I had trouble breathing and was very weak so I went to my local doctor on a sunday who immediately sent me to the hospital in Santiago.
We showed up at the hospital in Santiago at 12 oclock at night on a sunday night.They wanted 300,000 peso cash or a good health insurance plan or a credit card to admit me.
Where are you going to get 300,000 pesos on a sunday night? I learned how important it was a good health Insurance plan.
I was put in a coma in intensive care for 10 days. They told my wife I was going to die. She called my sisters in Canada.
They were going to put a suction tube into my lungs like in the movie Rush when Ricky Lauda was in the hospital with lung burns. The doctor said it was 50/50 chance I would survive this procedure. About 1/2 hour before the procedure I improved so they didn't do it.
I had a very good Pulmonary Specialist who trained in Mexico and Canada. His father had the same specialty.
Being in a coma was a surreal experience. You are kind of aware sometimes of what's around you at times it's sort of like a dream . It seemed like three days but it was actually 10 days.
There were tons of doctors checking on me .
One doctor wanted to remove my kidney stones. I didn't think I had them ( I didn't) so declined this generous offer.
I learned that the hospital is basically a cash cow for everyone there .
The night nurses spent all their time on their cell phones looking at themselves.
My wife spent 2 weeks sleeping on a small uncomfortable plastic chair downstairs in the lobby. They would wake everyone there at 5 o'clock in the morning just to be assholes.
The hospital bill was 30 pages long. We called our brother in law who is an auditor for the insurance company to check the invoice it just to be sure. One IV feeding bag was 27,000 pesos. I had 3.
From this we learned that your plan must cover all meds and consumables while in the hospital or it can easily run up to 30,000 pesos a day or more.
After 2 weeks I had improved and elected to get home oxygen and had a good local doctor to check on me 2 x a day. The doctors were strongly opposed to letting me get home care. I insisted so they reluctantly said I could but without their agreement.
I learned that in the Dominican Republic they really don't consided home health care as an viable option. I kind of understand that but it is an option if you can get the necessary supports at home.
For 25 years I had a home healthcare manufacturing business in Canada so I was very knowledgeable about home health care . We rented home oxygen (very hard to find) for a couple of weeks .
I couldn't walk when I left the hospital and actually fell down when I stood up to go to the bathroom as we couldn't get someone to help me walk there. I needed stitches near my eye and was worried that I would be blind. (Ok now).
When we were waiting to check out they made us wait another day because it takes tiime they said to gather all the invoices for the insurer. If it is a saturday or sunday you wait til monday until the insurrer approves everything.
I was really really scared that I would not have enough insurance to leave the hospital . My wife checked with the insurance company every day to see how much we used. I was really glad that my wife Ramona sold Health Insurance with our insurer so she could check out these things.
I used to sell cheap health insurance plans until this happened to me , and now only sell better policies with at least 700,000 peso coverage .
From my personal experience I learned how important it was to have a good plan.
I would never want anything bad to happen to our clients as we care alot for them. so we don't offer cheap plans .
Most importantly I learned how great my wife is as she stood my me every minute. She slept in a hard plastic chair in the lobby for 14 days.
We showed up at the hospital in Santiago at 12 oclock at night on a sunday night.They wanted 300,000 peso cash or a good health insurance plan or a credit card to admit me.
Where are you going to get 300,000 pesos on a sunday night? I learned how important it was a good health Insurance plan.
I was put in a coma in intensive care for 10 days. They told my wife I was going to die. She called my sisters in Canada.
They were going to put a suction tube into my lungs like in the movie Rush when Ricky Lauda was in the hospital with lung burns. The doctor said it was 50/50 chance I would survive this procedure. About 1/2 hour before the procedure I improved so they didn't do it.
I had a very good Pulmonary Specialist who trained in Mexico and Canada. His father had the same specialty.
Being in a coma was a surreal experience. You are kind of aware sometimes of what's around you at times it's sort of like a dream . It seemed like three days but it was actually 10 days.
There were tons of doctors checking on me .
One doctor wanted to remove my kidney stones. I didn't think I had them ( I didn't) so declined this generous offer.
I learned that the hospital is basically a cash cow for everyone there .
The night nurses spent all their time on their cell phones looking at themselves.
My wife spent 2 weeks sleeping on a small uncomfortable plastic chair downstairs in the lobby. They would wake everyone there at 5 o'clock in the morning just to be assholes.
The hospital bill was 30 pages long. We called our brother in law who is an auditor for the insurance company to check the invoice it just to be sure. One IV feeding bag was 27,000 pesos. I had 3.
From this we learned that your plan must cover all meds and consumables while in the hospital or it can easily run up to 30,000 pesos a day or more.
After 2 weeks I had improved and elected to get home oxygen and had a good local doctor to check on me 2 x a day. The doctors were strongly opposed to letting me get home care. I insisted so they reluctantly said I could but without their agreement.
I learned that in the Dominican Republic they really don't consided home health care as an viable option. I kind of understand that but it is an option if you can get the necessary supports at home.
For 25 years I had a home healthcare manufacturing business in Canada so I was very knowledgeable about home health care . We rented home oxygen (very hard to find) for a couple of weeks .
I couldn't walk when I left the hospital and actually fell down when I stood up to go to the bathroom as we couldn't get someone to help me walk there. I needed stitches near my eye and was worried that I would be blind. (Ok now).
When we were waiting to check out they made us wait another day because it takes tiime they said to gather all the invoices for the insurer. If it is a saturday or sunday you wait til monday until the insurrer approves everything.
I was really really scared that I would not have enough insurance to leave the hospital . My wife checked with the insurance company every day to see how much we used. I was really glad that my wife Ramona sold Health Insurance with our insurer so she could check out these things.
I used to sell cheap health insurance plans until this happened to me , and now only sell better policies with at least 700,000 peso coverage .
From my personal experience I learned how important it was to have a good plan.
I would never want anything bad to happen to our clients as we care alot for them. so we don't offer cheap plans .
Most importantly I learned how great my wife is as she stood my me every minute. She slept in a hard plastic chair in the lobby for 14 days.
