How well do you know your insurance? I’m directing this
specifically to friends living abroad. Do you know what hospitals in your area
are approved by your policy and what your coverage is? Two weeks ago I was ambushed by a
mystery disease and had to figure all this out as I went along. My advice is to
check now.
I’ll preface this by saying I’m back home in Lusaka now and
feeling much better than before.
After feeling sick for a few days I eventually
sought the advice of my good friend, who’s a neurologist, and his colleague, an
infectious disease specialist. I went to the hospital where I received an
ever-evolving diagnosis from the doctors there. For a while they thought it could be meningitis, then
they were sure it was malaria, then a bacterial infection. After a few days of
not knowing what to treat, I opted to use my evacuation insurance and be flown to a very good hospital in
South Africa. That process was pretty impressive; the ambulance drives right out onto
the tarmac to meet the plane. It was a small one with a bed for the patient and
a few seats for the medical team. The team was top quality and I felt like I
could really put my trust in them, although I may have been influenced by their sweet matching jumpsuits. After an hour and a half in the air we
landed in Joburg where another ambulance was there to get me. No lines, no
waiting; this is the way flying should be.
The battery of tests they ran in SA all came back normal and
they were able to rule out anything life threatening. Ultimately they
diagnosed me with some mystery virus that needed to burn itself out. After
getting jabbed in every part of my body, sampling a diverse array of pain
killers, getting my brain imaged and my spinal fluid drawn, and not being able
to go anywhere without trailing my IV drip, I feel very lucky and happy to be
out of hospitals with no more serious diagnosis. I also feel very fortunate to
have had so many people help me out during the process, checking in on me and
helping me make decisions about my health in a confusing situation. It's hard to be far from family at a time like that, but I know they were glad I had people watching out for me here. Insurance
is important, but good friends are equally vital.
Ditto Mark - glad you're ok! Hell of a story. Seems I got hit by the same thing a few years ago. Tri-town susceptibility? Mystery virus ("self-terminating"), used insurance to fly to Nairobi, every test and diagnosis... and friends saved me too. We are very fortunate to have insurance and the resulting special treatment, the whole time I was thinking about a Tanzanian in my situation... and hey, did you start working with insurance instead of loans? This would make a great PR stunt!
ReplyDeleteYeah man I had the same questions, was thinking of writing about it that way but decided not to. It's true though, I was part of such a tiny minority to have any of those options open to me. Not in the insurance game yet, but there was a girl from Ipswich working at the evac insurance company; we knew each other from nyso back in the day, weird.
ReplyDeleteAy, Mark! So glad you're safe and healthy (healthier?).
ReplyDeleteAlso, earlier today I was singing "Sapien my way" and thinking of you and Han :)