How we ended up at an ER on the Oregon coast

Surprise! We are still in Florence, OR. The main reason being that a week and a half ago, the day we were supposed to drive north to Newport, OR, Patrick's back pain was so bad he couldn't get out of bed. It took an hour just to get him up enough to go to the bathroom. Which is scary for me as his partner because I don't know how bad it could get and the responsibility of taking care of him falls on me, which is a lot given we live in a van, with an anxious pup, with no money, and I have terrible anxiety that keeps me from doing important things like driving.

Yeah, so on Monday morning when Patrick could barely move after an already really rough night we decided that he needed medical attention (urgently), so we called the local urgent care in town who said they wouldn't take our insurance. We have California state insurance (again, super broke) so we expected it would be hard to find a place to take him. Next we called our insurance to ask where we could go for care out of state and they said only the Emergency Room. Obviously that is a huge flaw in the medical system but that is a battle for another day.

Now, to be clear, packing the van is definitely a two person job. I have NEVER packed up our back luggage rack; I always just peace out after packing up the rest of the van and wait impatiently for Patrick to do it. But I didn't have that choice today so I helped Patrick (painstakingly) slowly lower himself out of the van and he held Bodhi, our pup, on a leash while directing me on how to load up our bike and our camp chair and what we call our "back boxes," which are essentially just two metal boxes that house our tools and trash bags and such.

The next problem to tackle was actually driving to the ER. I have only driven the van once in the last few years at least. It was when we were in Southern California and we had to change campsites at a campground so I hopped in the driver's seat and and made the less than a mile trek to the other side of the campground just to make sure I could do it if I ever needed to an emergency. I don't even like driving small cars, I get so much road rage at the injustice of it all. I have just been cut off by too many Teslas and sports cars driven by white men. Anyways... I am getting off topic.

I relatively safely made the 20 minute drive to the ER with the help of a white knuckle grip to the steering wheel and Patrick's calm vocal encouragement. I was too scared to drive close to the ER entrance so I parked and Patrick hobbled with the support of one of my hiking poles all the way across the parking lot and disappeared through the doors of the ER. And there I sat in the parking lot on puppy duty, just waiting in the van, taking Bodhi for bathroom breaks and patting his head when he woke up between naps.

Five hours later, Patrick emerged with no new realizations about what was going with his back. He got a prescription for a muscle relaxer and was told to ice, but that was about it. By that point he was feeling a little better than he had in the morning so I drove him to the pharmacy to pick up his prescription. We picked up some sushi (my favorite travel dinner these days) and drove to a new campground, just down the road from our old campground.

And we have been here for almost two weeks now. It has been a tough two weeks for sure. People who know me know how I am not a caretaker, it just doesn't come naturally to me and I tend to get impatient quickly. And living in a van is a very physically demanding way to live which doesn't mix well with back pain. Not to mention that it rained for three days straight. But we did it, Patrick is starting to feel better, he can walk which is huge given that he was not able to get out of bed two weeks ago. He is in less pain and therefore more mentally present which helps me feel like we are in it together and it's not 100 percent all my responsibility to keep everyone alive.

And we are alive, heading up to a hotel in Portland for two days. I think I finally settled on a name for this blog. I am hoping to use the wifi and power at the motel to get my blog published. Hopefully Patrick will be able to drive us to Portland so we can arrive all in one piece!