RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER

Boy am I spoiled !!!

Today we drove 2 hours to go for a doctor's appointment for Dwayne. NEVER in my entire life have I ever driven that far to see a doctor.  Not even to see a specialist ! And this is common practice up here for these folks living in the U.P. of Michigan.

Dwayne's GP doctor who sees him when there is an "emergency" is about a half hour away in the next town.
When D goes to the VA for his regular check ups he drives an hour to get to that hospital where all his doctor's offices are located.

BUT . . . Even the VA does not have specialists so when Dwayne needs to see a cardiologist or a pulmonologist he has to drive at least 2 hours to Green Bay, WI. And even then they don't have all the technology needed for certain issues so D will have to drive 4 hours to Madison, WI.

We left the house this morning at 7:30 AM to get to Green Bay by 9:30 AM. It is a 2 hour drive but Green Bay is on Central Time so they are an hour behind Gladston, MI where D lives. It took us about two and a half hours to get there because most of the way is country roads rather than  highways. It was pouring rain this morning with fog coming off Lake Michigan. Because it was early we had to pay extra attention to the possibility of a deer running out in front of us which one did do.
Coming home was much easier because the rain had stopped and the sun was out. We even stopped for lunch at a local cafe in Menomonee, MI just over the Wisconsin border. We finally got home at 4:45 this afternoon. It was a NINE and HALF hour day to go see one doctor.  Don't ever complain about waiting a half hour in a doctor's waiting room. That beats driving to another state!

This is really country living up here. Back in Florida I feel horribly put out if I have to drive more than 5 miles to see any sort of doctor or to have major surgery, The only thing that is "right around the corner" up here is a field of corn or a barn full of cows.