So I had been looking forward to wrapping up my 3 week holiday in Japan with a review, and that might still happen, but it turns out the events of the final.3 days can utterly dominate the whole trip. Please take some advice from a girl currently like in a (rather nice) Japanese hospital ward.
# Don’t assume it can’t happen
I had a completely clean bill of health, no signs of illness. Then on night in Tokyo I suddenly developed a splitting headache, weakness of breathing, arrhythmia, and all the other fun goodies of a heart attack. If I hadn’t been travelling with my partner, I might be dead.
# Get reliable travel insurance
I picked mine based off the best customer service reviews, and I do not regret that. Insurance, and getting the beast into motion, has been the toughest part of all this. SAVE their emergency number.
#Get a Japanese SIM
I barely use a phone at home,so I figured I wouldn’t need a number abroad and could rely.just on WiFi. But when it starts becoming an emergency, your phone ends up your lifeline and the only way to get in contact with things like insurance companies or flight providers quickly. I’ve lost A LOT of money to roaming fees because I didn’t pick up a good SIM for Japanese+ international calls.
#The accounting department will hound you for money until your insurance kicks in
I’m not sure if this is unique to the hospital I was in, but from the moment I was conscious (but still barely awake or coherent) I had a pair of pencil pushers visiting each day, trying to extract a room fee of about 100,000JPY/night from my credit card. I had to try and appease then by getting on the phone with my insurers right that moment, burning through a lot of SIM credit and often fruitlessly as my insurers needed various bits of paperwork to shuffle around until they would help. Be prepared to hear “raise your credit card limit” a lot.
#Despite it all, the healthcare is top tier
I have been put through *so* many tests in under a week, been attended to by so many wonderful and professional doctors & nurses. Despite the ordeal, I felt like they were constantly pushing to answer why I got sick and how to get me home ASAP. It hasn’t happened yet, but compared to the very cumbersome, overburdened NHS I’m used to, I think I’m glad I had a heart attack here and not at home in some ways 😛
3 comments
I’m so sorry to hear this and so happy you live to tell it. In the grand scheme of things, it seems paying a bit extra for roaming fees would be worth it. But still appreciate the advice.
Did they withhold any critical care until they knew you would be able to pay for it? Did you have trouble communicating with hospital staff?
Wow, that is so scary. And also so thoughtful of you to think of others and share this.
Is it too intrusive to ask what travel insurance you chose? I’ve never gotten any, but our next trip to Japan will be a month long, so maybe I will this time.
Glad you’re ok, OP!
Sorry to hear!!
I cut my own Japan trip super short bc I was having some pesky post-COVID symptoms and didn’t wish to have a medical emergency away from home.