Another Hospital Experience

[Gratefuled]

 

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):

 

As strange as it may sound, yes, the driver will want to make sure the victim is dead so he will not have to pay hospital cost. My wife cautioned me about crossing busy streets. I listen and obey. Hard to believe but I guess what you say is true.

[Dave Hounddriver]

Quite often there is no follow up to the personal stories our members post so I have come back to this thread to conclude the story

 

 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.

 

My friend passed on this afternoon.  His stay in the hospital has rung up a bill in the 300,000 peso range for what amounted to simple palliative care in the ICU. He had started to get a little better but then had to go back on the ventilator machine and had a second heart attack.  Once again I am extremely proud of my Yvonne for the way she comforted the grieving widow when other friends would not even go in the room with a dead body.

 

As to the other 2 strangers who entered the ICU on the same night:

 

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.

 

That victim did, indeed, pass away within a few days.

 

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.

 

That fellow lived, at least he was well enough to move from the ICU to a regular ward and we can only hope for the best.

[Hey Steve]

Condolences to your friend, Dave...and as a silver lining to this tragic end, you see what your girl is made of. I'm sure your proud of her for what she was willing to do in such a situation.

[Dave Hounddriver]

There is one thing we should all learn from an experience like this.

 

Almost all of the people I know who passed away in Philippines (and they number in the double digits) failed to plan for their demise.  Every one thought they were going to live forever and left no instructions as to what to do with their remains and how to pay for that choice.

 

Many would say they do not care because they are dead already so its not their problem.  That is absolutely true, but while you are alive could you spare a thought to telling someone close to you what you expect to be done in the event of your death AND who will pay for it and how.  It is not the problem of the dead, but my deceased friend's failure to prepare should not suddenly be my problem either.  For me, I have told my mother what I want done and I have instructed all close to me to contact her first.  She will pass on herself one day (or get too old to handle it which is a situation rapidly approaching) so I will have a talk with my oldest daughter to ask her to take on that responsibility.  I don't plan to leave it to my grieving young widow to deal with these details.