Let's Talk Hospital Visits
Well...I know my study abroad insurance works!
Today's blog is all about my crazy hospital visits and injuries this semester. Safe to say I definitely got my money's worth out of my study abroad insurance.
Number One: I Stepped on Glass in Australia and Had It Surgically Removed in Singapore
Here's the story.
Before flying to Singapore to start my semester abroad, I spent a week in Australia visiting one of my friends. One morning, I walked to Surfers Paradise Beach to watch the sunrise. A little backstory: right before leaving for my trip, I had bought the cheapest pair of flip-flops from Target. They were so uncomfortable and hadn't been broken in yet, so after walking about 15 minutes to the beach, I had terrible blisters.
On the walk back, I decided it would actually be less painful to just go barefoot. Looking back, this was not one of my better ideas. I was mostly worried about germs and bacteria, not that I would actually step on something.
I walked the entire 15 minutes back barefoot. Then, after making it all the way to the front door of my hostel where I easily could have put my flip-flops back on, I decided not to. I took just a few more steps...and stepped directly on a piece of glass.
At the time, I was in a rush because I needed to shower, eat breakfast, and head to the airport. I brushed it off, put my flip-flops back on, and walked inside. I could definitely feel something in my foot, so I tried digging around with my fingernails to see if I could get it out. I didn't have tweezers, and after a few unsuccessful attempts, I gave up. Somehow I convinced myself it would just work its way out over time. I don't really know what I was thinking.
Over the next few days, after getting settled into Singapore and walking all around the city with my roommates, my foot just kept hurting more and more. Eventually I looked at the bottom of my foot and noticed a hard black spot had formed where I stepped on the glass. At that point I knew I couldn't ignore it anymore.
Up until then, I had never really had to navigate going to a doctor by myself while abroad. I knew I had study abroad insurance, but I honestly hoped I would never have to use it. I had no idea how the process worked. I first went to two or three different clinics around Buona Vista and Holland Village before they all recommended that I go to Gleneagles Hospital.
At the hospital, they took an X-ray and immediately found a foreign body lodged in my foot. That same day they were able to perform the procedure to remove it. My roommates came with me and even held my hand while they prepared the numbing injections. Those shots hurt so bad. They had to leave before the actual procedure started, but they later told me they could hear my little screams as they walked down the hallway. I was awake for the entire procedure while the doctor cut open my foot and removed two pieces of glass.
It was around 4:00 a.m. back home, but the doctor was so kind that he encouraged me to FaceTime my parents. He even talked to them himself, showed them the instruments he used, and explained exactly what he had done. One thing I really noticed was how personal the care felt. The doctor and nurses added me to a WhatsApp group so we could easily communicate about my recovery. I went back a few days later for a follow-up appointment, and everything healed really well. I even got to keep my printed X-rays, which I thought were so cool. They actually became the very first thing I hung on what eventually became my "junk wall" in my apartment.
After the procedure, they wrapped my foot, gave me some creams, and sent me home. Figuring out the insurance process was a little confusing at first, but once I called them everything made sense. I submitted my claim, and the insurance company ended up paying the hospital directly.
Number Two: An Allergic Reaction in Indonesia
My second hospital visit happened during a day trip to Batam, Indonesia. My roommates and I had taken a ferry over for the day. Our plan was to explore the city, eat some authentic Indonesian food, maybe journal at the beach, and finish the day with a spa appointment.
Because of my peanut allergy, I always travel with an EpiPen. I also had a note translated on my phone explaining my allergy since I knew there would likely be a language barrier.
We went to a local restaurant, and the waiter really only knew two English words: "No peanut." Looking back...that probably should have been my warning sign.
I ordered a chicken dish and fried bananas, while one of my friends ordered something with peanuts. We also ordered a vegetable roll to share. We repeatedly told the waiter, "No peanut." When he brought out the vegetable rolls, he realized that the plate also had peanut sauce and immediately said, "Peanut! Peanut!" before taking the sauce away.
I was starving, so without thinking I picked up one of the vegetable rolls and barely touched it to my tongue before realizing that was probably a terrible idea since it had been sitting on the same plate as the peanut sauce. I put it back down and didn't eat any more of it. The rest of lunch was completely normal. We booked our spa appointments and spent the afternoon walking around a mall.
Then all of a sudden about 3 hours later I started feeling really sick. I sat down, and over the next several minutes my symptoms kept getting worse. My chest started tightening, I developed a cough, and breathing became more difficult.
At first, one of my friends bought me a drink because we weren't sure what was happening, but it didn't help. Then it hit me that I was probably having an allergic reaction. Later when I looked back at pictures of the vegetable rolls I realized that the corner that my tongue touched indeed did have peanut sauce.
So naturally...I called my mom (of course if was 3:00 am her time…)
After talking to her, I gave myself my EpiPen. Within minutes my chest started loosening up, and the coughing began to stop. We tried calling an ambulance, but none of the emergency numbers worked. Instead, we had to order a Grab. The driver didn't speak any English, so he had no idea we were trying to explain that it was an emergency, but thankfully he got us to the hospital quickly. Both of my roommates stayed with me the entire time.
I was seen almost immediately, given medication, and then took a nap while they monitored me. The entire hospital visit only cost about $50, and insurance covered it. Meanwhile, while I was asleep, one of my friends messaged the spa on WhatsApp and somehow convinced them to move our appointments back.
After I was discharged, I was able to speed up the pharmacy process just enough that we made it to the spa almost exactly on time. We spent the rest of the evening getting hair treatments, hairstyling, manicures, and pedicures. At one point, I think there were three people working on each of us. Then, somehow, we finished with just enough time to grab another Grab, make it to the ferry terminal, and catch the very last ferry back to Singapore.
It was one of the craziest days of the semester, but somehow everything worked out perfectly.
Number Three: Just Plain Sick
This one wasn't nearly as dramatic.
During the last few weeks of the semester, I got really sick with a bad cough and ended up spending several days in bed trying to recover. I went to a clinic in Holland Village, but I never really got a clear diagnosis. They basically told me to rest, drink fluids, and let my body recover.
It definitely wasn't the most exciting part of studying abroad.
Number Four: Almost Another Hospital Visit
This one was completely self-inflicted.
One of my goals while living in Singapore was to walk around the entire perimeter of the country. In total, it ended up being almost three marathons worth of walking.
After two days, during the last hour and a half of the second day, I could feel my ankles getting weaker and knew something wasn't quite right with my foot. Instead of stopping, I decided to push through because I was close to my checkpoint at the Chinese Garden MRT station.
The next morning, my left calf, knee, ankle, and foot all hurt. I started walking anyway but only made it about 30 minutes before realizing it was a terrible idea. I figured if I kept going, I would probably end up with a stress fracture.
So I took about a month off to let everything recover. On the very last day I had left in Singapore, I finally finished the walk. Ever since that second day, though, I've had pain whenever I walk long distances, especially across the tops of my feet, around my ankles, and along the sides of my feet. I kept convincing myself it was something minor that would eventually heal with rest.
Then, over the summer, I had a wakeboarding accident and injured those exact same areas again. As I'm writing this, I'm actually getting an MRI tomorrow, so hopefully I'll finally get some answers and provide an update in another blog!
Looking back, this semester definitely had more medical adventures than I expected. Thankfully, everything turned out okay, and now they're just funny stories to tell...although I definitely wouldn't mind if my next semester abroad involved a little less time in hospitals.
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