Sadly There will be no No Noordam Live--DH in Hospital

[Cruzin Terri]

Let me make something clear. We had no idea that health care was free in Italy. We did not know there were public vs private hospitals. We were told by a doctor from a clinic, who came to our hotel room, and we paid that doctor a hefty sum, to go to Gemelli Hospital. So we got a taxi and went to Gemelli. At Gemelli, I took out my credit card, ready to pay any bill that was required and that is when I found out that there was no bill.

 

It was also at that time that I learned that there are two classes of hospitals, private (and Gemelli does have a private sector for the "Solventi" and the public sector). We were not given a choice. We were told to go to the Pronto Socorosso (sp) (Emergency Room) and from there everything happened. The "solventi" make a reservation when they go to the hospital at Gemelli or some other private hospital. I knew nothing of this nor did I have the time to research this.

 

I did not seek out public care so as not to pay. I had no idea that was the situation in Italy.

 

My husband received excellent health care. What was lacking in the hospital was the creature comforts and the ability to communicate in English.

 

Their standard of health care is not the same as what we expect in the US. Privacy is not first and foremost. You do without a lot of things. If you want your creature comforts, you bring your own. We just did not know.

 

As for the hotel, Lady Chew, I am sorry, your experience was not the same as ours. These people have been wonderful to us. They have offered to extend our package that included special amenities that we were not able to use during the first few days. They gave us a reduced rate. They have offered to go to the hospital with us if needed. One of the concierges today asked us if we wanted to take a ride with him to the Tivoli Gardens after he gets off work at 3 pm. any day before we go home on Saturday.

 

We have not given anyone a tip yet. We plan to, but have yet given anyone a penny (Euro). I don't know what is different, except maybe the approach.

 

All I can say, is we are thinking of a do over next year and would not think of staying anywhere else.

Terri

[geocruiser]

But are there any free hospitals where you are?

 

No, not in my town. But if you health care you are treated.

Edited August 27, 2014 by geocruiser

[mollyanne]

Terri - I have read all of this with great interest and am certainly happy that your husband is doing so much better. You have been a SUPER STAR throughout the whole ordeal, in my opinion.

 

Please tell what hotel you are staying in as I would definitely want to stay there should I ever get to Rome. I guess I have missed the name somewhere along the way.

 

Wishing you the best as you head home this weekend. Lovely of the airlines to take care of you so beautifully as well. May your journey flow flawlessly and I'm sure you will be happy to land back here in the US. And you are most deserving to repeat this trip again next year - without all the hiccups!

 

Best to you both ~

 

mollyanne

[sail7seas]

No one is turned away, but someone still pays. Usually those with insurance are charged more to cover those that can't.

 

And for those other procedures it is insurance or pay yourself (and maybe go bankrupt).

 

 

 

Yes, of course, someone is paying.

There is NO free health care anywhere in the world. Italy doesn't have 'free health care', nor does Norway etc

Canada has very high taxes and we sometimes are shocked the taxes added to most purchases and restaurant meals in Quebec City, Montreal etc Taxpayers pay for the 'free' healthcare everywhere. We certainly have plenty of taxes in Taxachusetts and know it is we, the taxpayer and/or those who pay for health insurance, who pay for the 'free' healthcare.

 

However, I do feel all emergency cases should be taken care of and as long as it is legitimate and not taken advantage of, I am fine with it.

 

And, also, yes...... there are people who go into bankruptcy because of high medical bills they cannot afford.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2014 by sail7seas

[Lizzie68]

I mentioned earlier my DH being hospitalized while in the UK. The system there was explained to me when I was waiting for a bill for services. He was admitted by ambulance as an emergency. In such cases, there is no charge. Nor for the subsequent care. However, had we arrived by private car or taxi, bringing him in ourselves, there would have been a cost. The insurance company was very happy.:D

 

Oh, and there was no charge for the ambulance (we pay for that here, no matter what, I think it's about $75).

Edited August 28, 2014 by Lizzie68

[arzz]

I hear you Karen H - but I am not sure that the conversation is that far off track - many of us who travel are curious about how these details with emergency health care happen when we are out of the country and do not speak the language.

 

There but for the grace of God - it could be us ...

Edited August 28, 2014 by arzz

[Wakepatrol]

So sorry to hear this has happened. I wish your husband a speedy recovery and hope you have a safe trip home.

[geocruiser]

Terri,

 

Wishing both of you the best and a safe trip home. I hope that you can get home soon.

 

Blessings to both of you.

[Cruzin Terri]

Terri - I have read all of this with great interest and am certainly happy that your husband is doing so much better. You have been a SUPER STAR throughout the whole ordeal, in my opinion.

 

Please tell what hotel you are staying in as I would definitely want to stay there should I ever get to Rome. I guess I have missed the name somewhere along the way.

 

Wishing you the best as you head home this weekend. Lovely of the airlines to take care of you so beautifully as well. May your journey flow flawlessly and I'm sure you will be happy to land back here in the US. And you are most deserving to repeat this trip again next year - without all the hiccups!

 

Best to you both ~

 

mollyanne

Mollyanne,

Thank you for your kind words. It has been a difficult time, but we are getting our lives back together.

 

We are staying at the Boscolo Exedra Roma. It is now part of Marriott's Autograph Collection.

 

Thank you also for your good wishes for our journey home.

 

Terri

[Cruzin Terri]

I started this thread because I had promised to do a live report from the Noordam while on my Mediterranean Cruise.

 

Due to the overwhelming supportive responses I decided to share my story and I am not sorry I did. It has been a remarkable journey and one we will long remember.

 

I thank you all for your votes of confidence and helpful advice. This thread has helped me and, I am sure, many others, who may end up in a similar situation.

 

We had HAL's Platinum insurance so we received 90% of our cruise fare back. However, we were not covered in Italy except that both DH and I have our own health insurance that covers us outside of the US. I have used mine once in Barbados, when I went to the doctor. I submitted the bill and was reimbursed. He has never used his, so I don't know if it would be as easy.

 

We are presently rethinking if this is enough.

 

We also care for Jim's brother, who is both physically and mentally disabled and take him with us to our timeshares. He only has Medicare and a supplement. We have to rethink his situation as well.

 

This was our once a year vacation to recharge our batteries from our caregiving duties. I guess we will have to wait a while longer to do this.

 

I really hope this thread does not turn contentious. It has been so helpful to me and others. It it is to continue, for a while longer, let us help each other, not argue.

 

Thanks

Terri

[Krazy Kruizers]

Terri

I am just glad you are getting your lives back in order. I know that you both will be glad to get home where Jim can rest properly in his own bed and eat his own food. Hopefully he will be able to see his own doctor soon after you get home to make certain that Jim is healing on schedule.

Yes - many of us have a learned a lot from what has happened. Age had caught up with me and I don't think I could handle the situation as well as you have.

Hang in there -p- just a few more days and you will soon be home.

[Boytjie]

I found the mention of Italy's free vs for pay hospitals interesting. How healthcare is handled in different countries - espscially for travelers - is important information. A few years ago a friend of ours on a HAL cruise ended up in a hospital in Amsterdam and while I don't recall the details, I do remember that they were very happy how he was treated and with the financial aspects of it.

[sail7seas]

I started this thread because I had promised to do a live report from the Noordam while on my Mediterranean Cruise.

 

Due to the overwhelming supportive responses I decided to share my story and I am not sorry I did. It has been a remarkable journey and one we will long remember.

 

I thank you all for your votes of confidence and helpful advice. This thread has helped me and, I am sure, many others, who may end up in a similar situation.

 

We had HAL's Platinum insurance so we received 90% of our cruise fare back. However, we were not covered in Italy except that both DH and I have our own health insurance that covers us outside of the US. I have used mine once in Barbados, when I went to the doctor. I submitted the bill and was reimbursed. He has never used his, so I don't know if it would be as easy.

 

We are presently rethinking if this is enough.

 

We also care for Jim's brother, who is both physically and mentally disabled and take him with us to our timeshares. He only has Medicare and a supplement. We have to rethink his situation as well.

 

This was our once a year vacation to recharge our batteries from our caregiving duties. I guess we will have to wait a while longer to do this.

 

I really hope this thread does not turn contentious. It has been so helpful to me and others. It it is to continue, for a while longer, let us help each other, not argue.

 

Thanks

Terri

 

 

 

This has been a very eye-opening thread for many and you have helped all of us evaluate our personal situations. At least you've made us think.

 

We all wish you safe travel and as 'easy home' as possible.

 

Please let us know when you are comfortably back in your own home. :)

[NYteacher]

Terri,

 

Please do let us know when you both return home.

 

In terms of letting others know of travel related health issues while abroad, I had to take my son to an urgent care walk in center in London for a leg abscess. I chose the urgent care over the Accident and Emergency (ER) because it had a £75 flat fee and I didn't know how high the UK A&E bill could go. They were helpful and kind.

[DrTee]

Terri, First of all I'm glad that things are working out and you'll be home soon.

 

But I also want to thank you for posting about your experience. I always buy travel insurance, but I realize that there are other important things for me to think about (like not getting ill in Italy). Seriously, though, you can't know how much you have helped us.

 

Have a good trip home. I know you'll be glad to walk through your front door.

[geocruiser]

Terri,

 

Happy to hear that you should be coming home soon. You do need a rest from all of this. But I know, it is first things first. I all so like say thank you for posting this because it gives us all insight to what can happy to us while traveling. It also shows how important trip ins can be. You are a very strong woman and made the right decisions through out all of this.

god bless you and your family.

[Vict0riann]

I think what has happened to you and your DH has been a learning experience for all of us, and I'm sure we are all grateful that you have shared it with us. Other people have posted "oh yes, I had a fall and ended up in a hospital in ..... and it was terrible" but you have made it a lot more clear and we will all be better equipped to handle a similar situation if we experience it. I've had to go to the hospital in England a couple of times, but at least there they speak my language, and we've had English family members to take care of us. Your experience, even with Italian, would be much more difficult. Thanks again for sharing, and I hope you have a good flight home.

[Cruzin Terri]

Thanks for all your kind words again.

 

And the story continues:

 

It is getting better. We went to the Borghese Gallery today. We could not use our tickets from last week, so we got new ones and did the tour today. It is a marvelous place. We enjoyed it so much. Now we are tired.

 

Tonight, the hotel is treating us to a three hour tour of Rome by night. This was part of a package that was supposed to be used by Aug. 24. Since we could not use it, we figured we would forego it. We were told that they set it up for us tonight with champagne and everything in the Limo. I am beside myself. I know it does pay to be a Marriott Platinum member.

 

Tomorrow, we pack and Saturday we are on our way. As much as everyone here has been very nice, it will be very nice to sleep in our own bed and be in our own house. It cannot come soon enough.

 

We will call the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday and get an appointment to get him checked out. Hopefully we can really find out what was wrong. I was told appendix -- but this was on the left side, not the right. I was told hernia, hole in the abdominal wall. So who knows.

 

In the meantime, he is not feeling badly. The incision hurts, but he is doing better than before the surgery and we are going on the Limo ride tonight. He wants to do it. If he's too tired, we will tell the driver to take us back to the hotel.

 

 

More later.

Terri

[Boytjie]

I am glad that after all the bad you are getting to spend some time doing nice things! Safe travels back home.

[clogaltocruise]

What a wonderful way to end your not so wonderful trip to Italy. Enjoy this evening and have a safe trip home!

[geocruiser]

Italy is beautiful and I am happy that both of you will be able to see some of it

 

Are you able to ask/receive and of the medical records from the Dr./hospital?

I loved visiting Italy in my husbands home village. So much art work all around you.

 

Enjoy your ride tonight.

[MishelleMcc]

First, Terri, I am so happy that your DH is on the mend and glad that you both have been treated so well!

 

This was a very educational thread for me as well as for others. We traveled to China last December and I fell stepping out of the bathtub and required stitches. I had Travel medical insurance but I ended up not using it. I kept telling everyone that I had insurance but nobody responded. The Hotel, Ritz Carlton Sanya- (we won this trip!) drove us to hospital and my wife was required to pay cash before I was treated. It was about $67.00 US. (ER service, Doc, Stitches, Tetanus shot...) I don't know what would have happened if the cost had been higher than what we had in yen. I never did contact my travel health insurance provider either. I ended up with a bad infection and was hospitalized once I returned to the US but again, I didn't contact the travel insurance. In hindsight, I realize that I should have educated myself as to HOW to use the policy BEFORE I might have needed to use it. Your experience is a great reminder that we really need healthcare coverage when traveling out of the country.

 

Thank you for sharing with us! Have a safe and comfortable trip home!

[Lady Chew]

Terri, I am very glad you started this thread. It has been very informative!

 

About the hotel - up until Mr Chew got sick & some things deteriorated, we loved it. It is a very modern, boutique hotel.

 

We had been upgraded to a large front corner room with a wonderful view of the Via Venetto and were able to enjoy the beautiful weather, keeping our 4 huge windows open most of the time.

 

By the way, the hotel is immediately across the street from the US Embassy.

 

All kinds of wonderful places to eat ... lots of shopping.

 

Great location, right down from the Villa Borghese and if you are walkers, you can walk to many of the "must see's" - Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Forum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain. If you are not walkers, there is a subway stop nearby and the HOHO bus is fairly close as well.

 

Wish you & your hubby all the best!!

[Cruzin Terri]

Terri, I am very glad you started this thread. It has been very informative!

 

About the hotel - up until Mr Chew got sick & some things deteriorated, we loved it. It is a very modern, boutique hotel.

 

We had been upgraded to a large front corner room with a wonderful view of the Via Venetto and were able to enjoy the beautiful weather, keeping our 4 huge windows open most of the time.

 

By the way, the hotel is immediately across the street from the US Embassy.

 

All kinds of wonderful places to eat ... lots of shopping.

 

Great location, right down from the Villa Borghese and if you are walkers, you can walk to many of the "must see's" - Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Forum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain. If you are not walkers, there is a subway stop nearby and the HOHO bus is fairly close as well.

 

Wish you & your hubby all the best!!

Lady Chew,

You stayed at the Boscolo Palace. I am staying at the Boscolo Exedra at the Piazza della Repubblica. Not near the US Embassy and not by the Villa Borghese. Two different places.

Terri

Edited August 28, 2014 by Cruzin Terri

[Cruzin Terri]

Well, we are back from our three hour night tour of Rome. It was wonderful. We enjoyed every minute, even the Trevi Fountain with no water. It is under reconstruction.

 

It was nice to see everything without getting very tired. We stopped at a number of places and got out and took pictures and then continued. Antonino, our driver was fabulous and we enjoyed him.

 

It was really a very nice gesture on the hotel's part and we really appreciated all they did for us. It was nice to see Jim enjoying himself and smiling.

 

I am glad that this has been an educational tool for everyone participating on this thread. The whole experience has certainly been educational for us too. While we were grateful for the free medical care, had we realized we could have sought care at the American Hospital, we might have done so. You know what they say about hindsight.

 

We don't feel the medical care was lacking. It was quite thorough. That first night in the ER, he had an X-ray, blood work, sonogram and CT scan. The next morning, he was in surgery.

 

The horror was the communication and the chaotic environment of the ER. The lack of basic amenities in the hospital such as soap, etc. were an eye opener to us.

 

We do have the medical records. They are in Italian. I tried to get them translated here, but did not have much luck. We will work on that when we get home.

 

We are very grateful for all the kindness everyone has shown us both here in Rome and all of you that have participated on this thread. It has given me a place to express what was going on when I came back to an empty hotel room each day.

 

While we are sorry we missed our cruise, we are grateful this happened in Rome and not on the ship. We would have been put off in some port and God knows where he would have had surgery. It has all worked out. He is on the mend and we will do this over.

 

Terri