Why do you need travel insurance? Seriously, the first answer that comes into my head when asked this question is, “in case I miss my flight.” Yes, been there, done that, and it can be a costly mistake. However, I recently had a couple of genuine scares that have made me realise the need for insurance.
On the 7th of January this year, while in Kota Kinabalu for a boat delivery, Dwayne had an episode of Transient Global Amnesia. We were in our hotel room when all of a sudden, Dwayne started asking me where he was. Oh shit, I tried not to freak out. Dwayne had had a stroke before, and I thought maybe he was having another. I asked him a couple of questions, such as did he know who he was, his date of birth, and what day it was, all of which he answered with no difficulty. I gave him some aspirin – just in case – and asked him to get dressed, which he could do without issue.
I asked the hotel concierge where is the closest hospital that I should take my husband to, and I ordered a Grab. Once in the Grab, I started panicking a little. My mind was racing with the question, ‘should I have phoned for an ambulance?’ The specialist told me after his last stroke that if I suspected a stroke, I should phone an ambulance as treatment should be started immediately. BUT does this apply in Malaysia? Traffic does not get out of the way for ambulances as it does in Australia, would the ambulance get to us and then to the hospital faster than we could if we went directly there? I don’t know. I was worried all the way to the hospital as I answered Dwayne’s constant questioning.
In the Grab, Dwayne persistently asked me where he was every minute or so. He literally could not remember what I had just told him. He said he should probably have some aspirin which I told him he had taken. He kept saying this over and over again as well. I’m sure the Grab driver was wondering what the heck was going on.
When we arrived at the hospital, I explained that he couldn’t remember anything and that he had had a stroke before. We had to pay 100 ringgit upfront and then take a seat. It wasn’t too long before Dwayne saw a doctor. When I explained to the doctor what was going on, he started asking Dwayne his name, age etc., and of course, Dwayne could answer those questions. I told the doctor that he didn’t know where or what he was doing. The doc asked Dwayne if he knew where he was – no. Did he know how he got here – no. What did he do yesterday – Ummm, he couldn’t remember; even when I told him what we had done the day before, he just had no recollection.
The doctor said he wanted to do an ECG and sugar level test, wrote something on paper, told us to go and pay for it and then wait. Luckily, these tests were not too expensive, and I had enough cash because this is when I found out their EFTPOS machine was not working.
Later the doctor said he would do a CT Scan. Now we were getting somewhere. We were hoping for a scan, as it would tell us if he had indeed had a small stroke. The doctor told me the scan would be 900 ringgit, which I did not have. So I had to leave Dwayne and find an ATM. Leaving your husband at the hospital, on his own, when he doesn’t remember why he is there and you think he may have had a stroke, is very stressful. The ATM at the hospital was Bank Islam which does not accept foreign cards, so I had to order a Grab and get to an ATM. The maximum I could take out of a machine was 1000 ringgit.
When I arrived back at the hospital and found the doctor, he gave me four slips of paper which I had to go and pay for; of course, now I was a couple of hundred ringgit short, as he had ordered a blood test and other things. I paid for the CT Scan, told the doctor, and went to find another ATM. I was a little frantic at this stage; we just wanted the scan done so treatment would commence if needed. I was kicking myself for not getting more money the first time by using another machine. My brain was not firing on all cylinders. At the next ATM, I tried doing two transactions and was able to withdraw 2000 ringgit.
A few hours later, Dwayne had his scan, and the doctor said it looked good, but it still had to be looked over properly by a specialist. Dwayne’s short-term memory had gradually returned slowly during the time he had been in the hospital. In the meantime, I had been searching for sudden short-term memory loss online and found an article about Transient Global Amnesia (TGA). It sounded like Dwayne had a textbook case of TGA. We told the doctor, and he said yes, they were considering that.
In the end, at around two in the morning, Dwayne was released from the hospital. The CT Scan was normal; however, the doctors said he might have had a TIA (small stroke). I think they didn’t want to rule out anything, maybe to cover themselves if it turned out to be more serious. Dwayne’s short-term memory had returned. He could now make new memories; however, those hours of TGA will never return. He simply did not form new memories during that time.
TGA is not serious, but it is frightening. Click here if you would like to read more about Transient Global Amnesia.
In hindsight, he didn’t need an ambulance but had it been a stroke, chances are I made a mistake by not phoning for one. So what I have learnt from this experience…. one, when you are visiting another country, put that country’s emergency number on your phone and two, travel insurance is essential! If I had had travel insurance, I would have been able to call their emergency assistance team, and I would not have felt so alone and anxious.
What about if you lose your passport while overseas?
In another stressful experience last month, I left our passport folder in the back of a taxi in Manila. We had no idea what we should do. We didn’t even know the type of taxi we had taken. When we discovered my mistake, we decided we would have to go to the Australian embassy. We would miss our flights and need to order replacement passports for a start. Further costs that would arise from this blunder would include paying for more accommodation and taxi fares. It would all add up to a costly mistake.
Long story short, we were approached by a security guard who had heard we had lost our passports. The security guard said, ‘we have found some passports, please follow me’. We did as he asked, and sure enough, our taxi driver was holding our passport folder. We gave him a tip, thanked him profusely, and rushed to get our plane. We did manage to catch our flight, but this drove home our need for travel insurance. As the saying goes, shit does happen and knowing you are prepared ahead of time for all the big or small things that can go wrong when travelling can undoubtedly take away some of the stress and worry, as well as the financial strain that occurs when things do go amiss.
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