Aunty Alice* is a 70-year-old widowed jovial woman who is exactly the kind of neighbor every resident wants to have. For someone who always has a smile on her face, she found herself panicking when she fainted while out with a friend.
It all started nine months ago. Over a few weeks, Aunty Alice would get random dizzy spells. It would last anywhere from a few seconds to a minute.
“You know la, old people like us think we need to drink more water or better still, drink barley,” Aunty Alice laughed.
But Aunty Alice’s daughter, Sharon* who works at a private hospital, was worried and insisted she schedule a specialist appointment at the private hospital. However, Aunty Alice did not see a need to visit a private clinic or specialist, instead she made a trip to the nearest polyclinic.
“The public hospitals and polyclinics are good enough. Why do I need to spend extra money?” questioned Aunty Alice.
Even after her visit to the polyclinic, the dizzy spells didn’t go away. But Aunty Alice did not bother about it too much. After all, she could still go about her daily activities and exercises.
And finally, the day came when Aunty Alice fainted. Luckily, her friend was by her side. When Aunty Alice regained consciousness, she still felt extreme dizziness.
“Everything was spinning. It felt like I was on a very rocky boat. I could not even stand up! I could not even look from right to left,” recounted Aunty Alice.
Panicking, she called her daughter and insisted on being brought to a private hospital as she did not want to risk waiting at a public hospital.
Panicking, she called her daughter and insisted on being brought to a private hospital as she did not want to risk waiting at a public hospital.
“How do you expect me to wait in my condition? Ya, the bill will be more expensive but that was not on my mind at that time. I just wanted the pain to go away,” Aunty Alice explained her decision on choosing to go to a private hospital.
Although aware that Aunty Alice has an insurance policy, Sharon did not know what it was and whether it covered outpatient fees at a private hospital. Her late father was the one who had always managed the family’s matters. Both Aunty Alice and Sharon never saw the need to check and review their insurance policies… until now.
“Although it’s more expensive than going to a public hospital, it’s worth it lah. This kind of thing, really cannot wait. I just wanted to get rid of the pain. And I did not want to wait,” Aunty Alice revealed.
Eventually, the doctors found out that there was a lapse in her medicine prescriptions, causing her to have migraines and fainting spells.
Going through this incident has shown us two important things:
- When it comes to your health, do not wait.
- Check and review your insurance policies.
* Some names and descriptions have been changed to protect privacy. The information contained herein is not presented with the intention of diagnosing or prescribing, but is offered only as information for use in maintaining and promoting health in cooperation with a physician.