Today we are fortunate enough to have a guest post from blogger Ressa of
Read about Ressa's travels as she uses the world as her playground:
About Ressa...
Born
and raised in Texas, Ressa spent the majority of her life pursuing music and
the creative arts. After graduating college, she immediately traveled the world
in order to grow inspiration for her career and hopes to one day create a
charity organization that builds music programs in developing countries. For
now, Ressa shares her adventures, daily life, and interests on her blog.
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It all started when I had lunch with my
cousins. We planned on hanging out at the mall, and I suggested eating at a
restaurant that catered to everybody's food preference. I ended up ordering a
chicken meal with rice and macaroni salad. Everything tasted great, and my
cousins and I even ended up watching a movie afterwards. It was another typical,
great day with my family. As we ended the day grocery shopping, I didn't think
there would be a problem until I immediately felt like fainting in the middle
of the store.
Now mind you, this experience could happen to anybody anywhere around the
world. I just happened to be the "lucky" one that experienced it
during my travels to the Philippines. This story does not reflect my experience
of the country as a whole, but rather, an unforgettable, difficult memory from
my trip. I wanted to share this experience to let you understand that traveling
is not always pleasant and easy, and I would never want to falsely expose it
that way. What made this circumstance uneasy was the fact that I did not expect
anything horrible happening to me, which was why I decided to not get travel
insurance during my stay. Boy, I was so wrong.
I left the grocery store to get some fresh air, and although my family bought
me water to help me hydrate, it shortly backfired as I puked during the jeepney
ride back home. When I reached back to my auntie's place, I immediately wanted
to lie down on the couch. The idea of me walking around, or even attempting to
eat dinner felt overwhelming for me. My body felt like it was all tied up and
inflamed at once, as if I had a bomb inside my intestines that wanted to
explode. Going straight to bed sounded like the perfect idea to erase the
horrible stomach aches from my memory.
Despite the pain I was feeling, I did feel comforted by my family's
care. My nine-year-old niece heard I was feeling ill and walked up to my
room to fan me with the puke bucket next to my bed. She promised she would take
care of me as she handed me hot tea from my auntie and some vapor rub for my
headache. Right when I needed to use restroom, there was a brownout from the whole
village. The lack of electricity meant that the whole house was pitch-black. I
didn't think I would be able to walk downstairs and properly find the restroom,
especially when I had my stomach ache. Fortunately, I only waited for 15
minutes until the electric outage turned on again, and I was able to use the
restroom. That whole night, I ended up vomiting and experiencing diarrhea. I
knew that I had some food poisoning condition, but I had never felt this sick
in my life.
The following morning, I knew this was an illness I could not treat without
medical help and decided I had to go to the hospital. At this point, I didn't
care about the cost; I just wanted to feel better asap. Due to the lack of
energy and sleep, my cousins had to lift me to the van and accompany me during
my ride. My senses spiked as I was easily nauseated by the smell of gasoline
and irritated by the noise from the morning traffic. When I arrived at the
hospital, the medical staff assisted me in a wheelchair, and I immediately felt
scared. For the first time in my life, I felt like there was a good chance I
might not live to see tomorrow.
I was bawling as I was lying down on the hospital bed in the ER, and the nurses
rushed over me, inserting an IV and asking me medical information.
"Are you allergic to this? When was the last time you did that?" I
was so overwhelmed by everything that was happening at once that I felt really
unsure whether or not I really wanted to go through with my hospitalization. I
just continued to cry telling the nurses I was scared. However, I knew there
was no other way that would help me get rid of my illness. After a talk with my
doctor, I signed my medical contract and decided to stay.
Being hospitalized in a developing country outside of home was difficult. I
didn't want to eat, I didn't want to take medicine, and I didn't want to get
out of bed to pee in a cup. I just wanted to be alone, focusing on staying
alive. My relatives took turns visiting me, telling me to "stay
strong" and "keep praying." I didn't know if I was really strong
enough to battle it. I just remembered what it was like when I was healthy, but
those feelings didn't motivate me to get better. It just amazed me at how
quickly my life could be threatened by the choice of food I eat.
I ended up being discharged the next day, but I did not fully recover until a
week later. It was quite scary looking at myself in the mirror the first day I
returned back to my auntie's place, being so thin ( I was 104 lbs prior to my
illness) and looking so lifeless. As far as medical costs, I had to pay all of
it, and I was lucky that my family helped with the coverage as well. I was just
relieved that this experience didn't hinder the remainder of my trip, although
I wished I did a better job at preparing for emergency situations prior to it.
Some things to know if you travel without travel insurance:
Be sure to have extra money in your budget
for ALL emergency costs
Know your medical history
Be sure you have a copy of your important
documents- ID, immunization record, etc.
Bring a good range of medicine with you
Stay hydrated with drinking water- not tap!
Be wary of meals- always inspect it before
you bite it!
As for the ending of this story, I am completely well and can even look back at
this experience with laughter. Who knew macaroni salad would have such a
dramatic impact on my life?! Leave a comment about your thoughts on travel
insurance and if you ever experienced being ill while traveling! The lesson
learned is that the best option is to get travel insurance, even if your trip
is less than 6 months. I must say, if I HAD to be hospitalized anywhere outside
of home, I'm quite blessed to have this experience with my extended family
there for me.
Until next time- Ressa
