what if you don’t have someone to drive you home from a procedure?

[Anonymous]

To people who are saying they are embarrassed or don't feel comfortable asking for help - I get it, I really do, but for heaven's sake - this is a very normal thing for someone to need help with, especially as we age. Lots and lots of us older people (and by older, I mean over 50) are finding this need and we are perfectly willing to help out if we can - it certainly isn't a "weird" request! We've either already been in this position of needing a ride/"check out" person, or we can anticipate needing the help ourselves.

As for the requirement that someone be able to come in and sign you out "so they know that someone is looking out for you' ... I had to have my 18.5 year old son perform this duty for me a couple years ago after hernia surgery, and let me tell you, that was a complete joke, if they thought my 18.5 year old teen was going to provide any kind of supervision of me. Drove me home, yes, he did that. I am pretty sure if I passed out in the car, he would have just thought I was taking a little nap and would have let me rest while he went inside the house to finish his computer game. (I'm joking... but only sort of...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for all of the good ideas on here. I’m going to see if I can find an “escort” via care.com- that and the med transport are great ideas, and this also comes up every several years when I have a colonoscopy so will be great to have ideas of what to do.

I live in MoCo and this procedure is at Johns Hopkins - so as a poster supposed, it will require someone to stick with me for almost 6 hours between driving to/from, needing to be there 1.5 hrs before the procedure, the procedure itself and the time I need to wake up. There are just very few people I’d ask to do this for me.

I know for routine colonoscopies at a local endoscopy center, they are strict about my needing not just a ride home but also someone to come up and get me - I have to give the person’s name and number when I sign in, and they won’t release me from the post-procedure area until that person has arrived. I have to assume a hospital will have the same procedures and they told me so when I scheduled the procedure.

Thanks again, everyone.
- OP

Please update us especially if you find names of medical transport companies.

My colonoscopy, I was allowed to get there by myself. I just had to give them the name and phone number of the person picking me up. You could consider spending the night at a hotel near the hospital, walking over, and then having someone pick you up. That cuts the number of hours down. Check and see if this is allowed.

+1. It might be too late for this go around, but for the future there are practices in the DC area that don’t require your escort to sit with you throughout the whole procedure. Capital Digestive is one of them, I dropped off and picked up DH without waiting there. And I did similar for a friend at a different practice (I was her pick up person), her husband drove her there and then the office called me 30 minutes prior to pick up. You’d still need someone to pick you up, but this would significantly cut the amount of time that person is needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All you need is a ride home. Uber/taxi or public transportation to the facility on your own. The facility will require you to have someone either drive you home or accompany you on public transportation. Considering it’s summertime, hire a driving teenager.

You need more than that. Some people are not in great shape after and I would pay the person to at least hang for an hour. If you are fine, let them keep the money. If you are not, the person can get a sense of if the doctor's office needs to be called for further guidance.

[Anonymous]

Call a cosmetic surgery place. they usually can recommend private duty nurses who will pick you up (and stay with you for as long as needed).