Going to a Doctor When Traveling Abroad is Actually Pretty Easy

As a Type 1 Diabetic of 22 years, one of my biggest worries when traveling abroad is getting sick. Fortunately, I have not needed to visit a doctor when traveling to another country, until this September. From 9/21–10/11 I was on a work trip for Lime. I set a pretty crazy schedule that required 9 flights, 6 cities, 5 countries, and 1 doctor visit.

It all started when I was in Paris. No matter where I travel in the world I use a carry on for my luggage. Usually, I do laundry halfway through the trip and this time it was no different. Trying to translate a french laundry machine, late at night, while you are suffering from a bad cold and on cold meds, was not ideal, but I made it work.

To my surprise, I opened up the machine and it both washed and dried my clothes. United States, what are we doing? We need this! Another surprise is that my Novolog insulin, which I store in my pocket via a FlexPen, was inside. I immediately knew this was an issue since insulin needs to be stored at a certain temperature. I started to read online that it won’t harm me, but the efficacy will be lowered exponentially. This is not a risk I was willing to take.

So what do you do when you are a Type 1 Diabetic, now won’t have enough insulin to cover the duration of your trip, and you need insulin to survive? I emailed my doctor and he said he couldn’t help and that I should see a doctor in Europe to get a new prescription. Great. How? Now I started to plot out an idea that should never be considered: can I make the rest of my other insulin pen last the rest of the trip? Eating healthier would mean less insulin and less insulin means I would not need another pen of insulin.

Don’t do that. Go see a doctor. If I were visiting the US I imagine it would be a nightmare due to our healthcare system. But honestly, Europe was easy and I hope that reading this blog will clear up any anxiety you might have about visiting a doctor while traveling because it was really easy.

Making the Call

Since I had 4–5 days left of insulin I did not have to rush, but I had to have a plan. Since it was a business trip I contacted our benefits team and they connected me with our insurance provider. They told me the best place to visit as an American since I would pay out of pocket and then file for reimbursement. I also checked with my insurance in the US and they had a few doctors they recommended, but it was a select few and it was the night time so it would have been a bit more complicated to visit the correct doctor. Plus, it was uncertain how much the insurance would cover.

October 4th, on a Friday, was the day I chose to visit a doctor. I would be in Munich for a team offsite and it was the most chill day of the week for me workwise. Initially, I woke up ready to get some insulin so I did not have to stress about it. Then, my cold took a turn for the worse and I was in really rough shape. Coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath, heart rate 100+ while sitting and doing nothing, no appetite, and extreme fatigue.

The Visit

Well, now my plan had pivoted to take care of both. I ended up resting during the day and heading to the doctor in the evening. The doctor was cash only so I ran to a nearby ATM and grabbed 100 euros, as I was told the appointment would cost between 50–100 euros. The office was organized by specialist and fortunately, my doctor did not have a wait and I was seen within 5 minutes of sitting down.

The doctor first asked me if I preferred English or German and I jokingly said, “English please.” She had a nurse by her side taking notes and collecting information. Within minutes of looking at my sinuses and listening to my lungs, it was clear to the doctor that I had bronchitis and a sinus infection. I was in pretty rough shape. I stated that I am happy that my symptoms led to a diagnosis but why was my heart rate so high? She recommended an EKG and found that my heart rate was abnormally high but nothing to be concerned about.

Now that I have a diagnosis and a prescription for an antibiotic, cough medicine, and insulin, it was time to pick them up.

Prescriptions

The doctor recommended a pharmacy that was about a 10-minute walk away. It was cold and I felt terrible, but I decided to tough it out. Only to find out the pharmacy was closed. I was able to find a 24-hour pharmacy and called a ridesharing service to get me there. There were a couple of people in line and there was a woman who took prescriptions through a small glass window. I was able to get the antibiotic and cough medicine, but they were out of insulin. She advised me to go in the morning to any of the larger pharmacies.

In the afternoon, I continued with my plans and was expected to take a 4.5-hour train to Zurich. At the train station, I decided to cut my trip short and decided to leave on Tuesday from Paris instead of Friday. The next few days were all about resting and trying to catch up on my health. Since I was leaving early, I no longer needed to pick up my insulin.

Overall, the office visit cost me $75.88 and the prescriptions $33.42 for a total of $108.30. I submitted them to the claims department and received the full reimbursement 30 days later. Fun fact: an EKG in Germany costs 23 euros and $2,000+ on average in the U.S.

Flying Home While Sick

In Zurich, I rested a bit but still met with teammates and walked the city — but in a very limited capacity due to my health. I arrived back in Paris on Monday morning and spent the entire day in my hotel room. I still worked and took a few calls, but for the most part, stayed warm, drank tea, a lot of water, and took it easy.

Drinking tea, eating soup, taking the German version of DayQuil, and resting, was a recipe for success. I woke up around 6 AM for my 8.5-hour flight back to NYC. It was going to be rough but I vowed to tough it through. There were a couple of tactics that made the flight less miserable:

• An aisle seat so I could get up, walk around, and use the bathroom at my leisure without bothering my seatmate
• Drinking 100+ ounces of water and 5 teas to keep my throat warm
• The German version of Dayquil to help fight off the sinus issues
• My noise-canceling headphones helped my ears not pop and I wore them for the entire duration of the flight — regardless of if I was listening to anything

Overall, the flight was manageable via these tips but for the last hour of the flight, my ears were in excruciating pain. A few minutes before landing the air pressure (no pun intended) was no longer an issue.

In Closing

In conclusion, this experience was eye-opening and put to rest any anxiety about going to a doctor while traveling internationally. In many cases, it was easier and much cheaper than going to a doctor in the United States. Unlike in the US, I was able to get great care and put my health first without worrying about being bankrupted.

Disclaimer: Brendan Barbato is an employee of Lime and his views do not represent the company and are solely his own.

About the author: Global Brand Community team at Lime, took a small family business from $50k to $1m in revenue in 3 years, have a failed startup under my belt (lot’s of lessons), winner of the MIT Global Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, Babson College ’17 graduate who lived in eTower (houses top 21 entrepreneurs on campus, alumni have raised $500m), partnered my startup with Microsoft while in school, Kairos and Forbes fellow, and played competitive Call of Duty in high school and led my team to six championships.