A Week in Bed in a New Country
Picture a woman named Cora, sixty-six, in her third month abroad. On a Tuesday morning she wakes with a fever and an ache in her back. The first thing she thinks is that nobody here knows her.
Then she remembers the card in her wallet. On it are the name of a doctor she met when she was well, the nearest clinic, the local emergency number, and a neighbor’s phone number. She calls the neighbor first. He comes with a thermometer and a bag of oranges.
The doctor sees her that afternoon. The visit takes thirty minutes and costs about $40. Cora hands over her one-page summary of her health, with her medicines written by their generic names, and the doctor writes two prescriptions. At the pharmacy, a pharmacist explains each one slowly, and Cora writes the instructions down.
She stays in bed for four days. She learns the local word for fever, which she did not know, and the word for better, which she likes. She keeps every receipt in a folder, because her health insurer asks for them.
On day six she is out in the sunshine, a little slower than before. She has a new list on the refrigerator: a thermometer, her medicine summary, the doctor’s number, a neighbor’s number, and a shelf with simple foods.
She also has a question she had not thought to ask before: does her insurance cover private clinics, and if she needed more serious care, how would she get it? She asks the insurer and gets an answer in writing.
You might say being sick abroad is a risk, and it is. It is also a risk at home, and most weeks of illness are small ones. What differs is how many people and things are already in place to help. A week of preparation can put some of them there.
You could write a sick-day card before you need it. The name of a doctor, the nearest clinic, the emergency number, a neighbor’s phone, and your medicines in two languages. You could stock a shelf with simple foods and a thermometer. You could ask your insurer, in advance, what it covers and how to claim.
Our earlier piece on finding a doctor you trust describes the first step. This one is for the day you use it.
What is on your sick-day card? Tell us in the comments. Someone reading may be about to write theirs.
Tell us in the comments