My wife has a belief that a cough means you have pneumonia, a headache a brain tumor, and bleeding gums means leukemia. When my wife told me she was a drama student I thought it meant she studied drama. The first time I was with her when she became ill I thought her performance was legendary, then I discovered she didn’t think she was performing.
“Drama” doesn’t run in her family, it gallops: if our son is ill she, and her mom (aka – the mum-in-law) thinks he should go to the hospital. Had it not been for me being a solid wall our son would have spent countless hours in hospital emergency rooms.
If anything happens to her sister’s family they text me half way across the US from their plantation in Georgia. When they ask “should we go to the ER?” As a physician I can only have one response- “of course.” The ER doctors in Atlanta hate me.
My in-laws text me when they get up early in the morning, a two to three hour time zone difference. I have threatened to text them before I go to bed at night, then I realized, they turn their phones off, something this surgeon cannot do. Reminds me, retirement date, turn off phone.
So when, after a day in Amsterdam, of great walks, a visit to the legendary Van Gough museum, a private canal ride on a boat my wife announced that she had a fever, could not hardly move, and was coughing.
We had reservations for dinner at a Michelin Star Restaurant.
“Ill?” I asked, “But we have been out all day and?”
“Nope,” she said, “I’m burning up.” With that she went to bed and started a cough that sounded like a dog barking at the mailman.
How could she be ill now, we have a 3-star dinner reservation? In a voice that would remind you of Scarlett O’Hara (and I believe my Canadian wife nailed the accent) she said, “Oh, you all go on without me.”
Fever? I felt her skin – hmm, a bit warm – maybe even hot. Her dad brought the influenza bug to the house before we left Arizona for Europe and she had already been though what I thought was the nasty part of the flu. While it seemed she was over the worst of it, now it was cycling back. I worried: “Did she get a pneumonia on top of the bug or was this just more illness?”
The joy of a great hotel is the concierge service (hat tip – Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam). I wanted to get some medicine for her cough and something for her fever so I asked where the closest pharmacy was – and sadly it was closed. The concierge offered to run someone over to the pharmacy and get the medications I needed. I had no idea what the Dutch equivalent was of cough syrup and Tylenol so I asked for directions. One pharmacy was open a mile away, and I thought – well, I will get my steps in today 15,000 and counting!
What you never consider is even though the people speak English, the medicine boxes are all in Dutch. The medicine was not bilingual. Thankfully Amsterdam you can have a consultation with a pharmacist, so I took a number (third in line) and started trying to read the boxes. I was attempting to look for familiar ingredients, the over-the-counter medications were a jumble.
The pharmacist was most helpful, suggesting Paracetamol for her fever and some cough syrup with codeine for her cough.
In the United States you can’t get cough syrup with codeine without a prescription – the Dutch, having been through their own opioid epidemic reacted a bit differently than the US did. The Dutch made opioids available so that an addict would not have to purchase cough syrup to satisfy an addiction. Paracetamol is the European designation for Tylenol.
I told the pharmacist that my wife had a fever and I was worried about pneumonia, although she didn’t have any sputum production. She said to try to treat the symptoms and if things became worse to see a physician. Sound advice from a pharmacist, and what I would give to any of my patients. However, in this case the “patient” was in high drama.
The cough syrup was magic. She stopped coughing within twenty minutes. All I could think, “Why can’t we get this in the US over the counter – oh yes, because we have a war on drugs – how is that going?”
My wife thought the Paracetamol was magic, reduced her fever right away. She recalled how our English friend, Simon Majumdar, asked why Paracetamol wasn’t available in the United States. So my wife was primed for magic. Only a few days later, when back in the states and she was raving about what a godsend Paracetamol was did I spill the beans that this was Tylenol. She nonchalantly replied, “Well, I never take Tylenol, so no wonder it was a miracle.”
Amsterdam was beautiful, and I would highly recommend seeing it. Since our visit was cut short, we have full on plans to go back and explore some more.
Here are a few tips for the sick traveler (with or without drama):
- First, if you are ill cancel the trip. I know it is hard to imagine, and you have planned everything for this great trip, but it really isn’t worth it. You will be miserable on the airplane, you won’t be able to enjoy the sights, and even though there may be plenty of people who speak English – medicine speak is not easily translated.
- Second, if you become ill to where you need to see a physician, check with the local consulate and ask where and who they go to. Often there are ex-pat American doctors who practice overseas. No language issue, but it is nice to talk to an American doctor about your problems. If there is not an American physician, the consulate can tell you which doctors, or which hospital they go to.
- Third, insurance overseas is usually not an option. Chances are you will be paying cash. The good news is that medicine, lab tests, and emergency room visits do not cost as much as they do in the United States. Some insurance cards do have “out-of-network” benefits, meaning they can be used for overseas issues. Before going overseas it is worthwhile to check with your insurance if they have this, or if they have some additional insurance you can purchase while overseas. Some credit card companies offer insurance for medical evacuation flights back to the states – this is a great benefit.
- Fourth, if you take medication regularly bring it in your carry-on bag so that you always have it with you. Use the original prescription bottle, don’t combine them because security wants to see that it is a valid prescription.
- Fifth, carry your medical history. If you see your primary care physician they can print out your last visit which includes your medications and any allergies or other issues you have. Take that with you so that you can present it if you become ill. This also helps if you are going through security and they want confirmation of your medications. This is especially the case with narcotics.
Amsterdam is a wonderful city to visit. Almost everyone speaks English, the airport can best be described as “cool.” You can see my wife below as we leave the airport. The airport is an important find. Often when traveling to Europe we go through London, but if the UK leaves the European Union then travel to the EU from the states would be best if you go directly to a European city (the UK will have their own passports and the EU will have theirs). Heathrow Airport is not an easy airport to navigate through, but Amsterdam is great and friendly. We loved the airport.
Amsterdam is one of the most friendly cities in Europe, and you can walk everywhere. The canals, of course, are beautiful. The primary language is Dutch, which is somewhat similar to German, but not always. There are three official languages in the Netherlands: Dutch, German, and French. The hotel concierge spoke five languages fluently.In Old English Dutch simply meant “people or nation.” These people were once German but it might be they became isolated. Today Germany is called Deutschland. Dutch will tell you they can understand some German words.
Biking is the national sport in Amsterdam. You can rent bikes, you can ride easily – and we learned that 20,000 bikes a year end up in the Amsterdam canals.
The Dutch love Americans. During the late 1700’s they were wealthy businessmen and were responsible for the first loans to the United States government. Those first 11 loans to the US were the beginning of a long friendship between the two countries. Wandering to breakfast one morning we found where Adams had stayed while being the first ambassador to the Netherlands.
Speaking of breakfast – asking the concierge this place had the most amazing breakfast. This was their British breakfast, complete with legumes! We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria in Amsterdam, mainly because we wanted the great concierge service they are known for.
The Waldorf has been ranked number one in Tripadvisor for several years. While there are many hotels to choose from, our decision was based upon wanting a great experience for a couple of days, and we had it. It also helps to have a great concierge if you become ill.
The above was the view of our canal from our room at The Waldorf. Hard to beat the view. Most hotels in this district are on canals, and all have great views. The Waldorf was perfect. Below was the boat that the Waldorf arranged for a private tour of the canals. Not only did we have a great experience, but this is when my wife started to feel a bit ill. She asked for a whiskey for her throat, and was served a 16 year old single malt. Sadly that did not help.
A few more photographs:
The above was one of my favorites. This boy, about the same age as ours – chased some pigeons on slippery grass and fell into the mud. He didn’t know whether to cry or laugh – and then mom brought out some “wipes.” Boys are the same everywhere. You can see – his pants took a lot of mud. Behind is one of the larger museums, the Rikjsmuseum.
We look forward to returning – but in a healthier state (we hope).
