BKP

Lauren -- your story reminded me of our first European adventure. We were in London about a week into our month long trip. I was 7 weeks pregnant and there were some complications that really upset me. We visited the ER in the middle of the night but they couldn't do anything for me so they set up an appointment at a top of the line mother baby unit the next day. They gave me an ultrasound and I saw our son for the first time -- just a little blinking hyphen -- definitely our favorite photo of the trip! As we went to pay my husband and I were pretty sure it was going to drain our account and we would have to call home for more money. When we asked the nurses how to pay they were flabbergasted. They didn't know how to charge even if they had wanted to!

LoveItaly

I don't know if this would happen now but one time while in Italy my husbands back really started hurting him. He was a good sport about it but he was obviously in pain. We left Verona, stayed a week in Venice and than drove down the Adriatic Coast. We stayed a few nights in Pescara and than drove to Isernia in the Region of Molise. We visited friends (almost like family) in a small village in the Region of Molise. Our Italian friend called his doctor who came to our friends house and took my husband into the bedroom. He prescribed some kind of medication and said he could get it at a pharmacy in the nearest city. The doctor refused to take any kind of payment. Our friend and my husband went to the pharmacy in the nearest city and my husband obtained the medication. The pharmacy also refused any payment. We were shocked.

And another time my husband had a dental problem while in Naples. The hotel had a bellboy take my husband to a dentist. At around 7:00pm at night the dentist saw my husband and took care of his dental problem and he too refused any payment. We again were absolutely shocked.

I am not saying this will always happen but I will never forget the kindness, the good medical care and the experiences that we had.

LaurenKahn1

I think the lovely folks at the hospital in Bavaria did not know how to bill me and simply charged me for the brace and that was it (no matter what the bill said). I never even tried to decipher the bill from the German.

I did have one time where a crown on a root canaled tooth kept falling off in Scotland. It was obvious that something would have to be done when I returned. I used a minute amount of super glue to put the crown back on a couple of times. When I got home, I had to have the root canaled tooth removed because it had cracked (which was why the crown came loose and why I don't bother root canaling teeth anymore). Root canals, in my opinion, were made irrelevant by the availability of implants (assuming you can afford implants because no health plan pays for them).

I have never had one of those overseas vacation health plans. It has always been one of those things I meant to do and never got around to.

So far no unwanted mishaps in Australia. I should keep my mouth shut. I have had so many problems with my ankles that I now carry ankle supports with me. If I have them, they work like good luck charms and nothing happens.

caroline_edinburgh

If it's an emergency, your E111 card should cover it, shouldn't it ?

flanneruk

Lord love a duck: you've not got sick abroad lately, have you?

E111s went out with the ark. It's an EHIC you've got to have nowadays. They don't always seem to ask for them (most of us speak foreign so rotten they can tell we're British from the mangling we give their language): but strictly speaking, they're supposed to charge you if you've not got the right card.

Just go online and fill the form in. It's free, and the card turns up a dsay or two later.

caroline_edinburgh

I have the card, I just I still call it an E111 as it's easier to remember !

LaurenKahn1

Thankfully I survived Fiji, Australia and New Zealand with no medical or dental emergencies. I should point out I sprained my right ankle very badly in June and did the whole trip with an ankle support on it, carefully lacing it up every morning. It is almost entirely healed now. When the accident happened, I thought, "There goes the trip." I just went ahead with the lace up ankle brace and that did the trick.

Michael

ferryann,

If the root canal remains infected, it may be more serious than just a root canal. It happened to me and I kept on going back to the dentist for weeks, at times calling him on a weekend because I was suddenly in terrible pain. It turned out that the bone structure above the tooth was infected and had to be scraped clean by having gum surgery. You want this to be done at home, no matter how good the foreign dentist.

fuzzbucket

Dental advice on a thread that's 8 years old?
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