Medical Care While Traveling
I am in a rather unique situation when it comes to traveling away from home for more than a day or two.
As a person that has kidney failure, I am required to have dialysis three times per week to remove the impurities from my blood and also keep my body from retaining too much fluid.
Without this medical service, I would die within weeks or maybe several months if I was real lucky.
Because of this, two things are mandatory when traveling.
First, that I research the facilities near to our destination and second, that I have the adequate insurance set-up to cover the costs associated with such treatments.
Analysis of Vital Statistics data revealed that the death rate of kidney disease per 100,000 population rose from 10.
1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 9.
4 - 10.
8) in 1989 to 15.
4% (95% CI, 14.
7 - 16.
1) in 2005.
Additionally, it is reported that most of these deaths could have been avoided if quality treatment had been pursued on time.
This information does not inspire confidence when traveling.
Being tethered to my dialysis clinic means that every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I must make the 40 mile commute from my home outside of Gainesville and spend approximately 4 hours with large needles stuck in to my arm.
It is not the most pleasant of experiences, but, over time, you learn to tolerate the time you must spend sitting in the simulated leather recliner.
It is something of a process to coordinate with another suitable facility.
Last year when we decided to go to Miami, I had to find a facility a month in advance.
Thankfully, it ended up being only 5 minutes from where I was staying.
This meant that I was in and out of my dialysis treatment quickly enough to still enjoy the day.
Because of this, everything worked out very well for me and my wife on our visit to Miami.
I actually only spent part of 2 days hooked up to the dialysis machine and was able to enjoy the company of my sister and also see some of the sights Miami has to offer.
It was a pretty normal vacation as far as most trips to Miami can be.
We had to get used to the seemingly constant traffic jams on I-95 and 836 and we spent about 3 hours trying to navigate US 1 from Downtown Miami to Homestead, roughly 60 miles south of the city.
We did manage to eat at a few nice restaurants, do a little shopping at some of the big malls and spend time relaxing on the beach.
Overall, the experience was good.
It was yet another example of why purchasing travel medical insurance is always a good plan.
With my current insurance company this was easy to acquire and set-up through my existing plan.
I got excellent treatment at the dialysis clinic and enjoyed a week visiting with my one and only sister.
The difference between a vacation being a good and being bad is the advanced planning.
This is obvious with any trip but for me it means the difference between life and death.
As a person that has kidney failure, I am required to have dialysis three times per week to remove the impurities from my blood and also keep my body from retaining too much fluid.
Without this medical service, I would die within weeks or maybe several months if I was real lucky.
Because of this, two things are mandatory when traveling.
First, that I research the facilities near to our destination and second, that I have the adequate insurance set-up to cover the costs associated with such treatments.
Analysis of Vital Statistics data revealed that the death rate of kidney disease per 100,000 population rose from 10.
1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 9.
4 - 10.
8) in 1989 to 15.
4% (95% CI, 14.
7 - 16.
1) in 2005.
Additionally, it is reported that most of these deaths could have been avoided if quality treatment had been pursued on time.
This information does not inspire confidence when traveling.
Being tethered to my dialysis clinic means that every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I must make the 40 mile commute from my home outside of Gainesville and spend approximately 4 hours with large needles stuck in to my arm.
It is not the most pleasant of experiences, but, over time, you learn to tolerate the time you must spend sitting in the simulated leather recliner.
It is something of a process to coordinate with another suitable facility.
Last year when we decided to go to Miami, I had to find a facility a month in advance.
Thankfully, it ended up being only 5 minutes from where I was staying.
This meant that I was in and out of my dialysis treatment quickly enough to still enjoy the day.
Because of this, everything worked out very well for me and my wife on our visit to Miami.
I actually only spent part of 2 days hooked up to the dialysis machine and was able to enjoy the company of my sister and also see some of the sights Miami has to offer.
It was a pretty normal vacation as far as most trips to Miami can be.
We had to get used to the seemingly constant traffic jams on I-95 and 836 and we spent about 3 hours trying to navigate US 1 from Downtown Miami to Homestead, roughly 60 miles south of the city.
We did manage to eat at a few nice restaurants, do a little shopping at some of the big malls and spend time relaxing on the beach.
Overall, the experience was good.
It was yet another example of why purchasing travel medical insurance is always a good plan.
With my current insurance company this was easy to acquire and set-up through my existing plan.
I got excellent treatment at the dialysis clinic and enjoyed a week visiting with my one and only sister.
The difference between a vacation being a good and being bad is the advanced planning.
This is obvious with any trip but for me it means the difference between life and death.
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