Medical emergency Epic help needed urgently

Holy crap some people on here are so uptight.

 

How about this, let’s keep the grandmother in our thoughts and prayers and wish her a speedy recovery.

 

 

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Agreed!! The family needs support. Lots of prayers for all the family. Keep us updated.

This entire thread reminds me of sitting in a surgery waiting room for someone having a minor procedure, like wisdom teeth removal, and there are thirty family members there pulling their hair out with worry. I don't understand it.

Wow. Surgery to repair a severe leg fracture on anyone, let alone a person who is nearly 80, is hardly a "minor procedure." Add in that the surgery is happening in a foreign country, where the elderly patient does not speak the language and has had no choice in who is performing the surgery (very likely complex orthopedic surgery) nor caring for her, and there's even more cause for concern.

Whatever you may feel about the OP's reaction or what she is doing, the medical and related issues are not trivial.

OP: I wish your daughter's MIL all the best. I hope she has a very successful surgery and a complete recovery.

Unfortunately the European Health Insurance Card is not valid for cruises (or ski holidays) So no help from the NHS. Also in the UK, some of the travel insurances do not cover cruising as standard, I realised this a couple of years ago when I read the small print when our policy was due for renewal.

 

This is a stressful situation for the family, I hope all works out well and I wish her a speedy recovery.

 

 

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True, for charges incurred on the ship and during the medevac. But once she’s in the Spanish hospital, she’s covered underNHS.

I would imagine she would have gotten medical and evacuation insurance before her cruise. At her age it’s just s necessity.

I used to chance it when I was younger, but it’s stupid to take that risk to day a couple of hundred bucks or pounds.

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Wow. Surgery to repair a severe leg fracture on anyone, let alone a person who is nearly 80, is hardly a "minor procedure." Add in that the surgery is happening in a foreign country, where the elderly patient does not speak the language and has had no choice in who is performing the surgery (very likely complex orthopedic surgery) nor caring for her, and there's even more cause for concern.

 

Whatever you may feel about the OP's reaction or what she is doing, the medical and related issues are not trivial.

 

OP: I wish your daughter's MIL all the best. I hope she has a very successful surgery and a complete recovery.

They are comparing a waiting room of relatives for a minor procedure to parents booking last minute flights to help their adult daughter fly home. The MIL’s condition is very serious, prayers her way.

Most of the time, the hip breaks and then the person falls. Not the other way around...

I hope she has a speedy and complete recovery but this will no doubt be very taxing on her body. I hope she was in good health before this. This could be troublesome if not...

Of course the son needed to go with his mom! However, it appears the daughter’s parents are flying in to help her fly back home with her son. I can’t imagine what the son is going through, having no back up. When your loved one is in the hospital, you don’t even want to leave the room to get food, in case the doctor comes in. It’s stressful and exhausting. Someone should be there with him, and the OP could take the toddler home. This sounds like a close family, surely the grandparents could watch him.

Wellll, it depends on the family, and their history. My father was away in the military many months at a time. My mother handled traveling with a baby and a toddler by way of container ship while deathly seasick from Europe to New York, then by train to Louisiana.

He was also gone during a major hurricane shortly after. Suffice it to say, we were all raised to be self sufficient to the point that we don’t stay glued to hospital rooms, waiting rooms, etc, and don’t expect it when we are the patient either.

I just asked my DH whether either of us would cut short the cruise or have any grandparents fly to meet us just because we were with a toddler and our answers were the same. No, we wouldn’t. By the time flights would occur the cruise would likely be over, and last minute flights would be financially out of reach. We both have the utmost confidence in the other to handle whichever side of this equation we would have been on. But that’s just us.

In this instance my heart goes out to this family and I certainly am praying for positive outcomes for all of them. A femur fracture that high up in that age person IS a big deal. Only the doctors can say whether the lady could be transported back to her home country for surgery. And I certainly get that, as a mama bear, you want to mother your child no matter their age...

Most of the time, the hip breaks and then the person falls. Not the other way around...

 

I hope she has a speedy and complete recovery but this will no doubt be very taxing on her body. I hope she was in good health before this. This could be troublesome if not...

I just realized it is a high up fermur break, ouch!

Wellll, it depends on the family, and their history. My father was away in the military many months at a time. My mother handled traveling with a baby and a toddler by way of container ship while deathly seasick from Europe to New York, then by train to Louisiana.

 

He was also gone during a major hurricane shortly after. Suffice it to say, we were all raised to be self sufficient to the point that we don’t stay glued to hospital rooms, waiting rooms, etc, and don’t expect it when we are the patient either.

 

I just asked my DH whether either of us would cut short the cruise or have any grandparents fly to meet us just because we were with a toddler and our answers were the same. No, we wouldn’t. By the time flights would occur the cruise would likely be over, and last minute flights would be financially out of reach. We both have the utmost confidence in the other to handle whichever side of this equation we would have been on. But that’s just us.

 

In this instance my heart goes out to this family and I certainly am praying for positive outcomes for all of them. A femur fracture that high up in that age person IS a big deal. Only the doctors can say whether the lady could be transported back to her home country for surgery. And I certainly get that, as a mama bear, you want to mother your child no matter their age...

Yes I agree, it’s a terrible fracture for the MIL, and glad she could get to the medical care she needed. But for me I can’t imagine my mom coming to my rescue like this, some mothers and daughters have a more dependent relationship. My MIL (also 77) broke her arm at the shoulder, ok not on a cruise, and my DH went out to help her and such, but for me and the kids I managed on my own. Now being on s cruise alone with a 2 yo wouls not be much fun at all, but I think I’d want to finish out the cruise, get the baby home and then go see how I can help my husband best

Travel insurance should be able to line everything up for you and even make phone calls. I had an emergency in Mexcio and could not get any English speaking person on a line. I called the insurance 24 hr line and they took all my info, made the calls, arranged everything for me. I wish you well.

Yes I agree, it’s a terrible fracture for the MIL, and glad she could get to the medical care she needed. But for me I can’t imagine my mom coming to my rescue like this, some mothers and daughters have a more dependent relationship. My MIL (also 77) broke her arm at the shoulder, ok not on a cruise, and my DH went out to help her and such, but for me and the kids I managed on my own. Now being on s cruise alone with a 2 yo wouls not be much fun at all, but I think I’d want to finish out the cruise, get the baby home and then go see how I can help my husband best

Just been talking with an orthopod - its nasty and may also need a hip replacement I am told.

Just for the record most insurance do cover cruises as standard and once in Europe all costs are covered with the EHC111.

our NHS are magnificent and once back in the UK I have no doubt the repairs will effected superbly..

They are fortunate then. But if insurance isn’t contacted, it may be all they get. Doesn’t matter. Has to be repaired.

I have read your various bits and you are so wrong. You do not understand our system and not advising holiday insurers will not invalidate anything. In the UK we are all about treating the customer fairly and frankly OP has no need to worry.

I sadly lost a close relative whilst overseas di not advise my insurer and of course they paid out for the return flight. Sauer -Kaut is 100% correct

Its unfortunate that a lot of misinformation is put out on here. Insurance is an individual thing, and what may be the best insurance for you, would not be for the person standing next to you. As well as international plans are different in all countries. What coverage we might have available to us here in the US, will not be the same as,say the UK.

‘I know I would never just leave my DH alone in this situation and he’s never leave me’... not sure how else to read that but judging the fact that the son went to the hospital while the daughter stayed on the ship

 

‘I really hope your daughter is going to support her husband and MIL in this stressful situation’... what part of the original posters story made you think the daughter is doing anything else. I hear that she’s trying to get phone and internet connection to get a flight off the ship and the OP is coming to help to support her and assist her in getting to her husband. Most likely this will result in her taking the child home so the daughter can support her husband.

 

Sorry, I can’t read your post as anything other than judge mental and mean spirited. Not getting what you were trying to say then.

 

 

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Agreed. Mean spirited folks see nothing wrong with judging others, and that is sad. I wouldn't hesitate to fly out to meet my daughter if she were in this situation. We do have a strong sense of family though, thankfully. ;)As a parent, I wouldn't bring a toddler to a hospital under the current conditions either. Sounds like she is doing all she can in a horrible situation. I feel for the entire family.

Agreed. Mean spirited folks see nothing wrong with judging others, and that is sad. I wouldn't hesitate to fly out to meet my daughter if she were in this situation. We do have a strong sense of family though, thankfully. ;)As a parent, I wouldn't bring a toddler to a hospital under the current conditions either. Sounds like she is doing all she can in a horrible situation. I feel for the entire family.

The husband and his mother are the ones in the horrible situation, the daughter is healthy and safe on a cruise with her only child, a nice cabin, a cabin steward, and plenty of free food. If it was my daughter, I’d do what I could to help out those who are in a dreadful situation. In this case, I’d offer to watch my grandson so that my daughter could assist her husband. I have two adult children, and three teenagers. I truly hope I’ve done my job as a parent to instill enough confidence to be able to travel without their spouses.

My mother, age 88, fell down and broke her hip. When we say broke her hip, we mean her femur bone severed itself from the ball at the top of the femur: the ball is the part of the femur that goes in the hip socket. She fell on a Wednesday, had surgery on Thursday that replaced the old bone hip ball with a synthetic one that attached to the femur with a metal rod drilled into her femur. They had her standing up by Saturday, and she was ready to leave the hospital by Sunday and head to a rehab facility.

My mom could not move her leg at all while broken, as the femur was detached from the hip. Any movement of the broken leg, no mater how slight was excruciating. After surgery, she had virtually no pain: there was a little tenderness around the wound, but no hip or bone pain.

She spent about 6 weeks in rehab, and then went back to living on her own in her apartment. Less than 3 months after falling, she was back to travelling and on a Caribbean cruise with us.

I only share this as some encouragement for the OP, who is worried about her daughter's mother-in-law. It might be that by the time her daughter and son are able to reunite, the outlook could be considerably better.

Please know our family will have your family in our prayers for a speedy recovery.

My mother, age 88, fell down and broke her hip. When we say broke her hip, we mean her femur bone severed itself from the ball at the top of the femur: the ball is the part of the femur that goes in the hip socket. She fell on a Wednesday, had surgery on Thursday that replaced the old bone hip ball with a synthetic one that attached to the femur with a metal rod drilled into her femur. They had her standing up by Saturday, and she was ready to leave the hospital by Sunday and head to a rehab facility.

 

My mom could not move her leg at all while broken, as the femur was detached from the hip. Any movement of the broken leg, no mater how slight was excruciating. After surgery, she had virtually no pain: there was a little tenderness around the wound, but no hip or bone pain.

 

She spent about 6 weeks in rehab, and then went back to living on her own in her apartment. Less than 3 months after falling, she was back to travelling and on a Caribbean cruise with us.

 

I only share this as some encouragement for the OP, who is worried about her daughter's mother-in-law. It might be that by the time her daughter and son are able to reunite, the outlook could be considerably better.

 

Please know our family will have your family in our prayers for a speedy recovery.

Sounds fantastic - We have the most amazing system for acute illness and therefore I would like to think this will the outcome for this lady

Travel insurance should be able to line everything up for you and even make phone calls. I had an emergency in Mexcio and could not get any English speaking person on a line. I called the insurance 24 hr line and they took all my info, made the calls, arranged everything for me. I wish you well.

The UK insurance market is good but 5 mins on the internet and SAGA policy by way of example £10million expenses cover - no cruise exemption as is the case with any I can find. The UK market is far more sophisticated than people believe.

Our insurance market is good and cover is excellent all the below offer the same so lets not worry as long they had insurance form the UK they will be covered - end of his point!

Travel Insurance

Age UK

Travel Insurance

Avanti

Clasic Cruise

Churchill

Travel Insurance

RIAS

Staysure

The UK insurance market is good but 5 mins on the internet and SAGA policy by way of example £10million expenses cover - no cruise exemption as is the case with any I can find. The UK market is far more sophisticated than people believe.

 

Our insurance market is good and cover is excellent all the below offer the same so lets not worry as long they had insurance form the UK they will be covered - end of his point!

Travel Insurance

Age UK

Travel Insurance

Avanti

Clasic Cruise

Churchill

Travel Insurance

RIAS

 

Staysure

I do think the OP also said they have travel insurance, so either way they’ll be fine. Sadly we Americans are not used to being well taken care of like this without battles and large expenses....

I do think the OP also said they have travel insurance, so either way they’ll be fine. Sadly we Americans are not used to being well taken care of like this without battles and large expenses....

Ha!! You speak only for yourself. Our medevac, onboard charges, foreign hospital charges and then local medical expenses were taken care of, and rather promptly too!

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Ha!! You speak only for yourself. Our medevac, onboard charges, foreign hospital charges and then local medical expenses were taken care of, and rather promptly too!

 

 

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By your health insurance or your travel insurance? I’m not going to defend the US health insurance industry, though I’ll acknowledge that some are fortunate to have good coverage (including myself)

The UK insurance market is good but 5 mins on the internet and SAGA policy by way of example £10million expenses cover - no cruise exemption as is the case with any I can find. The UK market is far more sophisticated than people believe.

 

 

 

Our insurance market is good and cover is excellent all the below offer the same so lets not worry as long they had insurance form the UK they will be covered - end of his point!

 

Travel Insurance

 

Age UK

 

Travel Insurance

 

Avanti

 

Clasic Cruise

 

Churchill

 

Travel Insurance

 

RIAS

 

 

 

Staysure

If, you are referring to ‘end of his point’ as my post about cruises being excluded from some standard insurances, then he is a she. I apologise if you were referring to something else.

I agree our insurance market is good but only 35% of UK travel insurance policies cover cruise holidays. (I just googled that- took less than 30 seconds) As I said in my earlier post, our policy did not cover cruise holidays and I was surprised at this so did a bit of research. Also, E111 or EHIC does not cover repatriation, just necessary treatment in a state hospital, travel insurance may cover this depending on the cover.

We’re not old enough to use SAGA or Age UK [emoji51]

Despite being flamed for daring to offer any advice or sharing knowledge, I have certainly learnt a lot from these boards. Some good, some bad [emoji16] Happy cruising!

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Just a small point of clarification for those not familiar with an EHIC card. You have to apply for one in advance and with a few exceptions only works in Europe. The card is free, but you need to have it before you travel. It doesn’t give free treatment, you get treated at the same cost and in the same hospitals as locals using their own national health service. If they pay a contribution so do you. It doesn’t provide repatriation or cover the costs of a travelling companion.

The vast majority of UK phone contracts now include ‘roam like home’ which covers all of Europe so you can make calls and use data at no extra cost as long as you have a network signal.

Be aware that the ship's Cellular at Sea network signal is Bahamian (routed via satelite) and will cost most users extra versus the roaming in Europe you explained. Be sure to connect to the right antenna tower when a land signal pops up whilst on board. :)

By your health insurance or your travel insurance? I’m not going to defend the US health insurance industry, though I’ll acknowledge that some are fortunate to have good coverage (including myself)

Both. My employer insurance covers me world wide including medevac and cruise ship charges. There was some coordinating of benefits between the two and if there was any out of pocket if was a minuscule amount. I have really good insurance thru the Blues.

Regardless I would never travel without travel medical/evac/repatriation Insurance.

Their customer service is available 24/7/365. Well, Allianz is anyway.

Speaking of repatriation insurance. No one like to talk about it, but you have to make sure it includes mortal remains.

Isn't it funny how different families are?

I'm 51 with a 25 year old daughter and a 71 year old mother. I would be HORRIFIED if my parents flew to me in such a situation, and my daughter would be equally horrified if I flew to her. Best to be calm and on the ground in the UK when the daughter arrives, to lend help with the baby and decide next steps.

The daughter's voice is really missing from this story. Does she REALLY want her parents to rush to her aid? She's a grown woman with a baby and therefore surely capable of keeping her head in an emergency. I wish that the daughter would come post an update, it would be super interesting.