Semester at Sea: Raymond K. Ho, Lifelong learner, detached retina in South Africa, January 25, 2012 [Post 319]
57 commentsSemester at Sea: Raymond K. Ho, Lifelong learner, detached retina in South Africa, January 25, 2012 [Post 318]
For those who are interested, this is a somewhat lengthy account of what
happened to my eye during the F11 Semester At Sea :
Medex and Travel Insurance :
All of us on board the MV Explorer for the Semester at Sea (SAS) were covered
with up to $100K worth of Medex Travel Insurance paid for by The Institute for
Shipboard Education (ISE). It covers all Medical Emergencies both on ship and
ashore during the 110 days of our Voyage. Most Insurance Companies normally
only deal with the money part : you have to find your own medical services
providers and pay for it yourself, then you file a claim. You will be reimbursed
only if they approve your claim for covered expenses.
Medex operates in a different way : they have local contacts all over the world
and were aware of the Countries we were visiting. So when you have medical
emergency you call them first and Medex will locate and make arrangement
with nearby medical facilities, also guarantee payments to them so that they can
attend to your needs right the way. But Medex only acts as your secondary (or
third) insurance so they will try to get reimbursement from your own primary
insurance and from any other additional travel insurance you might have
purchased for the voyage (like Travel Guard, American Express, etc). While
Medex is great in handling emergencies up front, but after the urgency is over,
seems like another department takes over and you are pretty much on your own
to deal with any follow up visits with doctors and file claim yourself with your
own primary Insurance. That was my own experience with Medex.
In my case :
I noticed a slight blurring of vision in my right eye in late September while we
were in Capetown. As I felt no pain, I thought it was just a temporary condition
and did not pay much attention to it, so I went on field trips to The Cape of
Good Hope and up Table Mountain etc. When my vision got progressively
worse a few days later (we were already at sea), I went down to the Clinic.
I was in good hands :
Heidi immediately diagnosed it as detached retina. Dr Phil was not on duty, so
she checked with the other Filipina Doctor on the ship who concurred it was the
case. While it was not a life threatening situation, detached retina needs to be
treated ASAP or I could go blind, so they called the Captain right the way to
declare Medical Emergency. Medex was notified and the Captain speeded up
the ship and changed course to head for nearest land in case I needed to be taken
off by helicopter. The next day we were within sight of the southern coast of
Madagascar (we had a FAST ship), but Medex decided not to use helicopter
(may be none were available near there?) and so we spend another day and a
half heading for Mauritius. Our ship arrived Port Louis the evening on 10/3, by
that time I could not even see out of that eye at all, it was all black. A Navy
Commander from the US Consulate was waiting at dockside, he was sent by
The States Department to meet our ship to offer assistance. After meeting with
Jill and Dr Phil, he checked my Passport to make sure I have all the necessary
stamps to enter/depart Mauritius, also gave me his cell phone # to call anytime I
needed help while in Mauritius. The Air Ambulance had arrived a few hours
earlier but the flight crew needed the mandatory rest before they could fly again,
so we stayed at the Hotel Link for the night (by the way my bath room in that
Hotel was larger than my cabin on the Explorer). Went to the Airport next
morning, after clearing Immigration and Customs through a special line, we
took a shuttle to the Air Ambulance which was parked at the other end of the
Airport. Their “shuttle” for us was a Porsche Cayenne and the Air Ambulance
was a Citation-II twin-engined Jet with 2 pilots, a nurse and a Doctor. While the
pilots were in white shirts and ties, the medical team were in jump-suits. The
Doctor told me she also work in rescue helicopters, so she would be the one
going down and up the hoist with the litter. The five of us flew for over 6 hours
to Johannesburg in South Africa and the flight Doctor went with me to the
MillPark Hospital where she ordered a late lunch for me while she did all the
paperwork to check me in. (I was told MillPark was like the Johns Hopkins of
South Africa, and Nelson Mandela stayed there when he was ill earlier in the
year.) This was the first time in my life to stay in any Hospital (except when I
was born), so I was not in a position to compare MillPark with others, but the
staffs there were friendly and the food was better than those on the ship. I was
put in the ‘high observation area’ right across from the nurses station, and down
the hall from the waiting lounge for family and visitors with vending machines
including one for ice cream, and they had Häagen-Dazs.
The Ophthalmic Surgeon examined me late that evening to confirm that my
retina was indeed almost completely detached and he scheduled the operation.
He explained to me that I had a large horseshoe shaped tear in my retina where
fluid got behind it and lifted it off. He also told me that he booked me into
MillPark because his office was located there so he could check on me often,
but the surgery will be done at their ‘Eye Center’ in a nearby Hospital. The next
day I was transported by Ambulance to the Garden City Hospital where he and
another Doctor operated on me for almost 2 hour to repair the retina with laser
(that was on Sea Olympic Day). I am not going to bore you with details but I
was told the retina re-attachment operation was like hanging wall paper and
getting the wrinkles out. Back to MillPark after the surgery, everything seemed
well, but the following day I had a massive inflammation and was given a shot
in the eye, then eye drops every 1/2 hour throughout the night. It was under
control the next day. Two days later, I could see lights with no blind spots, and
the Doctor verified that my retina was in place. He was ready to discharge me
but will hold me over the weekend for observation as I will be at sea later. They
had put silicone oil in my eye so that I could fly sooner, but the oil had to stay in
for about 3 months and will need an extra operation later to remove it. As the oil
was not 100% transparent, I could not see through it clearly, so couldn’t tell how
much of my vision had recovered. They could have put air in my eye and I
would then be able to see clearly through air, but I wouldn’t be able to fly for
another 3 weeks until the air had dissipated. So oil was the better choice.
I had brought my Laptop with me but there were no public Internet access at the
Hospital so I was not able to communicate with anybody during that time (I did
not have a cell phone). But as I was not confined to bed, I could walked around
and talked to people, also to the waiting lounge for ice cream. Everyone I talked
with (Staffs, patients and their family) were fascinated by my journey on the
MV Explorer and about SAS, so I was like a semi-celebrity.
I was discharged on Monday, but was not able to get any air ticket from the
Emirates Airline as they required all sort of clearances from Doctors and
Hospital. Then after they got all the paperwork, they had to send it to their own
Head Office (in UAE) for approval. So I was kind of stuck in Johannesburg for
a few more days. Finally I told the travel agent to just book me on another
Airline without telling them about my eye operation. She did and I flew out the
next day, arriving India a day later just in time to get back on our ship, and we
sailed that same evening. Throughout the rest of our voyage, I could not see
clearly with oil in that eye, and without good parallax I could not judge
distances very well. Some of you might have noticed that I sometimes spill
water while trying to fill my water glass at the dining table, and I walked slowly
when going up and down stairs and the gangway.
I left the ship in Vietnam and flew to HongKong to attend my niece’s wedding.
That was almost a month after the surgery and needed a follow up to have my
eye checked as instructed by the South African Surgeon. Medex would have
nothing to do with it as it was no longer an emergency, they just told me to take
care of it myself and then file claim with my own primary insurance.
Fortunately I knew my way around Hong Kong, and with some help, I was able
to secure an appointment with one of the top Ophthalmologist on short notice.
He was not cheap and I had to pay cash, but my eye checked out OK.
I did not have my eye checked at Hilo in Hawaii as we were only there for one
day, and without any assistance from Medex I would not be able to locate any
non-emergency services of Ophthalmologist on Thanksgiving day.
How do I rate Medex :
When I had dinner with Dr Phil later, he said he was also not very happy with
how Medex handled the follow ups in some of his cases. But then when I look
at it objectively, Medex was acting no differently than any other Insurance
Companies : They all wanted you to do your own arrangement for services, pay
for it yourself and submit claim, then they will reimburse you later if they
approve your claim. On the other hand, Medex did provided me with some very
good and valuable assistance in arranging for emergency medical services when
I really needed it, so I can’t really complain about it.
I was told detached retina if treated within 48 hours has a very good chance of
full recovery. But if blood supply is cut off to the retina for too long, it may not
fully recover and I could even go blind. In my case, it was already several days
at seas, way past that “golden 48 hours”. As I couldn’t even see any light with
that eye at all when I left the ship at Mauritius, so I was prepared for the worse.
Later I also learned from others that during those Apartheid years when South
Africa was under International sanctions, it was cut off from the rest of the
modern world, so in order to be self sufficient they had spent lots of money in
research in many areas. As a result, they are quite advanced in some medical
fields as you may recall they did the first heart transplant back in the ’60s. The
MillPark Hospital actually has a Foreign Patients Liaison Office so it is setup to
routinely deal with patients from other Countries. So I was kind of lucky to have
my surgery done there.
While Medex made all the emergency arrangements, my own primary health
insurance (Kaiser Permanente of Northern California) actually picked up all the
major medical expenses including the (must be very expensive) Air Ambulance.
So Medex was off the hook for the big bills, and the ship didn’t even charge me
for the visits to the Clinic. My only out of pocket expenses in Johannesburg
were for ice creams.
I felt absolutely no pain throughout this whole ordeal. A month after I got home,
I had the silicone oil in my eye removed (in Jan 2012). My vision is still a bit
‘wavy’ when I look at vertical straight edges (like door jambs) so looks like there
are some imperfection or ‘wrinkles’ in my retina, but I do have full Peripheral
Vision and can see in full color. While the recovery is not 100%, it is more than
what I expected (as I couldn’t see at all with that eye when I was taken off the
ship in Mauritius), so I can live with that and still consider myself lucky.
Au trecut pe aici :
57 Responses to “Semester at Sea: Raymond K. Ho, Lifelong learner, detached retina in South Africa, January 25, 2012 [Post 319]”
Leave a Reply
Login
Register | Lost your password?
Photo of the day
Archives
- February 2012 (52)
- January 2012 (22)
- December 2011 (21)
- November 2011 (9)
- October 2011 (18)
- September 2011 (21)
- August 2011 (18)
- July 2011 (22)
- June 2011 (12)
- May 2011 (26)
- April 2011 (22)
- March 2011 (20)
- October 2010 (1)
- June 2009 (2)
- May 2009 (1)
- April 2009 (3)
- January 2009 (13)
- November 2008 (11)
- October 2008 (4)
- March 2008 (2)
- December 2007 (1)
- November 2007 (2)
- September 2007 (2)
- September 2006 (49)
- July 2006 (18)
Joyce Carol Oates: “If you explore beneath shyness or party chit-chat, you can sometimes turn a dull exchange into an intriguing one. I’ve found this to be particularly true in the case of professors or intellectuals, who are full of fascinating information, but need encouragement before they’ll divulge it.”
I am curious to find out what blog platform you’re using? I’m experiencing some minor security problems with my latest site and I’d like to find something more safeguarded. Do you have any solutions? Peace, Daniella
Hello. It is wordpress 3.3.1. Akismet is my spam eliminator. Welcome to read more of the blogs. Michael
Excellent post. This was a truly fascinating post. I wish to discover more very soon.
I am often to blogging and i really appreciate your content. The page has really peaks my interest. I am going to save your site and keep checking for new information.
This is the most informative blog on vending machines that I have ever come across I will definately like to read even more.
This is the most informative blog on vending machines that I have ever come across I will definately like to read even more.
It’s an extremely amazing powerful resource that you’re offering and you simply provide it away cost-free!! I quite like discovering websites of which see the particular property value providing you fantastic learning resource for zero cost. We truly dearly loved examining this site. Enjoy it!
I’ve been browsing online greater than 3 hours nowadays, yet I by no means found any interesting article like yours. It’s beautiful value sufficient for me. Personally, if all webmasters and bloggers made excellent content as you did, the internet can be a lot more useful than ever before. “We are not retreating we are advancing in another Direction.” by Douglas MacArthur.
I seldom leave a response, but i did some searching and wound up here Michael.H.Prosser » Blog Archive » Semester at Sea: Raymond K. Ho, Lifelong learner, detached retina in South Africa, January 25, 2012 [Post 319] » Michael.H.Prosser. And I do have a couple of questions for you if you do not mind. Could it be only me or does it look like a few of the remarks come across like they are coming from brain dead individuals?
And, if you are posting on other online social sites, I’d like to follow everything new you have to post. Would you list of every one of all your shared pages like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?
Hello. You are right. Many of the comments do look like that, but more likely, they are just generic comments to
advertise a business. In the meantime, welcome to keep reading the posts on the blog. Michael
Thanks for your interesting article. One other problem is that mesothelioma cancer is generally the result of the breathing of fibres from mesothelioma, which is a carcinogenic material. It’s commonly witnessed among personnel in the engineering industry who’ve long exposure to asbestos. It is caused by living in asbestos protected buildings for a long time of time, Genes plays a huge role, and some consumers are more vulnerable for the risk as compared with others.
Hey, guy, your blog is nice. It can bring me many useful information.
My brother recommended I might like this blog. He was entirely right. This post truly made my day. You cann’t imagine just how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
Your web site is rather fantastic, i genuinely experienced the article that you wrote, but it i did want some extra data mainly because i didnt thoroughly understand the finish.
I precisely desired to thank you very much again. I do not know what I might have used without the actual methods revealed by you directly on such subject matter. It actually was a alarming circumstance for me personally, however , encountering a specialised tactic you resolved it made me to leap over contentment. I’m just happier for this advice and as well , hope that you comprehend what an amazing job you’re undertaking training others all through a site. Most probably you haven’t encountered any of us.
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to mention that I’ve truly loved surfing around your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing on your feed and I hope you write again soon!
Would love to incessantly get updated outstanding website!
Thank you for another great article. I have a demonstration next few days, and I’m on the search for this type of facts.
Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this website. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s challenging to get that “perfect balance” between user friendliness and visual appearance. I must say that you’ve done a fantastic job with this. In addition, the blog loads very quick for me on Internet explorer. Outstanding Blog!
Recent Blogroll Additions……
[...]usually posts some very interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[...]……
Nice job, it’s a great post. The info is good to know!
I believe what you published made a great deal of sense. However, what about this? suppose you added a little information? I mean, I don’t want to tell you how to run your website, but what if you added something to maybe get people’s attention? I mean Michael.H.Prosser » Blog Archive » Semester at Sea: Raymond K. Ho, Lifelong learner, detached retina in South Africa, January 25, 2012 [Post 319] » Michael.H.Prosser is a little vanilla. You could look at Yahoo’s home page and watch how they create post titles to grab people to open the links. You might try adding a video or a related pic or two to get people excited about what you’ve written. In my opinion, it would bring your blog a little livelier.
Hello. Interesting that having Semester at Sea in the title actually pushes such a post up in the search engines! It is difficult to add videos or photos to the posts, but words are of course infinite on line. Welcome to keep reading. Michael
These are all very important facts to know these days. So many people think it will never matter to them! Thanks for info! =)
Why happens to be it that the most common articles I watch on blogs resemble “Wow this is truly fantastic content?” I suggest most of the stuff that I find happens to be actually very good but I simply believe that its weird for individuals to express that over and over. I prefer to review articles that happen to be unquestionably interesting and have something to offer. Many blog sites happen to be really great if you can get your head around the material.
I gotta bookmark this website it seems invaluable very helpful
Hi there! I got your point but why one should consider sharing this one? =)
An fascinating discussion is worth comment. I think that you need to write more on this subject, it won’t be a taboo topic but generally persons are not sufficient to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers
Thank you a bunch for sharing this with all people you really recognise what you’re speaking about! Bookmarked. Kindly also consult with my website =). We can have a hyperlink change arrangement between us!
We’re a bunch of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your web site provided us with helpful information to paintings on. You’ve done an impressive process and our whole community will probably be thankful to you.
Excellent post. I learned a lot reading it. Thanks.
These stories get me excited about what is possible. thanks =)
You make a great point. Got some nice info here. I think that if more people thought about it that way, they’d have a better time get the hang ofing the issue.
I reckon something really special in this site.
You make a great point. Got some nice info here. I think that if more people thought about it that way, they’d have a better time get the hang ofing the issue.
Exceptionally interesting thank you, It is my opinion your audience might possibly want a good deal more stories like this keep up the great effort.
I get pleasure from, lead to I found exactly what I used to be taking a look for. You have ended my four day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye
this is very interesting. thanks for that. we need more sites like this. i commend you on your great content and excellent topic choices.
Legal, eu quero ler mais!!!
Hi there, You have performed an incredible job. I will certainly digg it and for my part suggest to my friends. I am confident they’ll be benefited from this site.
I almost never drop responses, but i did some searching and wound up here Michael.H.Prosser » Blog Archive » Semester at Sea: Raymond K. Ho, Lifelong learner, detached retina in South Africa, January 25, 2012 [Post 319] » Michael.H.Prosser. And I do have a few questions for you if you don’t mind. Is it only me or does it give the impression like some of the remarks appear like written by brain dead individuals?
And, if you are posting on additional places, I’d like to follow everything new you have to post. Would you make a list of the complete urls of your public sites like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but other than that, this is magnificent blog. A great read. I’ll certainly be back.
Good Website! I wondered if I could quote a portion of your web page and use a few things for a term paper. Please email me if that would be fine. Thanks
It’s not that I want to copy your web page, but I really like the style. Could you let me know which style are you using? Or was it custom made?
Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is an extremely well written article. I’ll make sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your useful info. Thanks for the post. I will definitely return.
I’ll bookmark your blog and tell my friends to visit your site here often. I’m reasonably confident they will understand tons of new stuff here than anybody else! Great work!
Undeniably imagine that that you said. Your favourite reason seemed to be at the web the simplest thing to be mindful of. I say to you, I certainly get annoyed at the same time as folks consider concerns that they just don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side-effects , folks could take a signal. Will likely be again to get more. Thank you!
I seldom create responses, however i did a few searching and wound up here Michael.H.Prosser » Blog Archive » Semester at Sea: Raymond K. Ho, Lifelong learner, detached retina in South Africa, January 25, 2012 [Post 319] » Michael.H.Prosser. And I actually do have 2 questions for you if it’s allright. Is it just me or does it give the impression like some of the remarks come across like they are written by brain dead individuals?
And, if you are writing on additional online social sites, I would like to keep up with everything new you have to post. Would you list of every one of your public pages like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?
I tend not to leave a response, but after reading through a great deal of responses on Michael.H.Prosser » Blog Archive » Semester at Sea: Raymond K. Ho, Lifelong learner, detached retina in South Africa, January 25, 2012 [Post 319] » Michael.H.Prosser. I actually do have 2 questions for you if it’s okay. Could it be just me or do a few of the comments look like they are left by brain dead folks?
And, if you are posting on other social sites, I’d like to keep up with everything new you have to post. Would you list of all of your shared sites like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?
Hello. This is my only blog, but welcome to keep reading–now nearly 370 posts. Today, the number of comments since last Feb. 23 has been 624,000. This is very nice, don’t you think. Michael
Your style is so unique compared to other folks I have read stuff from. Thank you for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I will just book mark this site.
great issues altogether, you just gained a new reader. What may you recommend in regards to your publish that you made a few days in the past? Any certain?
This is a appropriate weblog for everyone who is would like to find out about this topic. You already know much its virtually hard to argue to you (not that I really would want…HaHa). You actually put a whole new spin with a topic thats been revealed for decades. Great stuff, just excellent!
What a wonderful post, done well. I think I ought to create my very own blog too.
I have been surfing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all site owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the net will be a lot more useful than ever before.
There are some attention-grabbing closing dates in this article but I don’t know if I see all of them center to heart. There may be some validity but I will take hold opinion till I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we wish extra! Added to FeedBurner as nicely