An Update for All our Loyal Fans
Sorry for the long break. We've been very busy. VERY LONG BUT IT NEEDS TO BE TOLD !
Here it is from the top:
On February 4th while descending some stairs in a Motel in Fort Stockton, West Texas,
My wife Wendy fell, dislocated her right ankle and broke two bones. We immediately took
her by Ambulance to the local Hospital. They were only able to stabilize the foot as they had
no Orthopaedic Surgeon on staff.
So after Wendy was stabilized, she was sent by Ambulance to Odessa, Texas a 1.5 hour
Ambulance ride. I followed with the van & trailer. We spent most of the rest of the day there
as Wendy was examined and I dealt with our Travel Insurance. It being a Friday, we were not able to see the Orthopaedic Surgeon til Monday. So we were stuck in Odessa at least for the weekend. So
we decided to make the best of it. I got a Motel in Odessa with a place to store the trailer in the back. Odessa and the neighbouring twin city of Midland are each respectable towns with a population of 100,000 each so there's a good selection of stores and restaurants. Wendy was given a pair of metal crutches to use however Wendy isn't very tall and the smallest size they had was a 5 foot 3 inch pair while Wendy is 5 foot 1 inch. So she used them but wasn't very comfortable (or stable ) on them.
February 5th Saturday we went out shopping. However I should mention that West Texas
was experiencing snow and extreme cold for at least week. Worst winter in 50 years !As we were out shopping, Wendy slipped on the icy sidewalk and fell twice. The first time wasn’t very bad but the second time she went right down and landed on her right arm. Her arm was very sore and she bruised a rib as well. Her arm was in fact so sore that she couldn't grip the crutches any more. Now what to do. I called the Travel Insurance but they would only pay to RENT a wheelchair which was useless to us as we planned to continue our trip to California after Wendy had her surgery. Where would we return a rented pair?
So I located a Medical Supply Office in Odessa and we went to visit them. They wanted $900 FOR A NEW WHEELCHAIR!!!! Anyways I dickered with them and managed to buy a used one for $300 ( which is almost brand new anyways ). So Wendy was reasonably mobile now and of course had
lots of pain killers and her leg elevated.
Monday February 7th at 8AM sharp we were at the Orthopaedic Surgeon's office. Wendy got
right in to see him. His assistant removed the cast and of course numerous X-rays were taken. Dr. Ingram said he could do the surgery but he did surgery Tuesdays and Fridays and Tuesday was already full. So we booked for Friday ( what choice did we have! ) A new cast was made ( in hot pink!! )So it's Monday morning and we're stuck in Odessa for at least four more nights! A couple more calls to the
Travel Insurance were made and they were fine with everything ( of course they're NOT paying for the Motel for now seven nights! - I'm going to work on that ). We were also scheduled for more tests and more X-rays on Thursday in preparation for the surgery on Friday.
Wednesday February 9th we get a call from the Travel Insurance informing us that Dr. Ingram has
advised them Wendy is “Fit to Travel” and would we please get her on an air plane back to Ottawa!
We're in total shock! After much back and forth and about 10 calls with the Travel Insurance they inform us that Yes we can have Dr. Ingram do the surgery however they don't “Guarantee” that
they or OHIP ( the Ontario Health Insurance Plan which covers us in Canada ) will cover ALL the costs
involved. So I called Dr. Ingram's office to ask what such an operation would cost. See Below:
Dr. Ingram's surgery $3,000
The Anaesthetist $2,000
The O.R $20,000
The Next Day Recovery $10,000
Each additional day $10,000
That is only the Up Front costs. If there are complications or anything extra is needed well
you get the drill. Wendy & I conversed and it was pretty obvious that we couldn't afford to
have the surgery done there. However would the Travel Insurance fly me home to help and assist
Wendy on the plane? Yes and they had two possibilities. I could fly with Wendy and return
myself later to pick up the van & trailer or they would have someone bring the car & trailer
for us. However Wendy could fly Business or First Class ( whichever cost less ) one way. I on the
other hand could fly on the same plane but they would pay an economy return ticket.
The Travel Insurance requested that we book the flights (and pay for them – to be reimbursed
later ). This is not easy to do because one is going Business class one way and the other is going return economy. Finally after getting a live person at Expedia it was all arranged for us to fly out
Friday February 11th out of Midland International Airport ( I guess Odessa got the Hospital and
Midland go the Airport ) to Ottawa. We flew Midland / Houston,TX / Newark, NJ / Ottawa.
Wendy arrived in Ottawa on Continental Airlines and had to leave the plane on her bum down the
stairs from the plane into the snow! There a wheelchair took her into the Terminal. Pretty pathetic!
Wendy went to the Ottawa General Hospital on Saturday February 12th and had to stay there til Tuesday February 15th. Her surgery was done on Monday February 14th and all went well. Her arm
was only severely bruised likewise the rib.
I flew back to Midland Texas yesterday February 22nd and the Blog can now continue.
I know this is rather long but I think anyone who travels to the US these days had better know
what kind of medical insurance they are getting. At last count there were over 140 companies
offering coverage. Fortunately ours was one of the better ones ( We used CAA Canadian Auto Assn )
and as you can see they didn't agree to pay everything – YET !
P.S. One more thing to think about. An Ambulance ride: MINIMUM Charge $800 !
