Dr offices along trail

imported
#1

I have a rare kidney disease which made me have to take an early retirement. I have to have blood work done every month. I have talked to my Dr about thru hiking the AT. I can do this but I will have to plan on once a month getting blood work done somewhere along the trail. and then every other month I will have to get off trail for a couple of days to visit with my doctor. My question is, does anyone know of how I can find places to get bloodwork done along trail towns on a monthly basis

fatback

#2

If you have any idea where you will be when you need this “what ever” you can put the town name in a computer search funtion and look for town doctors, clinics, or hospitals. Find there phone numbers and give them a call. I also have to get some exams along the way and will use the local VA hospital or clinic. I have located them so all I need to do is stay on some kind of lose schedule and I should be OK.

Because of my medical situation I will carry a cell phone.

gardenville

#3

I’d recommend starting with Wingfoots Thruhikers Guide. From that you should be able to plan what town you will be in or near at monthly intervals. Do a little online research as to what level of health care is available and you should be fine. You may have to adjust your itinerary a little because there are some teeny-tiny towns out there. Good luck.

Nimblefoot

#4

Many small town doctors send their blood work out to labs in a larger city. There is the inevitable delay in getting results. So the good news is you can probably get your blood drawn along the Trail in many traditional trail towns, the bad news is you may need to hang around and wait if knowing the results before you hike out is critical. OR you may have to arrange transportation to a larger town to get your work done.

Maine is the one state where I’d have to wonder about the availability of doctors in every trail town. Would be a good place to dot all your i’s and cross all your t’s while researching options.

Skyline

#5

In Waynesboro, I would recommend Emergicare. They are a walk-in clinic and get blood work results done very quickly (usually 1-2 days). If you’re fortunate, you will get to see Dr. John Campbell. Great guy and will bend over backwards to help you out.

Fly Boy

#6

Perhaps you won’t have to wait.

Won’t you have the results sent directly to your primary care physician? It would be his job to interpret the results and report them to you.

Since you have a cell phone, perhaps you could work an arrangement out in advance where he leaves a message on your answering service - “looks good” or “call me.”

Jan LiteShoe

#7

thank you to everyone, I would not need the results, they would have to be faxed to my dr.then he can leave me a message. I will get the thru hikers guide and go from there. I know there are alot of people out there that like to do spreadsheets about average temps, etc… I was just wondering if anyone had heard of any such monster existing about clinics or dr. offices, again thanks to all who responded.

fatback

#8

I received emergency care at the small hospital in Erwin TN which is pretty trail accessible. I think they did a good job and would recommend them. Rainbow

Rainbow

#9

There will be a Cardiologist, Rheumatologist, Foot Surgeon, General Practicioner, Pharmacist, and a handfull of nurses at First Baptist Church of Damascus, VA during Trail Days. Best of all, their services are FREE. The main thing for this particular post is that the mobile medical unit that these doctors will be utilizing does blood work! Last year this group was even able to diagnose diabetes. Over 250 hikers used these free services last year.

Clay

#10

Forgive me if I’m restating the obvious, but this is one of those cases where having a couple back-up plans for each Doc requirement is a good idea. Just in case anything throws you off schedule while on the trail. Extra hitching will probably get you to a doc faster than playing milage catch-up on the trail,

booger

#11

I wouldn’t think you would have any problems getting to a clinic or hospital along the trail. Except maybe ME, but if you get along that far, try to time it so you can stop in Gorham for blood work. That should free you up to do most if not all of ME. If not I’m sure you could get a ride to a doctor in Millinocket or Monson. The AT isn’t neary as remote as we would like to believe. Good Luck!

Nokia

#12

We hiked with a young lady who had to have a special shot every month. She had to find a doctor on a certain day each month. We hiked with her for over 3 months and she never had a problem finding a Dr.

Good Luck!

Papa Smurf