Our eldest son had also had two visits to the hospital the month prior. His first visit, appendicitis. He had emergency surgery and a 4-day hospital stay also at the Angkor Royal and outpatient treatment. Costs again covered by insurance $3450.

My sons' second visit to the hospital was a completely different story. We had rushed him to the hospital as he had taken an OD of valium in a suicide attempt. He had his stomach pumped, and received emergency treatment and time in the ICU. He spent 4 days in the hospital. As we thanked the heavens our son was alive, we also were thankful we had insurance. We were aware of the past experience of how expensive medical treatment is…..

That was until the clerk came to inform us our insurance company said our policy didn’t cover self-harm and asked if we would like to pay cash or card. I would have found and paid a million dollars to receive that treatment for my son. But I am not going to lie, that bill really put a huge dent in our family of 7 finances.

As we looked at further mental health treatment for my son as we believed he had an underlying issue, I contacted the insurance company for pre-approval to take my son to the capital city of Cambodia to see one of the only few psychiatrists in the country. My policy states that he can claim up to $5000 in mental health treatments but our case was denied due to his suicide attempt. The insurance company believes his attempted suicide makes his mental health claim a pre-existing condition and you cannot claim on any pre-existing condition.

Although I believe a suicide attempt is in no way a pre-existing condition. With our world being shaken, I choose to let that fight go with the insurance company. You only have so much energy and I wanted that all focused on emotionally supporting my family.

Subsequently, all my sons mental health treatments we have received have been paid out of pocket by us. We also travel 6 hours to visit his psychiatrist each way, each visit. But like I said, I would find and pay a million dollars if I had to. My son is worth every single cent and even more.

Back to my husband last week. He awoke in agony and declared he needed to go to the hospital. I had had so much time absent from work in the past few months which was beyond my control and thankfully I am blessed with wonderful supportive employers at my school where I teach. “Go to work. I will be fine. I’ll message you when I know what is going on.” I felt terrible leaving my husband in the tuk-tuk and leaving for work.

I received a message from Philippe that his appendix had ruptured and he was getting ready to have emergency surgery. Again I race to my school director requesting permission to leave and raced 40 minutes from the village to the hospital.

Now, if you're a member of our family you know it’s one in, all ini! That includes hospital stays. Each and every time a member of our family is sick and in the hospital. All seven of our family members don’t leave their bedside. Not because we have to but because we all want too! And dad’s hospital visit wasn’t any different. Lucky for us the rooms are very large, around the size of a large hotel room. So there is room for us to all spread out on the floor.

After a successful operation, treatment of infection at the Angkor Royal hospital, including a 4-day stay, meals and a private room, take home meds and follow-up outpatient treatments, my husband's medical bill came to $4591 US. Thankfully being covered by insurance this time. we got home two days ago and he his feeling super! Even making me breakfast in bed today.

Amazingly, for the first 2 years, we lived in Cambodia my family never had health insurance and when I think of it I cringe and again think just how lucky and thankful I am that nothing happened. I have learnt first-hand medical bills can quickly add up and as I sit and calculate all our bills and ongoing incoming medical bills, I can see how this can financially destroy anyone without basic coverage.

We have stretched our finances to cover my sons' medical expenses not covered by insurance. Imagine if we had no insurance. We would be in a completely different situation and certainly not be able to afford the medical bills that have come streaming in the last 3 months.

As my current policy is ending I will be looking into health insurance plans that may also cover mental health treatment or have it an option to add to a policy.

I urge you too when looking for health insurance to fully understand what you are covered for. Maybe even consider looking at plans that cover mental health treatment. Even though you may not have a pre-existing mental health condition, sometimes mental health issues can strike out of nowhere. Just like my sons did.

After many years of being blessed with a healthy family, I hope these little bumps in the road we have had for the last few months even out and it’s all smooth sailing ahead.

Remember, you never know what lies ahead, but you can try to prepare for the worst. Health insurance matters.

Want to check out some of my usual posts of our Cambodian adventures? Check out some of my other posts:

https://steemit.com/bipolar/@mumma-monza/when-your-child-has-bipolar
https://busy.org/@mumma-monza/haircuts-in-cambodia-what-will-i-do
https://steemit.com/cambodia/@mumma-monza/ice-skate-in-cambodia-escape-the-heat
https://steemit.com/travelphotography/@mumma-monza/epic-water-fight-siem-reap-cambodia
https://steemit.com/cambodia/@mumma-monza/school-turned-prison-cambodia
https://steemit.com/travel/@mumma-monza/kids-eat-scorpion-siem-reap-cambodia-leaving-mixed-reviews
https://steemit.com/expat/@mumma-monza/cambodia-ranked-4-top-destinations-for-expats

Proud mum and member of the @Steemmamas discord group. the coolest hangout for Steem mama's #fact.

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