Another Hospital Experience

[Dave Hounddriver]

I am very proud of my Yvonne.

 

I have a friend in the hospital.  He is 70 and his heart is weak.  For many days we have visited and so have many, many or our mutual friends.  He is lucky enough to be in Silliman, in a private room, with decent care BUT:

 

Yesterday afternoon he had a heart attack.  They stabilized him and put him in ICU BUT they have no oxygen machine available to hook him up to as the ICU is overcrowded right now.  This means they hooked him up to a plastic bag that an attendant has to manually squeeze, every few seconds, 24/7.

 

Within an hour all the other friends were gone.  My friend is lucky enough to have a common law wife who is there with him but she is from another province and has no relatives close by to help.  They tried to find a nurse's aid that could be hired to help but none are available on short notice.  The doctor told us that it is vital that this bag be attended to.

 

My Yvonne stayed there all night, taking turns to help out, while all the princesses with the 'rich' foreign husbands went home to get their beauty sleep  :hystery:   I think I got a good one!

 

But be warned if you have to go to hospital here.  My friend will need a bypass operation and he is not well enough to travel so this will cost him hundreds of thousands of pesos that he does not have.  I hope his kids back in the US love him enough to help out.  When you go to hospital for anything serious here you need a lot of money and a lot of helpers and don't forget the blood.  You are on your own for finding all these things.  Being single in that situation is gonna suck.

[mogo51]

No doubt your s.o Dave is of quality stock.

[jpbago]

 When you go to hospital for anything serious here you need a lot of money

 

  Does he have medical insurance?

[Hey Steve]

Hope somehow your friend gets better, Dave..but for what Yvonne is doing is sure an indicator she's a keeper for sure...

[robert k]

Jp, I would guess not from what Dave put in the original post, although even with insurance you may need a wad of cash just to get admitted.

 

Best of luck to the man and his SO.

Edited January 26, 2016 by robert k

[Dave Hounddriver]

Does he have medical insurance?

 

He told me the V.A. will reimburse him for medical expenses and if he could make it back to the US they would take care of him but here in Philippines they don't handle non-combat related cases.

 

I don't know anything more about V.A. but with any kind of insurance its PAY NOW and worry about getting paid back later.  The ICU would not let him in until his wife paid a 20,000 peso deposit in addition to the 100,000 they have paid so far for this hospital visit.

 

EDIT:  Just got back from picking Yvonne up.  Both her and the guy's wife have blisters.  The air con in the ICU sucks so its:  Squeeze the bag for 5 minutes, then fan him for 5 minutes, then repeat.  She left the guy's wife alone to deal with it as "Y" is tuckered out and they are hoping for other friends to pitch in.  Hope they do.

 

There is one guy in the ICU who spilled his bike avoiding a carabao on the road and then got run over and dragged by a Ceres bus who was following.  The Ceres driver did the usual "running over and dragging for 50 meters" to try and make sure the guy was dead (they do that here because its cheaper to pay a death claim than a hospital claim).  Unfortunately the guy lived but when Ceres found out he did not have a driver's license and the motorcycle was not registered then they were able to buy him off for their standard 50K pesos and leave him to deal with the hospital bills.

 

Another guy in the ICU was parked beside the road, sitting on his motorcycle, when his Godfather drove into him with a jeepney.  The Godfather was drunk and is very apologetic but the victim won't live.  Oh well.  Another day in paradise.

 

At least there will be space in the ICU to hook up my buddy to the machines.  :1 (103):

Edited January 26, 2016 by Dave Hounddriver

[jpbago]

Blue Cross Access plan says no cash outlay if at one of their accredited hospitals.

 

Enhance your coverage! Add the ACCESS facility to your Select Plus & Select Standard Plan. Available under Semi-Private and Private, and sharing the same inner benefit limits as those of Select Plus and Select Standard, ACCESS allows you to avail of no-cash-outlay in-patient medical treatment using our accredited network of hospitals. However, in the event that you choose not to go to an accredited medical provider, you still retain the option of filing your eligible claims for reimbursement with Blue Cross.

[Jollygoodfellow]

Just got back from picking Yvonne up.  Both her and the guy's wife have blisters.  The air con in the ICU sucks so its:  Squeeze the bag for 5 minutes, then fan him for 5 minutes, then repeat.  She left the guy's wife alone to deal with it as "Y" is tuckered out and they are hoping for other friends to pitch in.  Hope they do.

 

Good on you Dave, what shift are you taking to help your friend?  Can't someone take down a fan and plug it in? 

[Dave Hounddriver]

what shift are you taking to help your friend?

 

They got him plugged into a machine just before my shift started  :tiphat: . They won't let you bring anything into the ICU like a fan.  Even plugging in a cell phone is not allowed unless you go outside the unit.

[Dave Hounddriver]

they hooked him up to a plastic bag that an attendant has to manually squeeze, every few seconds, 24/7.

 

Just got back from visiting and now I realize, he cannot breathe on his own and has not been breathing on his own for 24 hours now.  That bag they squeeze is an artificial lung.  When the nurse moved him from the bag to the machine he was starving for air and panicking.  A bit scary to see that.

 

So if anyone knows someone who has been through this, how serious is it when he has not been breathing on his own for 24 hours?  Will he start breathing again sometime soon?  His eyes look clear and he tries to communicate with sign language as they don't let him speak.

 

Edit:  Dr Google says he is showing all the signs of Stage C or Stage D Congestive Heart Failure

Edited January 26, 2016 by Dave Hounddriver