The McKeever family is just back from holiday in Australia this week and I am revived and ready for action. Overall, the break has been really good for my health. That is not to say that we didn’t have a few minor health problems while away.
Travelling with kids can be stressful enough without the added complication of illness, but that is sometimes what happens. All was well, plans were being made for one evening (toad racing), and for our last day of the holiday (crocodile farm visit) when my youngest daughter started complaining of a sore foot. We looked and yes there was a bite or something on the sole of her foot – no need to panic we thought, probably nothing, we hoped. An hour later, the dreaded red lines of cellulitis, a nasty infection I am all too familiar with myself, are tracking up the front of her foot. And it’s hospital time.
We had been in the Daintree Rainforest a few days earlier and upon seeing our girls exploring, a tour guide passing kindly gave us the following advice: “Mum and dad, you are standing in the most toxic place in the world; make sure the kids wash their hands.” With this piece of information “most toxic” needling at the back of my mind, not knowing the area or what the medical care was like was really worrying.
The company we had booked this with didn’t even have a contact number on their paperwork so we went straight to the source, Vhi
We were advised which local hospital was most accessible and off we went. Firstly, however, that other phone call had to be made – travel insurance. The company we had booked this with didn’t even have a contact number on their paperwork so we went straight to the source, Vhi. I have to admit that I was very pleasantly surprised that the advert I had seen on the TV so many times of, “Kat is in Cuba and gets deep-vein thrombosis and she calls Vhi and they sort it all out” is a pretty accurate reflection of what happened. We call the 24-hour line: “Policy number? Name? Where are you? What hospital are you going to? Concern?” Followed by “I will check if that is a reciprocal agreement hospital and if not I will call ahead with the guarantee of payment”.
By the time we had travelled the 14km up the road to Mossman Hospital, that was done and she was straight into a triage nurse and mammy got to spend her last night in Australia in a hospital bed with a little girl on a massive course of antibiotics. We missed the toad racing but still made it to the crocodile farm.
In fact, according to the Men’s Health Forum, some men may perceive sickness as an expression of weakness and ultimately decide not to seek help
What I have learned from this whole experience is to act fast. A lot of us have known people who have ignored their symptoms for one reason or another to their ultimate peril. Last week was Men’s Health Week so this week our Irish Country Man supplement is covering some men’s health issues that many would not like to acknowledge let alone discuss. In fact, according to the Men’s Health Forum, some men may perceive sickness as an expression of weakness and ultimately decide not to seek help. They suggest that this may account, in part, for why men are reluctant users of health services and present too late in the course of an illness.
We in Irish Country Living believe that if these features can help even one person, then they are worth printing. The supplement of course has lots more to offer, from dating advice to fashion and gadgets, so we hope you will enjoy it.