The best laid plans...

This is a completely revised post.  Nonna 2 got sick during this trip, likely something she was exposed to before departing for Yellowknife.  She was "off her feed" starting Tuesday afternoon, and on Wednesday, after dog sledding, essentially slept nonstop until departure time.  It was on Tuesday that she thought to check her toiletry kit for an important item she usually keeps there, a thermometer.  Alas, it was not in place.  Nonetheless, we're pretty sure she was running a fever beginning Tuesday night. Being sick on vacation (usually planned and saved for so far in advance) is no fun.  So, some thoughts to ponder on foreign travel:

  1. Do you know if your insurance card will work in your host country?  
  2. Do you know how to access health care in the place you will be visiting?
  3. If your only alternative is going to the emergency room, at what point do you decide it's an emergency?      This is what we found to be our situation if we wanted to see a doctor.  The local emergency care clinic, open 5-9 PM for walk-ins, only saw folks with the Canadian universal healthcare card.  At home I wouldn't go to the ER for a low grade fever, so it seemed silly to do so in Canada, but it really tainted the last 2 days of our trip (and more upon arrival home) and put others at risk through exposure.  We did, however, talk to the local pharmacist who suggested "symptom suppressants", hydration, and basic public health safety measures (wash hands, use a mask) to get Nonna 2 home with minimum risk to others.

Thinking back on other foreign travel when we were decades younger, Nonna 1 cut herself badly with a knife and needed stitches.  Nonna 2 developed goiter on a farm-stay vacation and had a visiting doctor come in.  Accidents happen.  On our next Nonne trip, we'll be sure to develop a better health care plan of action before we go.

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