every penny saved most definitely help.

I just got logged off my PC right as I was posting an update that took up close to 1 and 1/2 hours to write but Sam's Club will help us fill up this new 5 cu ft chest freezer we just bought today. Will send pictures and updates this weekend.

I bought this 4G Hotspot off one of the shopping channels last year as we don't have internet service here at the house since I put Clint & I on Tracfones and cancelled Verizon service. This is thru T-Mobile and every, every month I have an issue that I have to either stop at the store or call up to get resolved. The hotspot came with 5GB of service to be used over 3 months and with all of these situations that's been happening I have only had to pay for 2 months service at 5GB each since I think its been September of last year. T-Mobile keeps apologizing and giving me free time and upgrades to my service all the rest of the time. Well, well worth the phone call and conversations I've had to endure. I actually had to call them today and I ended with 2 months of service on a 14GB plan for my trouble. Kool....I don't even yell, scream or threaten to go elsewhere. I just think they really want to keep me as a Customer. (I can just hear the voices already from those of you who have nothing good to say) but for me I'm HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY.

 

[lornaschinske]

We have park wifi and a Netzero hotspot ($23 with taxes/1GB/month) to fill in for when the park wifi is down. I am looking for someting better.

I have an Alfa USB antenna for parking lots. You do know that Sam's Club has a free wifi? Sometimes we could get it with the booster and sometimes we had to be inside the store. With the booster, we could usually find an open wifi via coffee shops, restaurants or hotels near the parking lots.

 

[Redbear]

. . . We both have medicine that we have to take daily and of course, in order to get these prescriptions filled we must see a doctor to tell the pharmacy that we need them. . . .

. . . We get a 6 month refill as it's cheaper. We have shifted from ABQ Sam's to Roswell Sam's. They just call the previous club. When we are ready to leave Roswell, we will procure a 6 month supply and head east. . . .

Our insurance pays for 90-day refills. My wife has conditions that require some meds having the potential for abuse. While she does not need to be physically examined for each refill, the law only allows 30-day, no refill prescriptions. She has to make 2 trips to town each month, one to get the script from the doctor's office and drive it to the pharmacy, and one to pick up the prescription later. Scripts for these meds are supposed to all convert from paper to electronic, but she is still making the extra trip.

With her old doctor, it was usually 3 trips, as the script was rarely at the window when promised, and the doctor would not be in or could not be disturbed to write it while she was standing there.

Fortunately, all my RX can be filled for 90 days. And if the refills run out, the pharmacy calls my doctor direct and arranges for a new electronic script, whether I've had my annual check-up or it is delayed.

The problem is getting the refills synchronized, so they could all be filled in one visit. Because of when each prescription started, it seems one or the other of us needs something refilled every week.

 

[abwetzel63]

If you are on Schedule II drugs (narcotics etc), then you will need to find 2 things. A doctor who writes the script every 30 days, and a pharmacy that you deal with all the time. This may result in you going back to one location once a month for these things.

I have a friend who travels a lot, who can live just about anywhere, but cannot get his pain meds (from a massive tumor removal in his back, broken bones from being run over while driving a donor-cycle) filled except at one pharmacy where he has been going for years. This is due to the latest Obamacare issue, which restricts the number of patients a pharmacy can serve with narcotics. Also, doctors outside of his hometown won't write a script for refills even if he has all the paperwork with him (He does, Carries a whole folder of all the stuff he's on just in case the police pull him over and freak out at his stash.)

You can get your current doctor to write for 6 weeks for narcotics on a need basis, like once every 3 months or so, but your insurance will only pay for 30 days worth.

So you may need to set up a base camp somewhere just for getting the narcotics prescribed and filled. Sucks, but that is the current reality.

Also, if you take a lot of meds, don't use a pill box with a slot for each day or period of the day. Leave your prescriptions in the bottle. And if you have a partial bottle and a full bottle (like at the end of the month), do not consolidate your pills. Do not have more than what the script calls for for each bottle. Most cops freak out when they see someone who takes 15 meds a day, so be prepared to be treated like a criminal.

Other than that, stay out of trouble, keep your paperwork handy, your pills locked away, and pray that you don't get some over-officious cop in your face.

 

[lornaschinske]

The experience here is just too limited. Those who need more restricted drugs while traveling need to be asking over on Fulltimer RV forums and on Facebook Fulltimer forums. I know it is possible as I have read about others doing it. I know they are getting restricted drugs, just not how. I do know that some have had their doctors try them on less restricted drugs to see if that will work for them before hitting the road.

When you find solutions, please post back so others can find the info. Thanks.

 

[Das Mel]

I'm on the Depo shot (and I'm a LOT easier to live with, I'm telling ya! Well, except for that last week before my shot...Sorry Mum and Dad) and I pay cash. No insurance. According to my nurse I'll be in the middle of a 12-week cycle when I reach the East Coast so I'll have to find a new doctor when I get there.

 

[Redbear]

Also, if you take a lot of meds, don't use a pill box with a slot for each day or period of the day. Leave your prescriptions in the bottle. And if you have a partial bottle and a full bottle (like at the end of the month), do not consolidate your pills. Do not have more than what the script calls for for each bottle. Most cops freak out when they see someone who takes 15 meds a day, so be prepared to be treated like a criminal.

X2 on that. In this state, having your [restricted] pills "not in their original container" is a crime. The news says the street price of Grandma's stash is $80 per pill, so self-medicators have often chosen cheap heroin instead, even for pain issues.