# Need someone that "knows" me to drive me back from outpatient surgery in Chicago area **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 10, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-someone-that-knows-me-to-drive-me-back-from-outpatient-surgery-in-chicago-area/833790 "2019-05-10T18:08:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Farnorthsider607](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/67e7ee/32.png) [@Farnorthsider607](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farnorthsider607)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-someone-that-knows-me-to-drive-me-back-from-outpatient-surgery-in-chicago-area/833790/41 "2019-05-13T18:03:07Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Farnorthsider, if you haven’t had this form of sedation before, I would strongly advise you to find someone you trust to pick you up. Most people are well enough to take a cab home on their own, but a significant minority aren’t, and you should learn which group you are in before you put yourself in what could be a difficult situation. I am only getting lightly twilight anesthesia ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-someone-that-knows-me-to-drive-me-back-from-outpatient-surgery-in-chicago-area/833790/42 "2019-05-13T19:23:55Z")
But have you had it before? I felt like shit after having that, and my memory was wonky until the evening. (My procedure was first thing in the morning, and I had a lower-than-normal dose, at my request.) I probably could have taken a cab home, but I would definitely have been vulnerable to being cheated. I have a friend who takes two days off for every procedure, because he reacts even worse than I do. In contrast, my sister was completely fine. Lots of people are. But you don’t know how YOU will react until you’ve had it. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-someone-that-knows-me-to-drive-me-back-from-outpatient-surgery-in-chicago-area/833790/43 "2019-05-13T23:43:29Z")
> [@Farnorthsider607](#): > > Would that count as “someone that knows me”? No, it won’t. Most places insist on having someone with you to ride along if you take a taxi or whatever. Too risky for a number of reasons. You can have a friend escort you while you take the Uber (I did just that for a friend last year when I was not able to drive due to wrist surgery). Now, if you hired an Uber driver to come in and say he/she knew you, the clinic wouldn’t know the difference - but if I were driving like that and asked to “be the person who knows you”, I’d be very, very leery of the liability. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-someone-that-knows-me-to-drive-me-back-from-outpatient-surgery-in-chicago-area/833790/44 "2019-05-13T23:49:40Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > The time when they can say, “no”, is before starting the procedure. Every time I’ve been in this situation they asked how I was getting home when I checked in. I’ve done several endoscopies without sedation (so I didn’t need someone else to drive me) and that has always been a conversation. Depending on the procedure, they might not do it even without sedation: post-procedure bleeding (speaking of colonoscopies here) is rare but does happen, and CAN be life-threatening. Someone else mentioned “you could fall at home even with someone there” but the point is, that someone could in theory call 911 for you. With my latest colonoscopy: my son had to drive me on short notice. He hadn’t had breakfast, so I told him “go over to that restaurant and get some food for yourself, just be back here at 11:30”. When they took me back, they asked if my ride was there. I said “he went out to get some food”. Then when I left, they let me go out into the waiting room on my own - as in, I could have lied about the whole thing. I think normally they were more diligent though. If you can’t find a friend or neighbor, look into one of those services. A medical transport service might not be sufficient, since presumably they wouldn’t stay with you afterward; my gastro’s practice actually mentions such a service, so I don’t know how that would work. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-someone-that-knows-me-to-drive-me-back-from-outpatient-surgery-in-chicago-area/833790/45 "2019-05-14T03:57:20Z")
Yeah, but if you weren’t sedated, and you have post-procedure bleeding, you can call the ambulance yourself. The place where I get endoscopies routinely does the work without a designated ride if you aren’t getting sedated. I’ve had both upper and lower there. (I mean, it’s a conversation, because they expect everyone to be sedated. But once everyone is clear on what is happening, it’s fine. My most recent one the doctor refused to do the procedure without sedation, but that was not due to liability, that was because he didn’t think he could deal with me retching during the upper-gi, and still get the biopsies he needed.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-someone-that-knows-me-to-drive-me-back-from-outpatient-surgery-in-chicago-area/833790.md?page=2)