We soon settled into our familiar daily routine at home. I would take Beans out for her morning hunt for lizards being extra cautious of snakes that were out as it hadn’t been cold enough to drive them into hibernation. I would go for walks, ride my bicycle and tool around on Gracie just revisiting old camp sites, seeing who was here and if I knew any of them and just generally seeing what was going on which wasn’t very much. Vendor’s row which normally would be bustling at this time revealed no one had bother to set up as of yet. My mail drop-off office in town, Quiet Times, hadn’t even opened and I read they were holding off to November 1. I rode into town one day to fill my water bottles and saw the doorway open. I stopped by and Tina said they decided to go ahead an open as enough travelers had arrived to warrant it. Good deal as I wanted to order a few things online. One was new brake lights. Tracy when following me said she could barely see the lights and if the sun was shining on them she simply couldn’t see them at all. I had no idea. These were lights I had replaced long ago when the factory installed vertical lights had failed. They were mounted half way up the sides in the back, additional lights to the standard brake/tail lights set down low. I ordered new bright LED lights and at the same time a pair of amber LED turn signal lights as the lower mounted turn lights were partially blocked by the motorbike on back. I also ordered a small cast iron skillet and some compressed coconut husk bricks for composting matter in the composting toilet. Lastly I could pick up my ballot that had been forwarded to me by the ex.
I felt fine all week enjoying the warm weather and aside from the usual activities just relaxed around camp. Five days later on Friday evening I found myself getting up to go to the bathroom more times than what was normal for me. The next day I felt normal and went for a three mile bicycle ride. But Saturday night was a repeat of the night before only worse with just little dribbles after sitting on the toilet for far way too long. Monday was a day of very high winds with traveler advisories warning those with high profile vehicles should refrain from driving. That day started out what seemed okay but by noon I just couldn’t seem to pee no matter how much I tried. I was getting concerned. What to do? Would this clear up? My bladder was becoming more and more uncomfortable. Around three in the afternoon I thought it best to break camp in case I had to leave. I had researched where the nearest medical facility was−Palo Verde Hospital in Blythe, CA. Yes, it was getting serious. At least I wouldn’t have to drive to Phoenix. I worried about Beans. If I had to check into a hospital how could I care for her? A couple hours later I had to do something. I drove into town checking Family Dollar and General Dollar for some type of medication for urinary problems. Nothing. I drove around trying to find an address I had found online for a doctor in town. I couldn’t find it and besides it was now past five in the afternoon anyway. He’d be home having dinner with his family. I drove back to the camp areas stopping in at the closest, La Posa North. I parked near the entrance and pondered what to do. I continued to worry about Beans more so than myself. An hour later I couldn’t put up with the discomfort any longer. I desperately needed help. The winds had died down some as the sun was setting and I made the decision to drive the twenty some miles west to Blythe. As soon as we got underway Beans jumped up in my lap as she normally does. This wouldn’t do. I couldn’t handle the pressure of her lying on my bladder and she wouldn’t accept riding anywhere else. Once on the Interstate I let her back up in my lap and held her up with my right hand while I fought the winds driving with my left hand. I tucked in behind a big rig and drafted him most of the way to California. I was feeling worse and worse with each passing mile the pressure continuing to build. I don’t remember much about the drive but that it seemed as if it wasn’t all that long thankfully. We breezed through the inspection station with no having to stop and a few miles later turned off for the hospital nearby. I found it easy enough and parked haphazardly next door. I set Beans up with a topped off fresh water dish and plate full of food next to her bowl of kibble and said goodbye. I shuffled on through the windblown debris in the cold wind around the front of the building up to the doors of the emergency room waiting area. Only four people were inside, my first plus for the day.
I made my way to the counter and hung on it. The receptionist asked can I help you, what she could do for me, what brings you in today, I don’t know, something like that. All I could say was “I can’t pee”. She handed me a clip board with pen “Fill this out please”. I stood there scribbling in the blanks and handed it back. “Have a seat and someone will be with you shortly.” I couldn’t sit. I stood in the corner.
For some reason I had mentioned to her that I needed to use a restroom and somewhat later a man called me in. He handed me a plastic biohazard bag with a small plastic container inside and showed me to the toilet. “I can’t go. Things aren’t working” and went to hand the bag back to him. He said keep it. I stuck it in my pocket and was told to return to the waiting room. As I made my way to the exit door I noticed an ambulance had arrived and they were wheeling in a white guy dressed in an orange overalls in on a gurney. I thought to myself that could have been me if I had waited any longer back at camp. I went back to my corner in the waiting room. A nice looking well-to-do black woman and her teenage daughter came in. I overheard the receptionist asking them a question. Seemed the girl had just had braces put on her teeth and there was a sharp wire. You come to the ER for that? Soon thereafter I was called in by a young RN who took me to cubicle four. She asked about what was going on and I relayed the details of the past couple days. She handed me a gown to put on and I said “At this point I am beyond any care for modesty” and dropped my pants to the floor and slipped out from my shoes. I climbed up on the bed and she covered my lower half with the gown. Her name was Adrianna and she was very caring. She said she would put a catheter in place and I would soon feel much better. As I laid there staring at the overhead light mounted to the ceiling I thought about how grateful I was to have made the decision to seek help. I knew now I would not have made it through the night.
Adrianna prepared the catheter and then told me to take a deep breath and holy sweet Jesus! I grabbed that poor girl’s arm hanging on for dear life as my legs shot up towards the ceiling. “It’s okay, I’m in now” and my bladder began to drain. Slowly I felt better as the pressure relieved. She said to just lie there and relax and so I did, for the first time in the day. She returned a short time later to shut the valve explaining that if the bladder emptied completely all at once it could go into spasms. I apologized for grabbing her like I did. She smiled behind her mask and said it was okay. I asked if anyone else had done so before and she couldn’t recall. She checked the bag and said there was 850 milliliters in it which was quite a bit she said. I asked how much that was in ounces but she didn’t know. After she left I dug my phone out from my pants lying on the floor and did the conversion to ounces. That was nine tenths of a quart! I took a point-of-view photo of my feet at the end of the table for a blog post. Oh this would be good material.
As I laid there staring at the ceiling rejoicing in how much better I felt I could hear voices behind the curtain in the cubical next to me. Occasionally I could see someone in tactical gear and it sounded like two law enforcement officers visiting with each other. Then later a black man was wheeled in past the foot of my bed. He too was dressed in an orange outfit. I noticed hand cuffs on his wrist and ankle latched to the frame of the gurney. Good grief! These guys are prisoners! My mind went to movies I’ve seen and stories I’ve read of prisoners faking illnesses only to be taken in for medical care where they escape and take hostages. Oh how I just wanted to get out of there.
Adrianna returned and reported to me I had filled the bag to the one liter mark. For the umpteenth time I thanked her for her care and said how glad I was I had made the decision to come to the ER. She fixed up a collection bag to my leg and gave me a few directions to follow. The catheter could stay in to the end of the week or even the following Monday. I could have it removed at a clinic nearby which she said she would have the receptionist give me information about. They would also give me information for a facility in Yuma if I decided to go there for an evaluation. I climbed off the bed after lying there nearly two hours. I put on my sweat pants and walked slowly on out thanking everyone along the way. One black guy from when I first arrived was still sitting in the corner of the waiting room playing on his phone. No one else was there. What? He just comes in here to hang out from the cold wind outside? I was almost back to the RV when I remembered−the old doctor who briefly looked in on me had mentioned putting me on Flomax. Damn, I had to go back. Back at the counter I asked about the prescription the doctor mentioned. They went to find him. Well he had changed his mind and didn’t prescribe it after all. What the hell? Back at the RV I had one extremely happy kitty to see me. I hugged her and we stayed the night right there in the parking lot. I slept great!
The next morning I felt pretty good considering what I had just gone through in the previous eighteen hours. By now I had made the decision in my mind that I would make the drive back to the house in Santa Rosa, CA. I had no idea what lay ahead for me in getting things operating as they should be. My main concern was for the care and well being of Beans and that is why I made the decision that I did. I wanted to know she would be safe.
I had just thrown things inside the RV including the bicycle when packing up the previous afternoon. It was at that time when I hurriedly broke camp that I really appreciated my earlier idea of trying to load the Honda Trail bike from the driver’s side of the carrier using the motor to carry it up the ramp. My idea had worked and I seriously doubted I would have had the strength to have loaded the motorcycle in my usual fashion, pushing it up backwards up the ramp from the passenger side. I would now take the time to hang the bicycle up on the rack in back before leaving the hospital parking lot. I didn’t have the strength to pull the seat out of the frame so I just left it in place and hung the bike up. That was about all I could do. After a bowl of cereal for breakfast we left to return to Quartzsite. My order for the new lights would arrive the next day, Wednesday, and I wanted them as I would be able install them once back at the house. The other items I had ordered I tried to cancel to no avail. Maybe I might get to return to Quartzsite and pick them up then. Maybe.
We arrived back at La Posa North. I drove in stopping close to the entrance and there we parked for the day. I took my time to put the rest of the gear away like it should be in preparation for the long three-day drive back to northern California. It was a wonderful day in the desert and I was growing ever so sad knowing I had to leave. I reflected on how I had just paid the $180 for the permit to stay until April 15 which now wound up being only a few days of camping. Would I be able to return and get my money’s worth of use? The prospect seemed very unlikely to me.
While there that afternoon I got the ball rolling with Kaiser Medical on seeing a doctor when I returned to the house. First was a call to the advice nurse. She heard my situation and scheduled an appointment for a phone consultation with a doctor who would set up a referral to the urology department. “You mean I don’t have to come in for a visit to my regular doctor for a referral?” Nope. This was a new way of doing things due to COVID-19. I liked this. Ya gotta always look for the good in this pandemic situation anytime you can. The doctor would call me at 2 PM tomorrow, Wednesday. Cool.
I enjoyed another restful night of sleep without having to get up many times to pee. I liked this external plumbing with collection bag strapped to my leg. I waited around as long as I could then drove into town to park near Quiet Times waiting for the UPS truck to show. Finally he arrived. Surprisingly the composting material arrived earlier than expected along with the new lights. I had already picked up my new cast iron pan before my waterworks system shut down so now all I was missing was the rubber handle for the pan which was on a slow boat out of China. If I never got it, that was only a couple dollars lost. I said goodbye to Martine and Tina and wondered if I would see them again this season. It was time to go and I was feeling very low in spirit for having to leave Quartzite. I got the idea to put a seat pillow on my lap to relive Beans pressure on my plumbing. This helped, and I then improved upon it before pulling onto the Interstate. I took my drawing board and set it on my lap with the seat pillow on top of that. The Beans pressure problem was solved.
I drove on west back into California, through the inspection station being waved on through once again, past Blythe and Palo Verde Hospital and on into the Mojave Desert towards Indio. I was concerned about being out of cell phone range for my 2 PM doctor call and pulled in to the last reliable area with a half hour to spare. Not much later the phone rang and Dr. Spieler took down all my information. She was very reassuring to talk with and left me feeling positive. She would send the information on to the urology department and said they should get back to me later that day. Things were moving on and we too moved on ourselves. We stopped at a rest stop that afternoon just before entering the Banning/Beaumont area on the eastern outskirts of southern California congestion.
After another good restful night of sleep we got underway taking the route through the high desert of Palmdale and avoiding Los Angeles. I had set a goal of reaching my usual overnight stop at Santa Nella on Interstate 5 but packed it in twenty miles short of that at a rest stop after 346 miles traveled. The next morning Dr. Barrisford from urology called for the scheduled phone consulate. I was not impressed. He basically asked the same questions as the previous doctor had and when I pressed him on prescribing something such as Flomax he said “Let’s just wait and see what happens after having the catheter removed next Thursday.” I would come to regret this but who am I to tell a doctor what to do? I have no college education, formal medical training but I do have common sense. Like this situation is going to magically repair itself over a nine day period? I don’t think so! I would be home on this day, a Friday, and could have gone to the pharmacy at Kaiser Saturday morning and picked up a prescription waiting for me and have at least a week’s worth of medication working on me before my visit to urology.