11/15 Thursday Today was a long day of driving north. Mom has an appointment with a neurosurgeon to see why she is having problems with her neck and arms. To accomplish this we are going to Dr. Courtney in Dallas as our Dallas son-in-law has seen him with great success. Asking around, we could not find anyone who had first hand information on someone in this specialty. Although the drive was 574 miles from the Valley, hopefully it will be worth the time.
Heading out of Mission, we passed a tire store. What made this special or humorous is their sales gimmick. They rent tires to own. I heard of furniture you rent to own but not tires. Coincidently and likely important was the location of this tire store immediately across the street from the local pawnshop.
Heading north it appeared the Dept. of Public Safety was on focusing on the traffic speed on the road. They had multiple units patrolling in addition to at least two unmarked cars. Obviously one driver failed to recognize the dirty Crown Vic with the very dark tinted windows until the car suddenly lit up with all these pretty red and blue lights – okay, there were also some clear strobe mixed in.
Continuing on we saw a sign saying it was a federal crime to smuggle illegals into the country. Just a bit further all traffic was routed through a checkpoint manned by offices in brown uniforms and big guns. They also had at least one dog that kept reminding everyone both of his presence and how big and mean he could be. A quick salutation and we were on our way.
Fortunately the road is flat and the cruise control was working or I would have had a problem staying at an acceptable legal limit. Knowing we had over 500 miles to cover before seeing a bed, I found myself trying to fug on the speed whenever my foot was used to determine the speed. The only problem on our drive was the almost constant 25 MPH plus winds in our face. Running our gas mileage, on the second fill of the day and with the wind still in our face, we are up 11 MPG over the mileages in the previous 4 fills. I just wonder what the mileage would have been had the wind been on our tail instead of right on our nose.
Arriving in Dallas, we were caught up in traffic, something we have not experienced in over a year; we most certainly have not missed it! We were caught in the wrong lane and suddenly found ourselves on I-30 and off I-35. In this lower section of roads below the city, there is no way off I-30 until you get to I-45 south or US-75 north. Because US-75 is also Central Expressway and the other route to the daughter’s house, we rode this. At 5:50 PM, this is not the thing to have done. Going 30 miles took only 1:20 minutes so next time we will be sure to catch the right road.
11/16 Friday We saw Dr. Courtney this morning. He is younger than envisioned; maybe at our age almost everyone outside the RV park looks younger. Although we had been warned his ‘bedside’ manors were a little short or one person reported him to be a typical arrogant surgeon, he was anything but. He was cordial and took time to have a few laughs while sitting on the exam table and leaning against the wall for support. He cracked a few jokes but you had to listen carefully as his humor can be dry. Careful listening is also needed as he talks fast and he is giving you information you need that is woven into whatever conversation is going on. He gives multi-tasking a new definition.
To our surprise, our appointment was at 9:30; however, we arrived at 8:50 and by 9:50, we had seen the nurse, had X-rays, seen the doctor, talked with the insurance verification person, paid for our visit and were back in the car to leave. Did I mention he is very much business and talks fast?
With Rx for multiple prescriptions in hand we were off to the drug store and breakfast. Unlike our experience with CVS and Wal-Mart, our prescription was ready in 35 minutes. Before breakfast was over we had insurance clearance, two level MRI scheduled and a follow-up appointment with the doctor to discuss the results. We were even ‘back home’ at the daughter’s home before 11:25. This type of speed is unheard of in the general medical community. So, it appears the rest of the day is just kicking back and enjoying the cool (under 70 degree) day.
