Hope that clears things up a bit.

I was incredibly touched by your story.

Please discount the people who are judging your life based on a story that it must be incredibly difficult to share. And thank you for sharing it.

I’ve been in a similar place, financially, and was prepared to make the same choices.

My daughter, at the age of 18 months, had a tumour removed from her abdomen that was expected to be benign. In fact, it wasn’t. It was a very aggressive form of childhood cancer called neuroblastoma.

Within hours, our life was turned upside down, and we had to plan for the possibility of up to 18 months in weekly treatments, at a children’s hospital over 2 hours away. At that time, we were living, just like all our peers, on the edge of line-of-credit-purgatory, and had no emergency fund. We hadn’t planned for this.

It only took us hours to decide that we would choose to give up our home, our cars and all our possessions in order to look after our baby.

Now, critics might say that we had a poor financial plan, with no E-fund and too much debt and they’d be right.

They could laud us for the lucky coincidence of living in Canada, where hospital expenses are covered by universal health care — it really wasn’t anything we consciously chose.

They might also say that living that far away from a children’s hospital when you have young children is foolish. We could have saved a lot of travel expenses and time away from work if we’d only moved next to the hospital when our first child was born.

You’re a wonderful parent, to do your best for that little one and to go beyond what the local doctor thought was possible. I bet every hug and kiss is more than payment for your efforts, too.

I hope if you have children you don’t let them leave the house or, if you do, that you don’t let them walk down the street, or, if you do, that you certainly don’t let them play sports. Do you understand the simplicity of THIS statement?

Your story really choked me up… I have seen through my own family that, even in Canada, one needs to really advocate for oneself when dealing with critical medical issues.

While this forum is open for everyone to share their thoughts and opinions, I am disappointed that some couldn’t have shown more tact. I have no doubt that, even 10 years later, it is very difficult to relive this experience through such a public medium.

I have a difficult time seeing how this is NOT relevant to a journey to financial independence. As has been the case in too many lives, exhorbitant medical expenses can derail even the best laid plans. And, we all have a responsibility to consider the less fortunate to maintain a proper perspective. Pursuit of wealth at all costs, costs everything…

As far as critiquing you as a mother… I thought that job was the exclusive domain of the mother-in-law! ;-)

B – your strength to resolve your young son’s issues is commendable. Is this similar to what Jenny McCarthy is publicly supporting for her child?

Sarlock: Agreed. Great idea for a post. We don’t even cross the border for a day of shopping without full travel insurance just in case.

My father had just about all of it. It may be his older age that this took more toll on his body than the others and he had to be put on a ventilator for one full month in the ICU. There were other problems that came along in the process but there was not a lot they could do until he was able to breathe on his own.

Health care expenses are ridiculously high. The surgeries, the many treatments when his organs went into shock, etc. He did have some insurance but it didn’t take long before it got maxed out.

All of us knew that this was one moment where money didn’t matter.

Weeks went by and just when the doctors were starting to discuss with the family about the possibility of pulling the plug, his condition miraculously started to improve. He was good enough to be transferred out of ICU but was not good enough to return home.

The only way for him to return home was to fly. However, there were so many bubbles and stuff in his lungs that he would not survive the changing air pressure until they got under control. Unfortunately, the only thing we could do then was wait – to simply wait for his lung tissues to repair themselves to a level where it would be safe to fly.

And as we waited, we also knew that the bill just got bigger and bigger.

But his improvement was good enough over several more weeks of waiting that he could come back home.

We negotiated as much as we could with the various doctors and the hospital for the final bills after we came back to Ottawa. The insurance money helped a little but it left a big dent on his savings over all these years. We felt that he worked hard all his life and he has every right to spend it on himself.

He spent six months in the rehabilitation centre and has since been living at home for two years. While he remains quadriplegic paralyzed from the neck down, he has started to come around accepting it and that has made a big difference.

Personal stories aside, I thought I should share some lessons learned here for the readers of this fine personal finance blog.

1) Consider travel insurance when traveling outside of your own province

We did have some but I know many that don’t want to spend the money. Note: this is different from the accidental death and dismemberment insurance but that also could help.

2) Consider disability insurance

It can cost dearly if you are unable to return to work due to an injury. Not just the medical expenses at the time of the injury but the ongoing expenses afterwards. Most disability insurance pays up to the age of 65 so in my father’s case, this wouldn’t have helped much.

3) Consider living wills and power of attorneys

When it came to difficult decisions, we had different opinions in the family. A living will could help the family make the tough decisions.

4) Make sure that the family knows about the above documents: location, contact info, etc.

Kathryn – you look about 20 in your photo.

I don’t agree that this village was all that remote – 1 hour by plane (I’m guessing a smallish one) from Manilla? It’s not like it was Antarctica.

I know what you mean about people who live in remote places and don’t have access to things.

Everytime I go back to Vietnam I always stop by at the orphanage to donate money.

I think the lesson I see here is to prepare for emergencies as best as possible. This means having the right insurance (from the insurance provider with the best reputation you can find) and having access to funds (available credit on a credit card, line of credit). As Sandor and Guiness416 know, the money spent is worth it.

Todd, you’re right: there’s nothing wrong with getting a second (or 52nd) opinion if you don’t agree with the first one. I never expect my advice to be taken as gospel, it’s for individuals to take in and use as they need to. Many people do need guidance, though, we can’t all be experts on everything! :)

I know a guy that talked to 50 doctors around the world before you found one that told him he would be able to ski again. He spent two years working with that one doctor. He skis today. Smart guy. Still has his ski sponsors and in the mean time started a ski company. But imagine if he had listened to the first 51 doctors??

Jeff: I don’t remember. It was so long ago now. I don’t blame them though. The Dr. at the clinic is the one that wouldn’t approve the medical evacuation.