What will you do if you get seriously sick?

[MrNoodly]

“Everybody has a plan until they get hit in the mouth.”
—Mike Tyson

We talk a lot here about emergency plans for our live-in vehicles. Do we have a fund for it? Where do we live if our van is in the shop? What if we wreck it?

We don’t talk as much about plans for health emergencies. Maybe because it’s a scarier topic. Maybe if we don’t talk about it it won’t happen. Some of us are already dealing with chronic health problems. Many of us are of the age bodies start to break down.

So, what’s the plan?

My plan was to not worry about bad health until I had to. Well, now I need to. I have stage four throat cancer. But luckily (considering the circumstances) a plan came together. I have a place to stay, people to help me. Friends, family, medical professionals and Medicare came together.

But what about you? Will whatever plan you have survive being hit in the proverbial or literal mouth? Share your thoughts.

 

[cyndi]

Dang, Mr. Noodly! I'll be sending good mojo, healing vibes and beneficial juju! Please keep us posted

Lucky for me, I have bases in both the northeast and southwest. I've had to use them both, multiple times. I hope they don't get sick of me and change the locks.

 

[lenny flank]

When I'm sick, I spend the day throwing up in the bucket that I just finished shitting in.



(Seriously, if I get really really sick like that, the plan is to just hole up in a motel.)

 

[lenny flank]

OK, just read the rest of your post ----- hope things work out.

 

[bullfrog]

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. I'm a veteran, on medicare with a supplement from my pension and a member of Excapees (see Care Center at their web site). I have a trailer on a cheap lot not far from a VA hospital in the same town that my son and his family live in. Two of my children are in the medical profession and my daughter-in-law works at a long term care facility nearby. I have a 91 year old mother that we have been able to keep happy in her home although we do use outside help 3 days a week. Working with her has me concerned about my wife and myself if something should happen to us. We have been lucky but our bodies are starting to limit what we can do. We have developed friendships with others like us who like us are more than willing to help out with errands, rides to the doctor and such so for now it looks like we can do this in the future. Best wishes MrNoodly and thanks for the post.

 

[travelaround]

Mr. Noodly, I'm so sorry to hear about your diagnosis, and hope.. no, not just hope, but pray for your well-being.

I don't have much of a plan for illness. If it is long term I could get an apartment. I could try boondocking in the hospital parking lot if I need a hospital. I could call a nearby pastor and ask for help. Anywhere. Boondock at a church or charity that lives Matthew 25:31-46.

Last thing I want to do is ask one of my children or other relatives for help. They can be notified when I'm on death's door and not before. IMHO

 

[Gypsy108]

I'm very sorry to hear that Mr. Noodly I't's a miracle I don't have it myself, being a smoker for a zillion years ! I am a veteran...having health care because of my military service was one of the smartest things I've done for myself....other than that, (knock on wood) I'm never sick....

I am a believer in alternative forms of therapy....for the past 20 years i've been drinking green tea (matcha) which is supposedly cancer fighting...i also take *** oil....and always vitamins...always trying to counteract the negative effects of smoking....

 

[Doubleone]

Hey Noodly,  My thoughts and well-wishes are definitely with you.  FWIW, maybe your physician can tell you if that cancer is a type affected by glucose... If so I'd suggest to consider a **** diet.  From what I've read in medical publications and told by a physician friend, the worst types of cancer need lots of energy for cancer cells to reproduce and that comes in the form of glucose.    Diabetics are especially susceptible to those types of cancers because of excess glucose.  A  **** diet reduces the glucose that feeds certain types of cancer and can slow or starve it.  With a **** diet you basically minimize blood glucose and instead  fuel your body with Ketones.  The idea is the cancer cells no longer have as much nutrition...  This has been shown effective against brain cancers, and links are being studied with glucose in relation to other cancers (colon, prostate, bladder, breast).  Unfortunately, the research also shows most physicians are lagging about 15 yrs behind the medical research (they're well-meaning just out of step).  Another suggestion... I've personally experienced very promising results with CoQ10 and Alpha-Lipoic acid supplements when taken together.  I was first taking CoQ10 for exercise induced oxidative stress on my heart for a couple of years and then right when I started adding the Alpha-Lipoic I noticed my skin blemishes spontaneously started clearing up.  Might be a bit TMI, but I had a ton of pre-cancer skin blemishes covering  my back and shoulders for decades.  It was always something I'd been concerned about, but they sloughed off and now they're all gone.  This was not one or two instances, it was like night and day, my entire back was peppered with them like a freckled kid but now they're like 90% gone and overall my skin looks much younger.  You can imagine my surprise.  I now consider those two supplements as my cancer preventative because they obviously seem to help my body self-repair.  Keep positive and try to stay ahead of it all... Take care!

 

[RoamerRV428]

I am so sorry you are dealing with such a tough medical condition and sending prayers your way Wishing you the best!


We chatted about an exit plan. Hubby is 54 and I am 58 and we are early retired now....kid starts high school this next term and then we got 4 yrs til she hits college. We travel now as much as we can. Once settled in college we are free to roam and sell the house etc and travel travel travel. So the exit plan is more on the back burner in a way in our minds vs. the get out of this house and on the road is more on the forefront.

What we would do is probably buy a townhouse or condo near my kid if anything real bad goes down for either of us. If we had that extra time to do just that from a diagnosis. A real nasty injury type event that is catastrophic would mean asking a hosp. in the area we are in what alternative living arrangements they could suggest or a campground near that hospital I guess til other arrangements and knowing about the medical event etc. would allow.

One thing I learned thru life is you can plan a bit and then no matter what you have planned sometimes a lot of deviations to that must happen in some circumstances so....sometimes it is go with the flow and it falls into place for most when needed.

 

[WanderingRose]

I have a small S&B, close to one of my kids, and where I would hunker down and fight it out.

Best wishes for a good outcome, Mr. Noodly.

 

[Matlock]

Well Mr N. my plan for a major health emergency is, as another life decade begins, still a mystery. I've spent my adulthood planning for specific projects. Given the number of maladies that aging brings I really don't know where to start. Not married, no children and other family members are nuts so......
I suppose, anything with a 100% success cure rate, talking out-patient, no-rehab, then, as someone mentioned earlier, a hotel with shuttle bus service to the Doc's and a visiting nurse could work.

Worse case, a bottle of single malt, couple nice cigars and a long one way walk into the forest with an easy single action, (it's uncomfortable to discuss for most) painless maybe but who knows.

Now if I had my druthers, I'd meet a gal 10 years or so my junior that could tolerate my ol self and when the time came she'd boot my ass out of the vehicle w/cigs/lighter/scotch and point me to said forest. However, with my luck I'd lose the lighter, drink the scotch and they'd they'd find me sleeping in some fire lookout tower or mooning the tourists down by the river.

Best of luck to you Sir.

 

[RoamerRV428]

great post Matlock!

 

[MrNoodly]

...If so I'd suggest to consider a **** diet...

Thanks, but right now the main problem is getting ANY kind of food into me past the throat-blocking tumor.

 

[Amboman]

When my time comes & it will for us all, I'm doing the Andy Griffith exit. Died & buried same day before many knew. IMHO all that's left is a shell so turn on the gas & give my family the little cardboard box & let no one know till I'm in it. I support Death with Dignity & I think it's legal in 6 states & growing. Here's a link https://www.deathwithdignity.org/learn/access/

 

[travelaround]

One thing I learned thru life is you can plan a bit and then no matter what you have planned sometimes a lot of deviations to that must happen in some circumstances so....sometimes it is go with the flow and it falls into place for most when needed.

Yes to this. Our plans often change when life steps in and provides other solutions. Go with the flow.

 

[MotorVation]

Best wishes for a complete recovery. Stay strong

 

[Dingfelder]

... a type affected by glucose... If so I'd suggest to consider a **** diet.  From what I've read in medical publications and told by a physician friend, the worst types of cancer need lots of energy for cancer cells to reproduce and that comes in the form of glucose.    Diabetics are especially susceptible to those types of cancers because of excess glucose.  A  **** diet reduces the glucose that feeds certain types of cancer and can slow or starve it.  With a **** diet you basically minimize blood glucose and instead  fuel your body with Ketones.  The idea is the cancer cells no longer have as much nutrition...  

I've read a lot of stuff in this vein too, including both CoQ10 and R-Lipoic (used to take Alpha) acid, and am inclined to give it credence.  Just got a book on cancer as a metabolic rather than genetic disease that I look forward to delving into.  The **** sounds good for many reasons, and I've been experimenting with fasting, which supposedly also helps alleviate some symptoms of radiation, if I recall correctly.  At any rate, being overweight induces insulin resistance and oxidative stress, as well as increased levels of some hormones, so reducing excess weight is a generally good idea on multiple levels.

My mother got a kind of cancer that wasn't glucose-loving, so some of those ideas don't apply to her nearly so much; but they do to some other types of cancers.  I'm looking up Warburg cancers, a term describing glucose-loving cancers from my very preliminary reading.

Noodly, sorry to hear of your tough diagnosis.  Best wishes to you, in whatever good or ill health comes your way. 

As to my plan, I don't really have one.  I would rather avoid pain or degredation than death, so that is the more likely worry to haunt me.  Nobody really avoids death anyway, and I don't fear it any more than any organism would that is right in the middle of a fight.   I hope to live long enough to get on Medicaid and/or similar programs before the usual terrors of life pile up one too many on me, but if they come before then, I guess my number is up.  Everybody who depends on me is older than I am now, so the odds are fair that I'll just blink out silently and without creating too much trouble or expense, which is exactly how I'd like it. I just hope there's not too much pain along the way.  If there is, and I have time, I'll have to decide what to do then.

 

[jim solo]

Worse case, a bottle of single malt, couple nice cigars and a long one way walk into the forest with an easy single action, (it's uncomfortable to discuss for most) painless maybe but who knows.

Best wishes to you getting better. The above quote was my way to deal with some thing like this. I guess I better re-think my situation, 11 years ago I had multible by-pass surgery, I was lucky to have insurance to cover it and a few good friends to help me through. I better make new plans to fit into the Nomad lifestyle. I hope to learn something on this thread.

 

[broken ed]

Best to you MrNoodly moving foreword.

With a few exceptions, I don't a medical emergency is anymore forgiving from a house to the road. In both cases you can lose everything.

I no longer drive and found myself in the emergency room this pass week. Thankfully my wife could drive me. But if not; I don't don't emergency response would do very well of finding me without an address. So living on BLM land or stealth camping is not for me.

My biggest concern would be our pets, would they be found and well cared for if we became unresponsive.

I'm on Medicare so my worst fear is I would windup in a state run nursing home. I have no faith in any of these facilities but have wondered what state would provide the best care and regulations.

 

[Iggy]

Sorry to read about your medical diagnosis, Mr Noodly. That's not something that anyone can fully prepared for.
Last fall, I was surprised to find out that I had aggressive melanoma. The doctor did four surgeries, including removing a large, deep chunk from my upper arm (took part of my muscle, too). I also had elbow surgery, due to a bad bike crash. I had to stay in Oregon all winter, which stays cold or rainy most of the time. Luckily, several different friends offered me places to stay during recoveries and when the weather was particularly bad. My uninsulated van is awesome in warm weather but not so much in cold. Also stayed in motels a couple times. So I would say that having great friends can be a part of a medical emergency plan, along with some savings.

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