Thursday and Friday, I was in the emergency room with my kids, first one child, then the other.

They came down with some horrendous virus, couldn't keep anything down, fever, dehydrated, zero energy.

Brutal.

Nothing will break your heart as much as seeing a 2-year-old just lying there refusing to eat or drink anything, won't move or do anything.

We had to take the kids to the hospital, put them on an IV, and give them a bunch of meds to stop the vomiting.

Then my wife got sick, and then me, and we were in the hospital too.

Neither of us has been able to eat much the last 5 days, just laying in bed, unable to move.

Besides the time I had food poisoning in North Africa, I reckon this is the most sick I have ever been in my entire life.

At more than one point, I was legit worried I was dying. I can not put into words how horrible I have felt. I have had covid 3 or 4 times, and whatever this was, it makes covid seem like a common cold.

So why did I say try to look at the bright side?

Well, first, I am at least able to type now after being in bed since Friday.

But more than that, I wanted to tell you that the emergency room in Panama City we went to was amazing; we were checked in within seconds, and there was no waiting whatsoever.

The place was brand new and modern; the doctors were kind and compassionate and spoke fantastic English (plus there were a half dozen on staff, including pediatricians, so always someone there to assist).

The hospital care staff even brought my kids a stuffed animal of a turtle; it was very sweet, and their personal WhatsApp number was in case we needed anything to make our stay more comfortable.

4 cases in the emergency room, private rooms, all the tests, everything for less than $1,000 bucks total. Yes, I have private insurance to cover even that, but even if I didn't, it's still peanuts to pay for top-quality medical care.

Add to that; we are blessed to have 2 amazing nannies who helped us take care of the kids while my wife and I were bedridden.

I have a fantastic group of clients, friends, and colleagues who offered to help us here in Panama and an amazing team of 20 remote staff who I know will run the company for me while away.

I am not sure I would have all of this were I was in Canada where I was born.

For starters, I don't think you would get seen immediately at emergency and have a private room and be attended by doctors who were not stressed to the max and overworked.

Second, there would be no way you would have 2 trustworthy full-time nannies to help care for the kids, willing to stay late and take care of everything while the whole household was sick.

If we didn't have the extra help, I honestly don't know what I would have done.

This whole experience just reaffirms my gratitude for being an expat and being able to have such a high standard of living, even when I feel so crummy...

Hopefully, I am on the mend now,

Mikkel

PS. I apologize to anyone who has emailed and has not received a reply since Thursday; now you know the reason why...

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