Preparations for the trip that my girlfriend and I are planning to New Orleans have been wrought with issues. There’s finding an accessible hotel room with roll-in shower, planning cares, for which I asked my mother and sister to come along, and booking an accessible and reliable flight. Yet, of all these tasks, the most daunting, Herculean, hurdle of this odyssey is arranging for the required medical equipment.
Having no better starting point to securing a decent contact, let alone the equipment, I talked with my Human Services Case Manager. Albeit a shot in the dark, her contacts and network were my best hope for finding any leads. After a few days she presented me with a list of potential agencies in Louisiana, but also gave me the contact information for the Louisiana Health and Human Services office. I called the Louisiana Health and Human Services office. They recommended an on-line provider. This provider looked promising: they had the equipment I needed, they would deliver to my hotel, and they were very cooperative. However, when I tried to book the equipment, the site said it was undergoing maintenance. I tried again and again for the better part of a month, without any luck. I gave it a few weeks and tried again. Their site was no longer listed and they weren’t taking calls.
I tried another contact. The agency answered my call immediately, directed it to another operator. I waited on the line hopeful that this time I would get what I needed.
The operator answered. “Hello, I see you’re calling about some medical equipment. What is your size?”
“6 foot, 195 lbs” I answered.
“No, I mean your cup size.”
“Pardon?”
“Aren’t you ordering a breast pump?”
“No mam, I’m ordering a patient lift.”
After a brief explanation I did get connected with the proper department, though the receptionist seemed to be having a bad day. She strongly noted that they only deliver on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s, and that there would be a delivery charge, and that I would be liable for the equipment. She told me to call back two weeks prior to my stay to actually book the equipment, as they will likely lose the order if I place it sooner.
And that folks, is where I presently find myself. Pondering, do I keep calling down the dead-end list of shattered hopes and dreams, or banking on the hope that this puckish and dismissive company will pull through two weeks before my departure.
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