Every trip I learn something new about traveling with kids. Some of it is fun to share: like Tokyo Swallows Baseball at Jingu Stadium being a perfect family outing. Some is not so much fun but is also important to share- like Deal Girl getting tonsilitis in Vietnam- so that you can use what I’ve learned to help if you end up with a sick kid overseas. I’ve done a post on the topic recently but want to add seven new tips I learned the hard way:
- Do not assume your kid has a travel related illness. This is a mistake I made and it’s easy to figure whatever ails your kid has to do with the water, food, heat, etc. Deal Girl started looking peaked on the plane to Danang and had a definite fever by the time we arrived in Hoi An. I pulled out the chewable Advil and put Deal Girl down for a nap. Hitting Dr. Google I re-assured myself that no alerts from the State Department mentioned any fever diseases in Vietnam. I then breathed an uncalled for sigh of relief.
- Do not assume your kid is better even if they look better right away. 24 hours later Deal Girl seemed better. She was tired and had little appetite, but had no fever and no real pain so I thought it had ran its course. Wrong. Two days later the fever returned with a vengeance. I should have been monitoring her symptoms more closely but chalked some of them up to the heat and general stress of travel.
- Don’t forget to complete your Dr. Mom exam. If I had been more alert to everyday illness as opposed to developing world stuff I would have seen her swollen tonsils. Once the doctor had me look they were pretty hard to miss. I was good about checking her frequently for fever and asking about her poop (hey, Moms need to know these things) but forgot to make her say AHHH.
- If you need a doctor with Western standards, find a luxury hotel to recommend one. I waited till we got the Hyatt in Danang (Day 4 of the fever) because I had more confidence they would help me find a good doctor. My independent hotel in Hoi An could have found me someone, but I just felt better about the larger resort having more experience with the doctor on call. She arrived within an hour and diagnosed Deal Girl in 30 seconds.
- Bring more cash than you think you need. The Hyatt let me know the doctor visit would be $50 US, so I brought $50 US to the lounge to pay the fee. Turns out I also needed $30 for the prescriptions. It took an inconvenient trip back to the room at an inopportune time to get it. Next time I’ll just bring more money.
- Speaking of prescriptions… our doctor was well stocked with UK manufactured medicine. What she did NOT have was kid’s formulations. She gave the dosage based on Deal Girl’s weight but we were given horse pills for the 8 year old with swollen tonsils to swallow twice daily for five days. This caused me to have to get creative. With the Doctor’s OK, I dissolved the pills into a soda for her to get them down. This leads me to…
- You just may become the Mom who gives her kids soda for breakfast.
Have you had an illness overseas requiring a hotel doctor visit? What surprised you? Please share in the comments.
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This seems to be more of a supposition based on your impression of a hotel, rather than fact-based advice. I believe Lonely Planet has doctor listings one can use in their country guides, or you can call your Embassy.
I had mono while abroad, but I spoke the language and got to expand my vocabulary. And feel very tired and very nauseous for a month.
Guilty, unashamedly so.
Fair enough, but it raises the question of what to do in case one can’t wait until going to a luxury hotel, because symptoms are much worse or problems are more urgent.
State has a list of Vietnamese hospitals here; I usually bookmark their pages (on other countries) before leaving the country. http://photos.state.gov/libraries/hochiminh/714690/nguyenct/List%20of%20Clinics%20and%20Hospitals.pdf
Good idea. I would have headed to the Amantara if I felt she needed seen on Hoi An.