Another 2 days passed. It was now almost 3 weeks since the accident!
I awoke in the morning, and had my wash, and breakfast. Not long after 2 women walked in, and one of them started talking to me in spanish. The other listened and then translated for me.
They wanted me to sign documents saying that i will fully accept all the hospital charges as my own. This will give them a guarantee that they will be getting some money from me at some point.
I obviously refused this as this would immediately open me up to a lawsuit from the hospital for money that i didn't have!
She got really angry with me, and said that she wanted a signature immediately, and was not leaving before she got one!
I told her i needed to speak to my lawyers first. Needless to say, when i phoned them, there was no answer!
She refused to leave, badgering me to sign and intimidating me no end. I had a list of numbers of attorneys form the UK embassy that my brother had given me, and i tried them all to see if i could get an impartial lawyer in the room to try help me, cos i seriously suspected that my lawyers were in bed with someone at some point and thus were holding out on me!
I managed to reach a lawyer who was the UK embassy representative. He came down here, and sat chatting with her (her arm around his shoulder?!). Then he asked me to explain the entire case to him.
After i finished and had answered a lot of questions for him, he told me that it was a good idea to sign the documents that she had, and get myself out of the hospital. This seemed like crazy advice! Then he asked for my UK passport, which i had with me. I gave it to him and he gave it to her and she put it in her briefcase and that was that. My passport was now confiscated too!
He explained that this was a precautionary exercise to ensure that i didn't flee the country with this bill hanging over my head!
Not that i was going anywhere with a broken leg in 3 places and instructions from the doctor to stay in bed!!
But, that was that, I now had no passport and was being told to sign this document!
I refused once again, and she raised her voice in spanish to me for a few more minutes and then they left, with her saying she would be back the following morning for my signature, or else!
I was pretty intimidated by this, naturally, and phoned my friends and asked them if they could please get hold of the lawyers cos this would be getting ugly in the morning!
I was in constant contact with my brother in Ireland at this point, speaking to each other every 2nd day or so. He put sum questions to mates and work colleagues, and told me exactly what i suspected...that these lawyers weren't acting in my best interests to get me out of the hospital!
That night i didnt sleep much, scared of what the morning would bring!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Houdini...
It had now been more than 2 weeks since i was admitted and i could sense that i was not wanted here at the hospital any longer.
I would go days without any news, and i was battling to survive on the little bit of food i was getting fed! It was a very depressing time indeed.
My lawyers eventually returned after another 3 days of Houdini tricks.
But the story was the same...they were battling to come to an agreement with the insurance company. But now, after all this time, a new twist on the story...
I was apparently not a part of the case as yet because my name had still to be entered onto the police records in Higuey, a town about a half hour's drive away!
I couldn't believe it! How were my "lawyers" supposedly talking to the insurance company when i was not even a part of the case yet?? I asked them this and they told me that i needed to go immediately to Higuey and sign the police forms!
How i was supposed to do this was beyond me, as i was bedridden!
I asked them to please see if they could bring the papers to me in the hospital, or get the police to visit me here.
I was told they were working on it, and they told me to relax and disappeared again!
I would go days without any news, and i was battling to survive on the little bit of food i was getting fed! It was a very depressing time indeed.
My lawyers eventually returned after another 3 days of Houdini tricks.
But the story was the same...they were battling to come to an agreement with the insurance company. But now, after all this time, a new twist on the story...
I was apparently not a part of the case as yet because my name had still to be entered onto the police records in Higuey, a town about a half hour's drive away!
I couldn't believe it! How were my "lawyers" supposedly talking to the insurance company when i was not even a part of the case yet?? I asked them this and they told me that i needed to go immediately to Higuey and sign the police forms!
How i was supposed to do this was beyond me, as i was bedridden!
I asked them to please see if they could bring the papers to me in the hospital, or get the police to visit me here.
I was told they were working on it, and they told me to relax and disappeared again!
No news is...?
On about the end of the first week in room 8, the nurse came in to change the drip bag. The canula in my left arm was leaking as, over the course of being washed, it had come loose.
She forcibly shoved it back in my vein which caused me quite some discomfort, and then put the syringe in the little auxiliary plug near my arm and proceeded to suck and blow like she was cleaning a drain out!
It was quite painful, and she just looked at me with this blank expression, changed the drip bag, and walked out!
Breakfasts had been cut to sometimes just 2 pieces of dry french loaf, and not even the usual warm milk anymore! I was starting to slowly starve to death in this place.
The only solace in an otherwise extremely boring day was when they brought me food. I was stuck on 1 channel for most of the day, and soon became aware of how many food adverts they show daily! Not good when you are getting seriously underfed!
It didn't make any difference if i begged in spanish for a little more. They nearly always ignored me, or told me that the kitchen was closed!
The room service was becoming terrible now, and most of the time i would receive no answer when i called, or the answer, "un momentito", after which i would most often than not, not see anyone!
By now the drip had been removed and i had decided that i needed to be more in control of my own movements around my small little room.
I dismantled the drip bag holder steel pole from its stand, and was using that as a tv remote. If i stretched as far as i could, i could just reach the tv controls!
Unfortunately after a few days of this, the channel up button dislodged and fell inside the tv!
Now i was left with about 4 channels out of 100 that were in english and i needed to navigate nearly all of them everytime i wanted to change channels! Great!
I was pretty sure that the lack of service was directly related to the hospitals stance on me still being there and no solution having been reached yet...
Also, my left arm where the nurse had played drain cleaner was bruised like hell, and i couldn't straighten it because of the pain! This was more painful than my broken leg, and was giving me sleepless nights!
She forcibly shoved it back in my vein which caused me quite some discomfort, and then put the syringe in the little auxiliary plug near my arm and proceeded to suck and blow like she was cleaning a drain out!
It was quite painful, and she just looked at me with this blank expression, changed the drip bag, and walked out!
Breakfasts had been cut to sometimes just 2 pieces of dry french loaf, and not even the usual warm milk anymore! I was starting to slowly starve to death in this place.
The only solace in an otherwise extremely boring day was when they brought me food. I was stuck on 1 channel for most of the day, and soon became aware of how many food adverts they show daily! Not good when you are getting seriously underfed!
It didn't make any difference if i begged in spanish for a little more. They nearly always ignored me, or told me that the kitchen was closed!
The room service was becoming terrible now, and most of the time i would receive no answer when i called, or the answer, "un momentito", after which i would most often than not, not see anyone!
By now the drip had been removed and i had decided that i needed to be more in control of my own movements around my small little room.
I dismantled the drip bag holder steel pole from its stand, and was using that as a tv remote. If i stretched as far as i could, i could just reach the tv controls!
Unfortunately after a few days of this, the channel up button dislodged and fell inside the tv!
Now i was left with about 4 channels out of 100 that were in english and i needed to navigate nearly all of them everytime i wanted to change channels! Great!
I was pretty sure that the lack of service was directly related to the hospitals stance on me still being there and no solution having been reached yet...
Also, my left arm where the nurse had played drain cleaner was bruised like hell, and i couldn't straighten it because of the pain! This was more painful than my broken leg, and was giving me sleepless nights!
The beginning of the nightmare...
In my first 3 days in room 8 i had already read both books that i had at home that my mates had brought me, and looked through the National Geographic i had been given.
There wasn't much else to do except watch tv.
Every morning i would have the drip bag changed over, a blood sample taken, and every 3 days or so, the canula in my arm would be moved to a different vein.
I had been in the hospital almost a week now since the accident, and still no word from my lawyers?
I had a little money that my friend had left me, so i asked one of the nurses to buy me a phone card, so that i could at least phone my mates or boss and find out what was happening.
The lawyers eventually came back after about 4 days, and told me that this was a very difficult case because i didn't have any travel insurance. The hospital was starting to get anxious about getting their money, and wanted me to come up with a solution.
I was in no financial position to pay the bill, which apparently was close on $20k, and neither was my family!
This was a case for the lawyers to sort out with the insurance company...
My lawyers told me to contact my family and come up with $10k so that i could leave the hospital! I told them i had no money and couldn't pay this ludicrous amount!
They said that they would talk with the hospital and sort things out, and in the meantime they would speak to the insurance company and see what deal they could make with them.
They would get back to me the following day with more news.
Back to a tv whose channels could not be changed, and an aircon that imitated the north pole...
Fun.
There wasn't much else to do except watch tv.
Every morning i would have the drip bag changed over, a blood sample taken, and every 3 days or so, the canula in my arm would be moved to a different vein.
I had been in the hospital almost a week now since the accident, and still no word from my lawyers?
I had a little money that my friend had left me, so i asked one of the nurses to buy me a phone card, so that i could at least phone my mates or boss and find out what was happening.
The lawyers eventually came back after about 4 days, and told me that this was a very difficult case because i didn't have any travel insurance. The hospital was starting to get anxious about getting their money, and wanted me to come up with a solution.
I was in no financial position to pay the bill, which apparently was close on $20k, and neither was my family!
This was a case for the lawyers to sort out with the insurance company...
My lawyers told me to contact my family and come up with $10k so that i could leave the hospital! I told them i had no money and couldn't pay this ludicrous amount!
They said that they would talk with the hospital and sort things out, and in the meantime they would speak to the insurance company and see what deal they could make with them.
They would get back to me the following day with more news.
Back to a tv whose channels could not be changed, and an aircon that imitated the north pole...
Fun.
Insurance problems.
My 1st or 2nd day in room 8 i was visited by 2 lawyers.
They were the lawyers of Isidro, my colleague who was killed. They were representing the family in the case, and after his wife had seen me lying in ICU, she had told her lawyers to do me a favour and help me aswell in representation.
My boss was present aswell, as i didnt speak much spanish, and not many people in the hospital, or the DR for that matter, speak english.
I was asked questions, and, as i didnt have any travel insurance (big mistake), they said that they would take my case on and request that the insurance company of the guilty driver (he'd been bailed the same evening by his wife, reportedly $25000) be held accountable for the hospital bill and my recuperation after i left the hospital.
I signed papers saying that they could represent me, and they said not to worry, and that they would be back soon.
It was a very good thing i had been here for 3 months already as i had made a fair few friends, and they were proving invaluable to me now, with phone calls to family, visiting, etc.
If this country was anything like any others, i should be looked after by the insurance companies payout, and apart from a years hiatus before carrying on with my life, shouldn't be affected.
How wrong that thought proved to be...
They were the lawyers of Isidro, my colleague who was killed. They were representing the family in the case, and after his wife had seen me lying in ICU, she had told her lawyers to do me a favour and help me aswell in representation.
My boss was present aswell, as i didnt speak much spanish, and not many people in the hospital, or the DR for that matter, speak english.
I was asked questions, and, as i didnt have any travel insurance (big mistake), they said that they would take my case on and request that the insurance company of the guilty driver (he'd been bailed the same evening by his wife, reportedly $25000) be held accountable for the hospital bill and my recuperation after i left the hospital.
I signed papers saying that they could represent me, and they said not to worry, and that they would be back soon.
It was a very good thing i had been here for 3 months already as i had made a fair few friends, and they were proving invaluable to me now, with phone calls to family, visiting, etc.
If this country was anything like any others, i should be looked after by the insurance companies payout, and apart from a years hiatus before carrying on with my life, shouldn't be affected.
How wrong that thought proved to be...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)