The other day I stepped into an elevator and out of the corner of my eye I saw a woman rushing toward the elevator.  I pushed and held the “DOOR OPEN” button until the woman entered the elevator.  The woman smiled at me and thanked me for holding the elevator for her.  She mentioned that most people would not have held the elevator.  I told her that it is sometimes the little things that mean so much.  A minute or so later she stepped out of the elevator and then so did I.  We went on our own separate paths.  I did not know that lady and honestly I don’t even remember what she looks like. What has been stuck in my head is that holding the elevator for that lady was so simple but it made a positive impact in both her day and mine. 

I have seen and read about coffee shops where one customer “pays it forward” and buys the stranger behind them a cup of coffee.  The recipient of the free cup of coffee continues the act and before long hundreds of customers carry on this chain reaction.  Every time I see or hear about these types of stories I get goose bumps. 

Holding that elevator did not cost me a penny and I invested less than 30 seconds of my time.  Paying it forward with a cup of coffee is only a few dollars.  Normally the time, effort, and money that you put into a random act of kindness is so minute compared to the joy that you get out of it seeing the recipient’s reaction.

So please stop and think about giving this type of gift. Everyone has something to give.  Eye contact and a smile, holding open a door, allowing someone to go ahead of you in line, these are just a couple of ways to get the ball rolling.  Go ahead and try it!

I found a nice definition of a “random act of kindness” on Wikipedia.  Just reading it made me smile. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone performed one random act of kindness a day?

“A random act of kindness is a selfless act performed by a person or persons wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual or in some cases an animal. There will generally be no reason other than to make people smile, or be happier. Either spontaneous or planned in advance, random acts of kindness are encouraged by various communities.”

Below are details about getting TriCare to pay for travel expenses to attended a medical appointment:

http://www.tricare.mil/Factsheets/viewfactsheet.cfm?id=181

TRICARE Prime and Non-Medical Attendant Travel Entitlements

Under provisions of the 2001 National Defense Authorization Act, TRICARE Prime beneficiaries referred by their primary care manager for services at a location more than 100 miles from their PCM may be eligible to have their “reasonable travel expenses” reimbursed by TRICARE. The travel reimbursement entitlement is retroactive to Oct. 30, 2000.

Eligibility for the TRICARE Prime Travel Entitlement:

The TRICARE Prime travel entitlement is available to non-active duty TRICARE Prime enrollees and TRICARE Prime Remote family members when they are referred for medically necessary, non-emergent specialty care more than 100 miles from their primary care manager location.  The “greater than 100 mile rule” is stated in statute and isn’t negotiable when determining applicability of the Prime travel benefit. 

Beneficiaries must have a valid referral and travel orders from a TRICARE representative at the military treatment facility where they are enrolled or from their TRICARE Regional Offices if their primary care manager is a TRICARE network provider. 

Note:  This entitlement doesn’t apply to expenses experienced by active duty uniformed services members, or active duty family members living with their sponsors overseas, which are reimbursed by other travel entitlements.

Reasonable Travel Expenses:

Reasonable travel expenses are the actual costs incurred by beneficiary when traveling to their specialty provider-not in an emergency status. Costs include meals, gas, tolls, parking, and tickets for public transportation (i.e. airplane, train, bus, etc.). Beneficiaries are required to submit receipts for all expenses.

Government rates will be used to estimate the reasonable cost. Beneficiaries are expected to use the least costly mode of transportation. The actual costs of lodging (including taxes and tips) and the actual cost of meals (including taxes and tips, but excluding alcoholic beverages) may be reimbursed up to the government rate for the area concerned.

General Process for Receiving Travel Reimbursement:

If the beneficiary is referred by a provider at a military treatment facility, he/she should contact a military treatment facility point-of-contact for a briefing on the entitlement process and beneficiary responsibilities.

If the beneficiary is enrolled to and referred by a civilian primary care manager, he/she should contact a point-of-contact at the TRICARE Regional Office.

Beneficiaries must obtain official travel orders from the military treatment facility or TRICARE Regional Office point-of-contact.  Beneficiaries will be required to make their own travel arrangements unless the military treatment facility or TRICARE Regional Office point-of-contact arranges for government travel. Beneficiaries are required to coordinate their own lodging arrangements.

Upon completion of travel, the expenses need to be itemized on a SF 1164 or a DD1351-2 (travel voucher) and receipts are required for all expenses.  The military treatment facility or TRICARE Regional Office point-of-contact will provide the beneficiary with specific instructions on how and where to submit his/her travel entitlement claim.

Traveling with a Non-medical Attendant:

The FY02 National Defense Authorization Act authorizes one parent, guardian or another adult family member to travel with a non-active duty Prime enrolled patient as a non-medical attendant. The non-medical attendant is authorized reimbursement of actual travel expenses. If the non-medical attendant family member is an active duty service member authorized by the military treatment facility or TRICARE Regional Office to accompany a non-active duty TRICARE Prime enrollee as a non-medical attendant, he/she is entitled to TDY allowances (per diem and mileage), not actual expenses.

If the non-medical attendant family member is a U.S. Government civilian assigned to TDY by their civilian organization, they may also be entitled to TDY allowances.

By statute, the non-medical attendant must be a parent, legal guardian or other adult family member. However, if the non-medical attendant isn’t the parent, the non-medical attendant must be at least 21 years of age. The non-medical attendant isn’t required to be enrolled in TRICARE Prime or to be TRICARE-eligible. The patient, however, must be enrolled in TRICARE Prime.

The uniformed services and the TRICARE Regional Offices have responsibility for implementing and managing the non-medical attendant provision. The non-medical attendant benefit is retroactive to December 28, 2001. Non-medical attendants that qualify for reimbursement under this entitlement should save their travel receipts.

For more information about the TRICARE Prime travel entitlement, please contact the local military treatment facility or TRICARE Regional Office beneficiary counseling and assistance coordinator or travel point-of-contact. Telephone numbers and addresses for BCACs are available on the TRICARE Web site at http://www.tricare.mil/contactus/.

Much has changed in our lives over that last two years. Travis has retired from the Marine Corps. We moved out of our old apartment into the one that we are living in now. Travis had CyberKnife radiation. Victoria started middle school. We received AMAZING NEWS that Travis’ pesky Schwannoma tumor succumbed to Dr. Adler’s treatment. NO MORE TUMOR!!!! I started back at work and went back to college.

Travis accepted his dream job at Northrop Grumman. He entered through a wonderful program called Operation Impact. Since retiring from the Marine Corps. Travis has been seeing new doctors. He struggled through Methadone withdrawal and is now 100% METHADONE FREE. He has a prescription for Vicodin to use for breakthrough pain but he has not taken any since June 30th. He has come a long way from his daily doses of 3000mg of Neurontin and 10mg of Methadone.

Our offer was accepted on our first home. (We are in escrow right now.)

Travis came down with Diverticulitis and then suffered from a secondary infection as a result of the antibiotics given to him to treat the Diverticulitis.

So much has happened over the last two years.  Life sure has not been easy but things seem to be turning around.  We are learning to see the glass as half full rather than half empty.  I expect that we will continue to face hurdles but what I have learned is there is nothing that Travis and I cannot accomplish if we put our hearts into it.

Wednesday was day 1 of being Methadone free.  Travis was able to go golfing after his pain management appointment.  Although Travis was a little achy I think that there was still Methadone in his system from the days before.

Thursday was day 2, Travis stayed in bed most of the day.

Friday was day 3, Travis stayed in bed again.  His systems are cold chills, irritability, achnyness, loss of appetite, stomach upset, restless nights, insomnia just to name a few.  Travis did not feel like doing much of anything.  I pushed him to get up and take a shower.  He was not in the move to move but I thought that a long shower may make him feel better.  The shower actually gave him some relief and I think he stayed in the shower until the hot water ran out.

Saturday was day 4, Travis went sailing!  We were invited to join a good friend on her sailboat.  I mentioned it to Travis and he was eager to go.  I was not sure it was such a good idea but if he wanted to try it I was going to support him.  He took to Dramamine to prevent motion sickness as well as his morning dose of Vicodin and Neurontin.  The mix of the 3 medications knocked him out and he took a short nap while we were sailing.  Other than the nap he did pretty well on our 4 hour sailing trip but by the end of the trip he had reached his limit and was ready to go home.  We went home slept again and rested the remainder of the evening.

Sunday was day 5, was pretty much like day 2.  Travis was not feeling well and he stayed in bed most of the day.

Monday was day 6, Travis started the day off in bed and complained of the list of symptoms listed above.  I did some research and find some info online that recommended a cocktail of vitamins and supplements to take to help the detox process.  I made a list of the “ingredients” and we went off to the health food store.  We bought most of what was suggested and it put us back $40, well worth it if it was going to provider Travis some relief.    Once we got back to the store I encourage Travis to play the Wii.  I noticed that when he is up and moving around he seems to feel better than when he lays in bed.  He played Tiger Woods golf for over an hour and seemed to enjoy himself.  That night he started his first round of the supplements.  One that may have worked was the Melatonin.  Travis has complained that he has been unable to sleep.  I gave him the Melatonin and within 30 minutes he was sleeping.  Either his body had enough and he was going to sleep either way or the Melatonin worked.  Regardless, he got better nights sleep.

Tuesday was day 7, this was a great day.  (Travis woke up with the same list of symptoms.) Travis’ cell phone rang at 6:40am.  He did not answer the call; he let it go to voice mail.  I was in the shower and he came to tell me that the early morning call was a long awaited job offer.  Travis had been waiting on this offer for almost 2 months.  This was a nice way to start off the day.  I went to work and later on he called me and mentioned that he had an appointment with a college counselor.  I wanted him to go but I would not have been disappointed with him had he skipped it.  I would have been so easy to use his withdrawal as an excuse to miss the appointment but instead he gathered his strength, drove to the college, and made his appointment with the counselor.  I was so proud of him.  After the appointment he picked up our daughter from school.  Then he rested in bed the remainder of the evening.  He took the Melatonin (along with the rest of the supplements) and fell asleep shortly after.

So far what I have noticed is that although this is a painful process for him, getting out of bed and moving around helps him feels better.  Also making him laugh distracts him from his pain and discomfort.  Laughter is the best medicine!