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My Bupa story Care and support during family's months of distress

Marión Sulkin's daughter Ivanita was born prematurely and had to endure six operations in the first five months of her life.

 

Some time before I got married my husband decided to take out insurance for when he was travelling abroad. Having in mind the cover of our future children, he evaluated different insurance options and realised the great differences in cover. He chose to be insured with Bupa International.

After we got married I went through a high-risk pregnancy, which ended with the premature delivery of my daughter almost three months before she was due.

Ivanita was born in the 29th week weighing only 980g, which dropped to 760g in the first week. From that moment on we became very distressed because the risks for a baby born prematurely are very high. We were thankful that we were insured with Bupa International. From the moment we notified them, they stood by our side; initially by issuing a guarantee of direct payment to the hospital in Mexico City, but foremost by offering us moral and emotional support throughout the entire ordeal.

Their daily phone calls and continuous attention helped us get through all the waiting and uncertainty that we had to endure.

Another setback

Three days after Ivanita was born she suffered a cerebral haemorrhage, which affected 40 percent of the left part of her brain. The doctors, however, gave us lots of hope as she continued to develop favourably.

This haemorrhage caused the circulation of brain fluid to be blocked, which led to hydrocephalus. It forced the doctors to insert a shunt valve.

Our Bupa company immediately suggested that we could choose one of the best specialists in the world to treat our daughter and provided us with information on neurosurgeons specialising in newborns. We had a lot of confidence in the neurosurgeon who attended us in Mexico City so we decided to continue here.

Due to the low weight of my daughter, they had to place a provisional valve before they could insert the permanent one. This was her first operation. We had to wait one month before they could change it. The following month she had to undergo her second operation but 24 days later the valve had blocked up. This was one of the inherent risks that we knew existed.

My baby daughter then had to undergo a third operation to open and clean the small tube inside the valve.

Keeping a watchful eye

Months of hospitalisation had passed with intensive therapy and therapy for newborns. During all this time Bupa continued to stay in contact with us. They facilitated everything that had to do with the administration and we never had to pay anything ourselves – all thanks to the direct payment services to the hospital.

Ivanita finally came home with us when – after a month – computerised tomographies showed that her fourth ventricle had blocked up. The surgeons now had to insert a second shunt valve.

We went back to the hospital for the operation where they did an endoscopy and now my baby daughter had two valves in her tiny head. The following week we were discharged from the hospital and we went home. Bupa was still following everything closely, keeping us informed and supporting us.

Ten days after returning home Ivanita began to cry and vomit with a worrying frequency. After having her examined, we had to admit her again due to an infection contracted during the last operation.

They had to remove both valves as bacteria were stuck on the foreign bodies so again she had to go into the operating room. After almost a month of antibiotic treatment we eliminated the bacteria completely. The surgeon then had to operate on her again in order to replace the valve. This time it was only necessary to insert one valve as the ventricles had been cleared by the endoscopy that was carried out during the second valve operation. This was her sixth operation in five months.

Bad dream with a happy ending

After this difficult ordeal we are now back home again. Ivanita is growing and developing just perfectly. She has weekly sessions of physiotherapy and undergoes routine examinations by her paediatrician.

As for us, everything that happened is like a bad dream but what we do remember is the unconditional support offered by Bupa International. Naturally we were greatly distressed emotionally, but our insurance company took away the financial burdens and stress by reimbursing the hospital and our home nurse directly.

I honestly don’t know what we would have done without the sincere help from Bupa International, who simply made the difficult much easier to handle.

Next steps

  • The care and comfort of our members is at the heart of Bupa International's service. However, please note that each of these stories is specific to its facts and the terms of the policy under which the member was insured. No representation is made that similar benefits would apply for members in the same or similar circumstances.

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