Surgery while Traveling Overseas | Our Experience in a Serbian Hospital
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2023
- Ep.64 One of the biggest worries when traveling abroad is what to do when you need medical care. We take you through our entire process of getting a necessary surgery while in Belgrade, Serbia. We share video from inside the hospital to give you as much information as possible. ❤️
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I had a dental emergency while I was on vacation in Serbia. My husband took me to his dentist and it was an amazing experience. I love Serbia, it is my second home.
Thank you so much for watching and for sharing this experience. Dentists. Ugh. Having an emergency with your teeth seems complicated, but I'm so glad it was straightforward for you. I don't know how you find a dentist to assist so promptly when you aren't already a patient or a friend of a patient! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie You’re so welcome. It’s so nice to see other people appreciate my husband’s home country. I was so worried about not being seen as well because I wasn’t a patient but my husband told me it is not like it is in the US. You can get in the same day or the next day. I was so amazed with the equipment that took a 3d scan of your mouth and how you could get implants at a fraction of the cost in the United States on the same day. I know we hear all the horror stories on medical and dental tourism but there are a lot of successes. Thank you for sharing your experience.
@@CS-gq3ez This is so encouraging to hear because at some point-hopefully a long time from now-we may be in the same boat. Thank you for sharing your successful encounter with us. We agree that everyone knows one person (or one person's friend) with a horror story and that's all that gets circulated. It's so helpful to hear other success stories so that *those* are what get circulated, too! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie You’re so welcome. I’m glad I give encouragement. 😊😊😊. I will definitely be a sub to see more videos. Take care.
Thank you so much! If there are topics that are helpful to you, we'd love to know about them. -Judy
I tore my knee Miniscus in Belgrade and went to the Tesla Medical Center near the waterfront development, Brankov Most end. The Service was exceptional compared to anything I have experienced in the UK in the last 10 years, love Serbia big fan.
Oh no, David, that sounds absolutely horrible. Mobility problems are some of my greatest fears as a full-time traveler. I hope you are well recovered now. We are glad to hear you got excellent care like we did. Thanks for watching and for sharing your experience. -Judy
I am a Serb and I am extremely glad that you solved your problem in my country in a fast and safe way.
What you should know about our doctors is that wherever you go in Western Europe, the chance of being treated by a doctor from Serbia is 50%. :)
Germany and Norway are full of our doctors who went there because of higher salaries, but the treatment you will receive in Serbia is no different from any other country in the EU, except that the costs in Serbia will be significantly lower.
I am glad that the gentleman is well and that the operation went well.
Thank you for spreading the good news about my country, which does not have the best reputation in the Western world.
Many greetings from Kraljevo.
Thank you so much for your kind comment. We are so grateful for the good treatment we had in Serbia and highly recommend it as a place for full-time travelers like us or anyone seeking treatment outside of the US. You might enjoy our other video from Belgrade, where we share our impressions. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
Just clarify why our doctors LEAVE!!!! We are left with very few real experts (speaking as someone from the medical family).
@@SelenaLucia2011 Is it not for the higher salaries that the original poster mentioned? I would hope salary would only be a small piece of the reason, but I don't know. What do you think since you have family with medical backgrounds? -Judy
@@SelenaLucia2011 Because our beautiful doctors dentists and nurses are being underpaid it's a pity it's so sad some of the best medical professionals in the world... our VA hospitals are at the top yet this man goes get surgery there for Dinars for Christ sakes.. it makes me want to cry what they're doing to our beautiful people anywhere else in Europe imagine if they went to Paris or Rome they would have paid almost as much as they would In the United States ..it's horrid that is why most of the balkans especially Serbia are the best people in the world God bless them all❤
I'm not sure what fixes need to happen in the Serbian system so that healthcare workers are paid a living wage, but it's up to the Serbian people to stand up to the forces within it and drive change. We can only share our experience as bystanders and give a shoutout for the good doctors and medical staff that helped us. -Judy
I have lived in Serbia for 8 years now and I am impressed with the health service here, it may not have all the trimmings and pleasant surroundings we in the west enjoy, but they have amazing doctors and nurses who know what they are doing. There is no "oh we cant see you until 3 months later or even a year +" , it is always very quick as in same day or next day. I haven't spent a night in hospital or had any surgery thankfully, but when I have had to go to the doctors it is always quick and precise. Yes you pay for any medication you may need and a small amount at the end of the consultation for administration but I do not think 100 - 200 dinars is enough, they should charge a bit more. The cost of medication (Obviously depending on what you need ) is also good, its not too expensive . All in all if I had to have anything major done I do not think I shall be too worried (I say too worried in the respect of the treatment, the hygiene, the quality of the service they provide) because in my eyes it is the best. I think I would worry more over the fact they dont have gowns and you only have a sheet over you, but I think that is more to do with I'm used to being covered and not in my birthday suit as they say :). I think the west could learn alot of lessons from here and certainly reduce the charges they make especially as our beloved NHS is constantly being under funded and controlled by big companies expecting huge amounts of money for medication. The west is about profits, here it is about the person needing the help. If someone is not working there is no charge or a very small one indeed that will not put them in debt, if you are working its still only a small amount, as you said your operation cost about 7000 dinars if you had that done in the UK would have been about 7000 pounds. so yeah Serbia (or should say Srbija) is a brilliant place, they truly are for the people here not massive profits.
hvala ti puno srbija treba da budeš ponosna. imate prave prioritete i ponosan sam što živim ovde, u ovoj prelepoj zemlji
You are spot on with all of this. I truly believe that there are people trying to change NHS to become privatized and it would be a huge mistake. I'm not sure why the government is choosing to underfund it except that the people at the top have self-interests. Healthcare should not bankrupt a person, but it can nearly do that in the US. And it's nearly unaffordable for people like us to have insurance when we are self-employed. I know many people who have to work a side job, not for the money, but for health insurance. You should not be at the mercy of your job to be healthy. One clarification though is that Kevin's surgery and all the pre-op tests before and post-op care cost 188,000 dinar (so around US$1,720), which is incredibly cheap. And the pace couldn't have been better. Thank you for sharing your experience. We are enjoying our time here in Serbia. -Judy
As someone from the former Yugoslavia who lives in Sweden since 30 years back. I would rather go to Belgrade to get surgery than here in Sweden. You can barley get a time for anything here anymore. The healthcare has gone down the drain literally. Before most was regulated by the state now it's all private firms who employ people who barley know the language.
@@DDtch6669 This is interesting to hear. I would have thought Sweden would have had excellent healthcare. I'm not sure what is happening these days with healthcare. We have bee conditioned about what to expect in the US, but we know how easy it is for the system to bankrupt people and also how expensive insurance is-if you can even get it. Thanks for watching and for sharing your perspective. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie yeah the world is sure crazy nowdays. Sweden has one of the worlds biggest taxes, during the 90s we pretty much had the worlds best healthcare, one of worlds most secure power grids, criminality was unheard of. Today a country with most shootings in EU, power grid is outdated, heck we had water/wind/solar/nuclear everything, now electricity is like 500% more espensive than just two, three years ago. Healthcare down the drain. My mom works like crazy just to give the elders basic care.
When I visit Serbia and Bosnia I’m shocked that you can get healthcare so fast and the dentists are really good as well. Nice to hear your story! Will definwtly subscribe. Wish you all the best.
We had no idea about this, so thanks for sharing this with us. Sweden is a very expensive place for us to visit. We'd like to go there, but it will have to be for a short trip. Thank you so much for subscribing; we appreciate it a ton and will do our best to continue to bring you content you will enjoy. -Judy
Doctors in serbia are very good, very professional, they know what they are doing, you were in safe hands.
You are right! It's a different experience from what we encounter in the US and that threw us off a bit. It's interesting that some of your beliefs arise only from your lived experiences and not from actual facts. We would recommend Serbia to anyone looking for medical tourism. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Nothing is a safe 100% even in Serbia , when is time to die no any doctor can safe.
@sanjanewmoonlife Completely fair point, but it's always better if a doctor (not just a Serbian doctor) is thorough, responsible and well educated. The consequence of bad mistakes isn't always death. And no one is eager to live with life-long injuries because of negligence. -Judy
Medical treatment in Serbia is absolutely brilliant. Medical staff is highly trained and qualified.
We were so happy with our experience in Serbia. I can appreciate that the public system might not have operated as quickly as the private one, but we were very grateful to have that option. Thanks for watching and for affirming our care and experience! -Judy
Only in private hospitals Not Government hospitals
Doctors in private hospitals most often have 10+ years of experience in public hospitals, they don't take specialists without experience in private hospitals.
Medical education is very good in Serbia, otherwise they wouldn't accept doctors from Serbia in Germany, even without experience.
@user-pu2zp8cf9w It sounds like doctors come from public hospitals first. Although we were grateful to have been able to utilize the public system, we would prefer that doctors prioritize the public system, but it seems like that isn't always the way things work. -Judy
Private hospitals are much more efficient, specialist appointment in private sector costs 30-50$, and it can be scheduled in 3h, latest in one day, while in public sector it is free,but you need to wait few weeks.
I pay obligatory public health insurance 200€/month, which I don't use, due to its inefficiency, and 40€/month for private insurance which I use whenever I need it.
Don't worry for the pillow, every hospital in Serbia has service for washing and dissinfection everything, that way they are sure that patients won't get infections after the surgery. It is serious thing.
Hi Jasna, We did feel that things were clean, and it's really been in the last twenty years or so that hospitals in the US (at least where we lived) sent you home with everything you touched, so sitz baths, water jug, pillow, socks, urinal, you name it. Not that anyone really needs this stuff when they go home, but US hospitals are selling these things to you versus sanitizing them and reusing them. Thank you so much for watching and for your comment. -Judy
maybe in private hospitals, public ones are scary...
@@danijel2282 U kojoj bolnici u Srbiji si imao iskustvo ?
Ja sam nekoliko puta bio u bolnici u različitim gradovima , i nemam reči da opišem ljubaznost bolničkog osoblja i maksimalnu čistoću .
@ZokiDobrojevic We did not have a vast amount of experience with Serbian hospitals, but our experience was the same as what you say-clean and very kind and skilled medical staff. You might enjoy our video from Belgrade, which I've linked below-Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
Glad you had a Wonderful experience in a wonderful country! Serbia is something special and unique! Please God help it maintain the same status.
Thank you so much for watching. We enjoyed our time in Serbia and look forward to visiting again when we can explore more freely without having to deal with a surgery! -Judy
Thank you so much for such nice words about your experience in Medigroup General Hospital. I am very glad you had a flawless recovery and thankful for your recommendation.
Actually, I am a surgeon and a proud Hospital Director of this very hospital.
Kind regards,
Prof. Dr Slavko Matić
Hi Prof. Dr. Matić, We are glad you were able to see this video and know about the excellent care we received. We happily recommend your hospital to travelers like us. Kevin is recovering beautifully and we have nothing but kind words to share about our experience. We were absolutely shocked and impressed by how quickly things went for us and at an affordable price compared to the US. Thanks for watching and for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. -Judy
Dear Prof. Dr Slavko Matic and where the ordinary Serbian who don’t have private health insurance can be cared for?!
If I am not mistaken wast majority of Serbian people can’t afford the care you are providing…care for the chosen ones?
Doktore Slavko,koliko građana Srbije se može pohvaliti takvim tretmanom?
@user-fc2fh1ir8v ordinary Serbs are dying from curable types of cancer because there is 6 months waiting list just to get to CT exam.
@@user-fc2fh1ir8v There is great number of excellent surgeons working in public hospitals, where the treatment is completely covered by the State health insurance. I was working for over three decades in the University surgical hospital, and I am still confident in surgical knowledge and expertise for the majority of my colleagues still practicing there.
Serbian here. Couple of months back I had surgical repair of a nerve in my left hand here in Serbia, in a public hospital. Never had much experience with staying at the hospital over night and wasn't hoping for much. It was scheduled in a week, spent 4 days in a hospital, everybody polite, clean, doctors were very old school serous and strict, felt like time, organization and efficiency are priority, visits were on time and every patient was given at least 10 minutes with doctors. Exceeded all expectations. Now I have every day hand therapy and everybody is so accommodating and making appointments around my schedule. My expenses for the nerve surgery and 4 nights in a hospital with 5 months (will go on for year and a half more) hand therapy using el. stimulation, magnets, laser and physical therapy is 0$. I pay only for the meds. Very glad everything went well for you. ZIveli
Wow. I am so happy to hear that your experience has been so positive. We're sorry that you had to go through it at all, but it's some comfort to at least see that your care has been top-notch and that you are improving. Thanks so much for sharing this experience with us and for watching our video. We have an episode coming out in a few weeks from our time in Serbia that you might want to see. Take good care. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Will do. 😃
@@FindingGinaMarie Serbian hospitals and staff are excellent, whether private or public. There are also special clinics for students here and they are so good I am jealous of my college kids being able to use their services and I cannot because I am not a college student, lol
Of course, just like anywhere in the world you might run into an occasional idiot, but it is, thank god, rare.
Btw, even if you had gone to a public hospital they'd have fixed you up fast, because you are a foreigner and the fact that you might need leave the country at a certain date is taken into account.
@chickenlover657 I love hearing this, so thanks for sharing this information with us. We've heard some complaints, but I didn't want to believe it is as bad as some people have said. As you said, nothing is perfect. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Let me tell you a true story: My brother in law is not serbian, he does not live in serbia, he does not and never had serbian citizenship, so he is a foreigner by all criteria. Regardless, he and my sister come every year to visit me and my children, their nieces. On one such occasion one of my dogs bit him. Drew blood even. So I said this is serious, you need a rabies shot for sure (you know, just in case), maybe anti-tetanus too. He was skeptical, because he also "heard things" (nevermind what my sister and I told him), and in his mind it was an endless wait in some overcrowded public hospital. He was not in the mood for THAT. Long story short, we MADE him go and - surprise, surprise - the wait was half an hour. To top that, the nurses and doctors - who don't often see foreigners as we live in a rural area - were all very eager to please (like the frikkin Pope came in), and they even made him a coffee. They ended up chatting for an hour, all the while other patients were coming in and out (all equally curious). And mind you, I'm a nobody, so it's not like we had a free pass for being royalty or something.
Serbia has excellent doctors , 100% professional and knowledgeable. My doctor in Stamford CT is from Belgrade , she is our family doctor and we love her .
Hi Sami, we agree! I am so happy that you've had a good experience with your Serbian doctor. I know that Serbia would like her back, but it does speak highly to the level of training and skill that Serbia provides. If you're interested in learning about Serbia at all, we have another video showcasing our time in Belgrade, which I'll link below. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
@@FindingGinaMarie I am Albanian born in Kosovo, I am also fluent in Serbian , actually a preferred means of communication w my doctor . I know a lot about Serbia !
I just thought I give props where props are due .
@@SamiKrasniqi We appreciate it. Kevin has healed so well, and that's all thanks to the amazing doctors and medical professionals who helped us. -Judy
As an American physician I have always been impressed with the caring attention I have seen by medical staff in other countries. My first experience was with a medical team in China who cared for an ill member of my travel group. I was asked to see my fellow traveler with the medical team and treated with great kindness by the Chinese staff. This was in the early 1980s when American tours were a rare event. The experience has been repeated in Europe, Africa and other parts of Asia. I hope this always remains true.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, especially from a medical professional's opinion. We were so happy with the care that Kevin received. The swiftness and efficiency of the process and that everyone was able to speak English put his mind at ease. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Pa nije bas tako ali se jos uvek koliko toliko poklanja paznja COVEKU,STO KOD VAS NIJE SLUCAJ JER SVE GLEDATE KROZ NOVAC.Kod nas je politika unistila zdravstvo i polako ali sigurno gubimo nase nekadasnje vrednosti a to je BRIGA O SVAKOM GRADJANINU OVE DRZAVE,a ceh placamo mi obicni gradjani .
Because you doctors, in US, are only after money. Don't care whatsoever for humanity. Everything you is about profit. There may be 2% of real, thruthful doctors who care about people. Family physicians just care about numbers...It's sad.
That's why many doctors from Europe immigrated to US because they wanted more money. Those that cared about people and stuck with their Hypoccrat oath, stayed.
@dzordzdzordzinjo1840 I think there are a lot of doctors who do the right thing and are in the profession to help people. But the greedy and selfish ones are primarily the ones we hear about. I can appreciate that it's expensive to be a doctor and often they make big sacrifices at the expense of their families. But healthcare should be reformed everywhere. The problem is that everyone wants their piece of the money (insurance companies, sellers, vendors, etc.). It's unfortunate. Thank you for watching. -Judy
Unfortunately politicians are destroying the healtcare system i hope it doesent get worse, but im happe for you that eveything went fine.
Hope u enjoyed your stay in Serbia, hope u have a speedy recovery as well. Greetings from Serbian city Niš.
Thanks so much for your kind comment. Kevin is doing terrific. We have another video from Serbia coming out today and we hope you'll watch it! We would love to come back and explore more. Kevin's situation did not allow us to sightsee as much as we would have liked. -Judy
Im a Serbian girl (early teens) and this year I spent a week in a children’s hospital in my city because of emergency surgery, the place was old I shared a room but the medical care, my surgeon and the nurses were absolutely amazing people and took such good care of me and the rest of the kids there, I hope you had a fast recovery and a great time here in Serbia!
Hi Goca, I'm sorry to hear about your emergency surgery. I am so glad you had good care. We did as well and we couldn't be more grateful. We have another video from Serbia you might enjoy about our impressions of Belgrade. We wish Kevin would have been in better shape so we could have explored more, but we plan to do that the next time we return. Thank you for your comment and for watching our video! -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
I am glad that you are doing well. Doctors in Serbia are on top 10 best in the world. Friend of mine did exactly same surgery in Serbia and they used mash to hold his hernia. It 3 months for him to feel 100 percent .3 years later he feels excellent. I am sure you will be the same. Reason why they ask you for you father name is because in Serbia you are carrying your first name then your father name and at last your last name. Every one has his father name as second name. Very interesting and nice video definitely thumbs up.
I did not know that about Serbian doctors, but it's encouraging to hear your friend has recovered so well. They did end up asking Kevin a few times about his father's name. We did learn this about not having a middle name, but it was from one of our kind commenters like you. Thank you so much for watching and for taking the time to leave us this note! -Judy
Da..baš jesu top doktori 😁🕺🕺🕺
We felt very lucky to have had such a positive experience! -Judy
Im Serb its the first time I hear you carry your fathers names as second name and then your sir name , where did you get that from?
@@aramisone7198 Pa "srbine" jesi li pao s Marsa ?
What is most important in medicine is cleanliness and competency of doctors and nurses. I am Serbian American and have lived in Serbia for a while. My son had surgery, a complicated one, and I was really nervous. But it was state of the art. I had a bed in his room, duvets, and food and service from everyone. They took care of him really well and were very accommodating to me. I have also been in the state system...that is a disaster...really bad, but private clinics are fantastic and in my opinion, often superior to my US experience. They do not fleece you for the hospital room, food or sheets. The reason they can reused so many things is that they use boiling methods for sheets and pillows....the washing systems in Europe are 90 degrees C for whites and cottons. I just recommend if anyone is considering surgery in Serbia...make sure you have top notch professors doing the work. I had a world class surgeon for my son...internationally recognized expert.
Thanks for sharing your experience and for watching. Kevin's surgery wasn't serious, but they really didn't want me to spend the night in his room, although I asked. I think they would have made accommodations if I insisted, but I trusted that he would be okay. In your experience, do you think that the state system in Serbia is worse than the standard public system in the US? I am so glad to hear that your son had such excellent care, and I hope he has recovered fully. -Judy
I thought in most countries the sheets and pillows were reused - after being washed/disinfected?
@frostflower5555 The sheets are reused in the US, but in many hospitals the pillows are made of cheap filling and designed to be used only by that patient and they can take them home (because they paid for them, along with items like a sitz bath, urinal, drinking water jug, which is branded with the hospital name). Nearly everything that is brought into your room is something on your hospital bill and can bring home.
So glad this wasn't an emergency. Really appreciate how you guys bring real issues, real content, and real experiences to us.
Thanks so much for this kind comment. We are trying to share everything we would want to know so that others aren't in the dark. We'll be doing dental appointments, physicals, and I need to have some minor Moh's surgery for some basil cell carcinoma on my face, which we are planning to do in Southeast Asia. We'll bring you with us for those as well! -Judy
Theres a numerous of state medical highschools/colleges in Serbia, all very good and producing a lot of specialsts every year...
Thanks for watching! We were pretty impressed by our experience, even more after we've had time to reflect on it. Serbia treated us very well. We appreciate that you took time to share this information with us! -Judy
Thank you for sharing your experience. So pleased to hear that Kevin’s surgery was successful and is healing well. Stay safe.
Hi Tina, Thank you so much for watching. He's moving slowly, but doing very well. He actually did not have stitches removed yesterday. Apparently they just wanted to check them and change his dressing. We get them removed in two weeks, which actually is good because we weren't sure how much healing could happen so soon. He's a trooper. -Judy
In order to "defend" not showing the route on google maps for public transport: Currently the system is being reconstructed and the data is not available at the moment, usually google maps provide information as well as moovit.
Regarding medicine, thank you for promoting what we in Serbia are most proud of. Medicine and the army have always been the pride of the Serbian people!
We had a great experience with Kevin's surgery and will sing it from the rooftops. We didn't realize that the system was being reconstructed. We so appreciated getting information about Moovit from our Airbnb host. It helped SO much! Thanks for watching! -Judy
Glad Kevin is doing better. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much for watching and your concern, Erin! We appreciate you. - Kevin
Many can argue about the healt care sistem in Serbia because of the differences between public and private hospitals treatments, but one thing i think all can agree is the how great trained is the personal. Serbian doctors and nurses are always wanted in other countries because of their quality knowledge. In the public hospitals people still wait long time for surgeries but if they were not underfunded they would be one of the best public healthcare systems.
Thanks for watching, Eli. I completely agree with your point about the excellent doctors, nurses, and other personnel we encountered in Serbia. There are problems in every country's healthcare system, but regardless we would recommend surgery in Serbia to anyone. We appreciate your comment. -Judy
The only point about the public hospital and a little slow it's just because there aren't enough doctors and nurses. I know because I was many times myself. In the USA I was in the emergency room and everybody sat in one long hallway waiting a minimum of 3 to 4 hours to see the doctor. Bell after 5 hours in the emergency was $ 1585.I almost had a heart attack after receiving a bell a couple days after that. I never travel again.
@@danpierce2515 Your experience in the US is very typical, unfortunately. We hope you are well now, though. Thanks for watching. -Judy
In the US there is also a big difference between public and private healthcare.
Hi Alek, As you probably know, it doesn't work quite the same in the US. Healthcare is primarily covered by private insurance. There are people who can't pay and it's up to certain charities, non-profit hospitals, and some federal programs to cover those situations, but the care is very limited. Good luck if you don't have a job or are uninsurable or have a job that doesn't offer insurance or if the premiums are too expensive based on your minimum-wage job. It's a travesty. -Judy
Wish you a quick recovery, Kevin!
Thank you, Zsolt! So far, so good. Cheers! - Kevin
RESPECT AND GREETINGS TO ALL DOCTORS FROM BELGRADE, ESPECIALLY FROM "DEDINJE 1 AND 2"
THANKS FOR THE HELP ❤️🇷🇸❤️
Thank you for your encouraging comment. We also have appreciation for the fine hospital staff that took such good care of Kevin. You might also be interested in our other video from Serbia where we share our impressions of Belgrade. I'll link it below. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Our impressions of Belgrade, Serbia: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
That's incredibly fast service! You'd be waiting if you were here in Canada.
This could have been because it's a private hospital. We'd be waiting a while in the US as well and also have paid an exorbitant amount of money. Would a private hospital in Canada have been faster? Thanks for watching! -Judy
wishing you a fast recovery and pleasant staying in Serbia
Hi Luka, thanks so much for the well wishes and for your warm welcome. Kevin is healing up so well! -Judy
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. My wife and I love to travel frequently and thinking about a medical emergency while abroad is always something in the back of my mind. It's so nice to hear about successful, professional and affordable medical care in places outside of America. And I know that America is actually not ranked in the very top of the world for medical care, however, like you mentioned we are very conditioned to think that way.
I'm grateful you shared this very personal experience and I hope you have a very speedy recovery. Please keep us updated on how you are feeling!!!
Thank you so much for watching and for taking the time to comment. You are spot on in your assessment that while the US may not be the best, we are conditioned to think that it is. At least it's familiar, which is the thing that makes medical care on the road so worrisome. I'm sure it would have been a different experience if we were in a small village where no one spoke English. But fortunately, we have gotten a lot better at navigating communication in non-English speaking countries. I'll link our video on that below in case you missed it (but as travelers, you may be familiar with all our tips).
Turned out that they did not remove Kevin's stitches today; they ended up just taking a look at how he was healing and changed the dressing. The stitches will come out in two weeks, which actually is reassuring because it seemed like this was too quick Kevin's a bit tired from the hospital trip, but overall, he's feeling really well and is super happy to have the surgery behind him. Thank you so much for your encouragement! -Judy
The topic is not even on the list of my priorities, but you people are great presenters and I just loved watching the video
What a compliment! Thank you so much for watching! We have a video of our impressions of Belgrade, which might be more interesting to you (even if you never plan to visit Serbia!). -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
So glad your experience was a good one and that you had what sounds like excellent care. My experience in China with my son was incredible. Unlike what we experience in the US, everything was fully transparent, and extremely affordable. He had brain surgery, was in ICU, then a ward, and then a semi-private room over the course of 3 weeks. We had to provide all his food for him, people cooked in the rooms, visiting hours were non-existent in that you were there 24/7 with your family. You changed their bed linen. You got an itemized breakdown of all charges for each day at the beginning of the next day. I could go on about the cultural differences, but suffice it to say that ultimately it was an very good experience despite the differences from what we were used to. Excellent medical care.
That is so interesting! What a scary experience you had to deal with. Kevin's was a very straightforward procedure, but what you experienced is so much more unnerving. I am so glad you were able to put such a positive spin on it. Someone else in similar circumstances to yours might not be able to get past the cultural differences. We felt like in our situation that although there were differences, the care we got was wonderful. Thanks for watching despite being on the road! -Judy
Oh my gosh - what an experience! We experienced so many things in China - but yours is over-the-top dramatic.
@@welltravelledlife It did help that it was planned and not an emergency. I can't imagine dealing with health issues in China. Was your experience very different than ours, even if it was not a surgery? -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Jenn blew out her knee while hiking. Language was the biggest issue. Fortunately, surgery wasn’t involved - rest and a brace were enough to get her home a month later.
That sounds absolutely horrible! I have a fear of having problems with mobility, since walking is such a huge part of what we do while we travel. Even Kevin not being able to lift for the next few months is not a good situation, but knees are next level. I'm glad she's recovering/recovered, but that does not sound good at all. -Judy
Thank you for sharing your experiences there. Glad to hear you are recovering Kevin!💙💙💙
You are so welcome! Thank you for watching and commenting. I'm so much better today than even on Friday. Cheers! - Kevin
❤❤❤❤❤❤
@markomarkovic8931 Thank you so much for watching and for taking a moment to leave us a note! -Judy
I am glad you had a good experience and that you are recovering well. As for the father's name, in Serbia it's common to placeit in official records (we do not have middle name).Also, you are not billed for usage of hospital items, they are disinfected once you leave
Thanks for this information. We weren't really sure why we were being asked this, but we gave them Kevin's father's name, and they actually asked for it when they were waking up Kevin after anesthesia. We appreciated not having to "buy" everything like we do in the US. It wasn't always this way, but it is annoying to have to pay for everything we use in a US hospital, but that's profiteering for you. Thanks for watching, Dana! -Judy
Great to hear about your experience and how great you’re feeling!! I had an emergency hospital trip in Barcelona! The ambulance took me to a private hospital and because the fall happened at the train station EVERYTHING was paid by the rail system!!! 😱 I was treated incredibly well and by the time my husband arrived, after leaving the luggages at the hotel, I had already had X-rays, sonogram, and scans. It was a horribly scary event but the care I received was comparable, if not better, than the U.S.!!! Keep yourself healthy Kevin, and listen to your doctor’s advice AND to the limitations of your body.
Wow! That's quite a story. It's wonderful that you were so well taken care of and that the rail system paid. Because we are traveling again on the 25th of this month, I'm being very cautious not to cause any damage to my newly repaired body parts. Thanks for watching and commenting, Maria! Cheers. - Kevin
When I was student I had inguinal hernia operation totally for free.
Also, when I snapped my knee ligaments I had surgery totally free of charge and 6 months of rehab also free of charge.
Surgeon, and medical sisters were very nice and compassionate. All in public hospital.
Hi Vladimir, While I'm sorry you have had multiple medical issues to resolve, I'm glad to hear that you had good quality healthcare free of charge. It should be a human right to be able to have prompt, affordable medical treatment. Thank you for watching! -Judy
Any types of medical emergency overseas is nerve rocking, I had my fair share. So glad to hear you’re recovering and as always, we love you both. God bless you! ❤🙏🏼❤️
Oh no, Juli! I am so sorry to hear that you've had to have medical care abroad. Fortunately for us this was not an emergency and we didn't have to do a mad scramble to sort out things. Some of our overwhelm was that we were in our heads too much because things sorted out so well for us. Kevin is doing very well. Thank you for your kind words and for being such a loyal follower of ours. We truly appreciate you! ♥️ -Judy
Glad to see that you visited our country and the operation went well 🤗
greetings from Serbia 👋
Yes, Serbia took very good care of us. We definitely would like to return and explore more now that Kevin is fully recovered from his hernia. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Wishing you a quick recovery 💐
My prayers from Egypt 🙏
A great couple! 🦋🦋
Thank you so much! Kevin is healing and beginning to feel better. He needs to remind himself to take things carefully and slowly, but we are so happy to have this surgery behind us. We love your comment and appreciate you watching our videos! By the way, have you seen our entire video series from Egypt? I'll link it below. -Judy
Egypt travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1WcH9GxfK4ngH49MXf5oOv.html
Love the pyramids
@@FindingGinaMarie I enjoy watching you! Your trip to Egypt sounds adventurous, being able to go easy with the local simple places but is an experience you won't find it anywhere else 😎
Anyhow glad you enjoyed it your way 👍
Best wishes
Hi Shereen, Thank you so much for your very kind comment and for watching our videos! It means more than you know! -Judy
I used to work close to that hospital, so i spent the breaks in the restaurant talking with the doctors there. Very chill guys
Thanks for watching, Luke. They were excellent doctors and provided great care. Happy to recommend them! -Judy
Praying for a speedy recovery
Thank you! I still have to move a bit more slowly than usual, but I’m healing well and should be back to full strength by the end month. - Kevin
Kevin so happy surgery went well, you look good. Please rest and recover well. God Bless! Judy will take good care of you.😅
Judy always takes great care of me. ❤️ Thank you so much for watching and the well wishes! My recovery is on track. - Kevin
Hope you have a good recovery, if you feel you have to sneeze or cough place a pillow against your surgical site it will really help.
Hah! I make sure my hand is pressed firmly over the bandage before coughing or sneezing. The trick is to remember to do it in time. 😂 So far, so good with my recovery! Thanks for watching and commenting! - Kevin
Asking about fathers name is because that’s also how we are registered in the system “First Name, Fathers Name and Surname”. But this is the private hospital also one of the best in Serbia.
Thanks for this information and for taking the time to comment about the hospital we used. We didn't realize it was private at the time we were there, but it makes perfect sense. You might also be interested in our latest video containing our impressions of Belgrade, which I'll link below. -Judy
Our impressions of Belgrade, Serbia: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
U had lucky to do it in Serbia, because we hawe the best surgers in the world. People from all over the world are coming to Serbia to get surgery procedures.
And if you had some emergency treatment that have to be done, you will get it for free. One American had heart attack and he needed urgent surgery, he was surprise when he find out that he don't need to pay. After he donated 100.000 dollars to hospital. And that was state hospital
Hi Magdalena, we are so grateful for our positive experience in Serbia. We were happy that this wasn't an urgent situation, in part so we wouldn't have to draw on public services. But it's wonderful that's an option, especially for Serbians. Going bankrupt over medical services is not acceptable and shouldn't happen to anyone. Thanks for watching and for your comment. -Judy
I'm glad your medical experience was positive and worked out well. I must say, I'm always surprised that many Americans believe their medical system is better. Its been my experience, and what I've heard from others that European, Asian and other countries healthcare system is faster, cheaper (free for low-socioeconomic groups) and have top surgeons. In saying that, I can relate to the uncertainty you felt in having a medical procedure in a foreign country, it's stressful......Fun fact, in Australia and some European hospitals that I know of, you don't get to keep anything from your hospital room. Thanks for sharing your experience and hope you have a speedy recovery. Safe and happy travels.
❤Zeljka
Americans are conditioned to believe that our healthcare system is the best. But healthcare shouldn't bankrupt a person. Having access to healthcare shouldn't be tied to having a job with insurance benefits, and it shouldn't be tied to the levels of profit that currently exist here. It was odd to us not to be paying for every single thing that we or our nurses or doctor touched, but we're not sure how that happened. It's like boiling a frog, if you drop him in cold water and slowly turn up the heat, he may never realize he's being cooked. Maybe there are sanitary reasons for having to buy everything, but it also creates waste and profit because those costs are passed through to the insurance companies and the patients. I really don't need a hospital pillow, especially if they're laundered and sanitized between patients. Thank you for watching and for sharing your perspectives. We did have an open mind about medical care outside of the US and are so glad our trust paid off! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie well said and completely agree! Thanks for replying and I’m looking forward to next week’s video.
💖Zeljka
We are excited to bring you along with us on the Glacier Express train through the Swiss Alps! We hope you enjoy it! -Judy
What a wonderful blessing. I hope this will be the end of your medical issues and you can enjoy a long healthy wander about the world
Thank you so much! We know we have some physicals and dentist appointments we will need in Southeast Asia, but the big worry is behind us! I also need to have some Moh's surgery for some skin cancer on my face, so we'll be bringing that you you sometime in 2024. But overall, we are super healthy. Neither of us are on prescription medicine of any sort, which is a huge blessing. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Glad it went well...have a speedy recovery but take it easy don't try to fast forward your recovery.,...very informative vlog
Thank you so much, Kathy! Even though I’m feeling stronger, I’m also aware that I can’t afford to cause any damage to my surgeon’s great work. 😄 - Kevin
All of this seems to have been an amazing, happy, cost effective experience. My relatives in Finland and Norway have also shared their good experiences with medical care.
It was such a good experience! We were fortunate that this was a private hospital because apparently that is partially why we got such fast treatment, but in our situation, it was exactly what we needed. Plus, the price was still very reasonable for us considering it was a significant surgery. Thanks so much for watching and for letting us know that other countries with socialized medicine have similar great service options. -Judy
Thanks for sharing this whole process.
We figured if we were going through this, it would be helpful for others to know what they could expect in other parts of the world. Thanks so much for watching! -Judy
Glad that it all worked out well. Years ago I had the same thing, back home in Australia. The whole procedure was free. (mention that because Americans really deserve free health care too). Take care.
Thank you, Andrew! I completely agree that Americans deserve free healthcare for all. Our country is so backwards when it comes to spending money on social programs. Cheers! - Kevin
@@FindingGinaMarie Don't fall for the utopian fairy tale. More than half of Australians have private health cover becaue public health will put you on a long waiting list with subpar service. Australia has been blowing money on social programs like there's no tomorrow and the chickens are coming home to roost.
@acasajkov While our experience in the US has been overall positive, healthcare is prohibitively expensive if you don't have health insurance. And health insurance is only affordable if you have the right jobs in the "right" sector of work. People in retail jobs and other work often do not have any healthcare at all or the cost of even being insured is too high. Certain things like cancer can completely bankrupt a person. So while Australia may not be perfect, I'd be curious to know how much it costs for private healthcare. It seems like somehow people are allowing this dual system to corrupt what should otherwise be a fair system. I've heard that in the UK there is a push to be more profit driven and doctors are only giving 1/4 of their time to the public system and 3/4 to private. That should not be allowed and the people and governments should step up and insist that it be more balanced or penalize doctors in some way for such an inequitable way of patient care. We have a problem with the rich getting richer and the poor and middle class getting short shrifted. There should be services in place that guarantee healthcare to anyone. -Judy
Great that you had a good experience with your surgery. Thank you for sharing this with us, it's really informative. Trusting the universe is definitely the thing to do. I live in Canada and unlike the comment you made with the worry with social care cutting corners, I believe it's the reverse, because it's social care, the cost is never an issue. The issue with cutting corners is when care becomes a business.
Hi Ildiko, We think you are right. It's interesting how we were taught to believe that US healthcare is the best in the world. We felt comfortable putting ourselves in the hands of a Serbian hospital, but we surprised ourselves how distrustful we could be by the unfamiliar. We had a great experience in Serbia, and while we understand that the private hospital we were in isn't accessible to many Serbians, we were grateful for the care we received. The business of healthcare really is a huge tragedy. Thanks for watching and for your insightful comment. -Judy
Kevin the stars aligned for you..hope everything goes well
Thank you, Bruce! I am feeling better every day. Just today, my surgeon said everything looks good. Cheers! - Kevin
Thank you. While limited to one country, your experience is reassuring.
Hi Katy, Not quite the same, but we were very happy to successfully get vaccinated for our trip to Egypt while we were in Rome. It's not the same as a surgery, but it was a great relief to figure out how to do that! We got overwhelmed in Greece, but now that we know how to do it, I think that process would be easier there as well. Sometimes we make things harder than they need to be. I think in the instance of Greece, we didn't know what to even look for, but now we have a much better idea. Here's a link to that video if it's helpful for you. -Judy
Vaccinations in Rome: th-cam.com/video/ZJG4MI76u58/w-d-xo.html
AND so glad all went well. Looks like Kevin will be fine, which is a mountain of relief for you both, your families, and us.
Thanks for that. I'm going to Greece late spring next year, so I'll be checking to see what vaccinations are required. Have you been asked at any borders for your vaccination records? @@FindingGinaMarie
@@katypye745 No place we've been has asked for any vaccination records. Here is very generalized info for Greece. We didn't get any vaccinations before traveling there. Here is a link to the website we use to get information about vaccinations and other alerts: travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Greece.html. Greece is amazing and we hope you love it. We have two videos from there if you haven't seen them yet. -Judy
Greece travel series: th-cam.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF0EvAnWdYy22GE_jpCp5J9c.html
@@katypye745 We are so happy. Yes, this was something we are very glad to have behind us. I need to schedule a Mohs surgery at some point when we're in Southeast Asia, but it won't be nearly as problematic as Kevin's hernia. We'll report on that as well. We appreciate your kind words. -Judy
In Serbia, city Niš, public hospital after doctors see long list for operations that need to be done much faster becouse ppl cant w8 that long. Doctors, surgeons, nurses etc. decide by themself to work on every weekend for free, untill they end the list of patients. In Serbia its not all about money, there is something about ppl.
Thanks for sharing this information for us. I was not aware of it. Hospital staff shouldn't have to do this, but it's heartwarming to hear that they put their patients above profits. Hopefully this will never have to happen again and these medical professionals will be treated more respectfully by having the government pay them for their time. We'd like to think that the government was shamed into doing what's right and didn't exploit the situation. -Judy
Belgrade has some of the best doctors and hospitals in Europe. I'm sure you were in good hands.
We absolutely felt that way, Pete. I just needed to get over my US biases and everything was fine. We would do it again in a heartbeat (but we hope we don't have to)! Not sure if you've seen our other video from Serbia, but I'll link it below. Kevin's actually upright for most of it! -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
Why are you lying to him :)
@@filipbabovic8474 I think this is an instance where we can agree to disagree. Based on our experience, even though it is limited, Serbia has excellent doctors and medical staff. -Judy
unlike in the west, in serbia your middle name is not an additional name, for lack of better word, it's your father's name.
some of paperwork requires ur father's name. ur full name is serbia is first-name fathers-name last-name. its ommited on IDs and majority of people omit it in daily use, but some of the paperwork do require you to fill it.
Thanks for taking the time to give us this comment and for watching. It's a very interesting custom in Serbia. It definitely threw us for a loop! -Judy
People in the main talk about how our taxes are too high. I will give an example. In Serbia, the average salary is around 700 euros, but that is not our salary, it is higher. The employer must pay the state about 140 euros for that amount. Those 140 euros are intended for State hospitals, schools, police, etc. I'd rather give up that kind of money every month than pay for private insurance that covers as much as you pay them. But in case I need an operation or some other service, I will not receive a bill for my basic rights as a citizen. In America, people become homeless because they have to pay the hospital bill. I don't worry about that (I hope I won't need it), but I have my 700 euros to pay the bills, apartment, food and vacation. It is better to pay it forward and have services for the basic needs of a human being , and not worried that I might lose all my life work. WE choose the government, we need the government to meet our demands, not the other way around.
All great points, and we agree. In the US you are at the mercy of having a job that offers health insurance. Some employers cover the high costs, but not all of them do. And especially unfortunate is that blue collar jobs may not offer health insurance, and even when they do, the premiums cost more than some workers can pay for it. It's a complete travesty. And yet we have people in the US that are billionaires many times over who do not pay their fair share of taxes and similarly for many corporations. Healthcare should be available to everyone regardless of their economic status. Thanks for watching and for sharing your experiences in Serbia with us. -Judy
I live in Sweden we have some of the highest taxes in the world.
@aramisone7198 I don't mind paying high taxes if the government uses the money well. And Sweden's healthcare all is universal, government funded (paid for by taxpayers of course). Do you feel like you are getting a fair value for what your tax dollars are costing you? Thanks for watching! -Judy
Am glad the ur back to good shape and well healthy... Wish u fast recovery... And the most important thing that u got an amazing wief next to you... Best wishes.. And safe journey.. 🙏❤️🌹
Thank you! The doctor said my stitches look perfect and I’m feeling more normal every day. It feels good to have that surgery behind me. - Kevin
Thanks for making a video about this! One concern I always have when traveling is healthcare in an emergency. It's reassuring to see someone navigate the system in a different country. Get well soon!
Thanks for watching, Gina. We know how important this issue is for us and our fellow travelers, so we are very glad to have a forum to share our experiences and hopefully ease minds about how something like this works. We appreciate your comment! -Judy & Kevin
Just to clarify to other tourists who will visit Serbia. This hospital is a private hospital not state hospital. If you are tourist and have an medical emergency, EMT will drive you to the nearest state hospital (free of charge) where they will check you, take all the tests that are needed, fix your problem (even if its surgery) and after your recovery, send you home with some meds (pain killers, antibiotics, probiotics,...) and schedule next appointment for a check up. All this, free of charge. If its not a medical emergency, the process is the same as they described in this video but the waiting times are much longer (because there are a lot of people on a waiting list). Medical insurance will cover your expenses, or you can pay from your pocket ( I don't know the prices in the state hospitals, but they are not American prices).
Thanks for the insights into emergency situations and for how things work in the public hospitals. We didn't realize that this was a private hospital when we first made our appointment. We only learned it because our viewers let us know (but it makes a lot of sense)! Even the private hospitals in Serbia are significantly less than any prices in the US. Thanks for watching. You might want to also watch our episode on our impressions of Belgrade, which I'll link below. -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
I had a hernia operation just some 5 weeks ago and I still have discomfort yet mine was next to my bellybutton. I was in so much pain the next day, I had to have a 2nd-night stay, which they authorised. This was all under Worker's Compensation as it happened during while I was at work.
The funny thing is, I am moving to Serbia asap....been 4 yrs in the making and I am getting closer, from Australia.
Can't wait to move and be with my wife etc. Will never come back to Australia, and won't miss it in the slightest.
Hi Ernie, thanks for sharing your story. I'm so sorry to hear about your hernia, which sounds pretty miserable. I hope you are healing and doing better. Thanks for watching; we have another episode from Serbia coming this weekend. -Judy
From Vancouver Canada and we don't take stuff home from the hospital. It must be a USA thing :)
Yes, Canada provides universal medical care and America is nearly all for profit, except for a few hospitals that are nonprofit ones. So American's healthcare system is going to sell patients everything they touch (and some things are on the bill that weren't ever in the room, so you have to check your hospital bill very carefully).
Glad this worked out well for you. Here is my story. We were doin a home swap with a couple from Norway (we were in California), I had been having problems before the trip that were diagnosed as severe GERD. Even had an endoscopy before we went and met with one of the specialists of the UC med system. They said GERD. So we went on the trip with a stopover in London for a couple days. I was on a very very low fat diet as that was the only thing that kept the pain away…. which seemed strange to me. One night, in London, the pain was so bad I woke up groaning. BTW we had one of our kids with us. We had no idea how to call for an ambulance (it was 3AM). St. Mary’s (where the royals go for baby deliveries!) was about 5 blocks from our hotel. So we walked to the hospital which was surreal as that is the time the bars let out. We went to the emergency room and was seen by a triage nurse and within minutes she suspected an inflamed gallbladder (so much for the UC medical experts). I was in a hospital bed within an hour and in the NHS free system. Lots of experiences… all good to go with that including being in a ward with 15 people that was one of several wards. Noisy and interesting. When the insurance paperwork caught up I was moved to a luxurious huge room that was very boring compared to the wards. Nurses are called sisters, The surgeons are consultants. I got an British Egyptian surgeon who did a heroic 6 hr endoscopic procedure in “Theater” to remove my gallbladder (my stone was 1x2”).5 days later I was in a flat that my daughter had arranged with the help of the student travel company she worked for. I spent those 2 weeks doing short walks around London. My wife was a hero doing all of the insurance stuff and getting medical advice from our US doctors. But for me, my memories have erased the painful moments and, in some weird way, the whole experience was like a huge adventure…. for me. My wife and daughter might have a different take on it though.
Thank you for watching, Bob! That’s a fascinating story and I’m so glad it worked out well for you. I’m sure your family has a much different take. I know Judy’s experience was stressful in a very different way than mine. Cheers to your good health! - Kevin
How much did you have to pay for this surgery in London ?
I like to travel and slipped once while walking down the stairs in one of the Royal Palaces in Stockholm. Luckily, it was not bad.
@@gdb5843 Dang, that sounds scary. I hope you did okay. We worry a lot about hurting feet and legs that could make getting around problematic. Thanks for watching. -Judy
We learn english since kindergarden so everybody can speak it to some degree, the more educated the person is the longer they have learned it.
Example, I have 8 years of primary school (I am a bit older so back then we didnt start in kindergarden, like my kids did, but in 1st grade of primary school) then 4 years of highschool and 2 years of higher education so its 14 years total.
Only much older people, like older than 55,60 have perhaps learned russian or french perhaps.
It is a great advantage, since I have traveled abroad many times since I was like 15 and I found it easy to communicate to everybody.
When it comes to healthcare we do have free universal healthcare and it also covers everybody that happens to find themselves on serbian grounds. So it doesnt matter who you are, where are you from.. as long as it is a medical emergency you get it for free. There are some little charges on certain steps (participation charges) that are usualy 1-2 dollars but you dont even have to pay those if you cant afford it, you just say I dont have it and they write it down and thats the end of it and the state will even pay that for you).
When it comes to standards, we have awesome doctors and nurses but since wages are extremly low compared to western countries, a lot of them leave the country to work abroad.. So Belgrade has good public service, perhaps few other bigger cities but rest of the country and small towns just dont. We lack everything, from good staff to infrastructure and good equipment. Then the healthcare standard become extremly bad.
The solution is to go to Belgrade (not easy for serbian residents with an outside of Belgrade adress since the law kinda prevents it and you need a lot of paperwork) or go private.
Private may seem very cheap for western people but considering serbian wages then it becomes expensive and a big problem.
My mother had heart problems so it was either bribe local institutions enough to get into Belgrade VMA (Millitary medical academy, one of top institutions on the Balkans and this part of Europe) or pay private.. Coming out at a similar cost of about 3000 euros.. My father is retired after working for 38 years and his pension is about 180 euros so that paints a more precise picture.
That is their income for almost 2 years, to cover the costs.
Fortunately I am working abroad so we could afford it but most people cant and although on papper we have awesome options, in practice we have not so good life expectancy and a lot of people in the end get poor medical service or get none and just choose to die at home in peace.
We were pleased at the amount of English spoken in Serbia, especially by all the hospital personnel. It made our experience so much easier. There was a moment or two that was challenging regarding language, but overall, it was so much better than we could have imagined. And Kevin is healing so well! Thanks for watching and for taking the time to give us this background information. -Judy
Serbia is great and for the America’s standards very cheep country to live, have surgeries, plastic or regular, the only things a which are more expensive are phones and laptops, I mean electronics and cars. Other than that you can live pretty luxurious with your American bucks :-)
Thanks for watching. We aren't interested in settling down anywhere, but Serbia is a great place for someone who wants to slow travel. We have an episode coming out this weekend that we hope you'll watch. -Judy
This is a random video that i just came by, glad Kevin you have recovered, i love this hospital, i have a private insurance and they are very good doctors and overall A+ experience.
Thanks for watching and for taking the time to leave us a comment! Yes, we had such a great experience with the medical staff and everyone who helped us to navigate through the system. You might enjoy watching our impressions of Belgrade, which I've linked below. -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
I believe the US ranks 6th world wide in care but close to LAST in terms of health care access. It would not concern me if I needed care in most countries. Medical tourism is a thing and many Americans experience it.
Thanks for watching, Susan, and for your great comment and perspective. What I find interesting is that there is so much propaganda in the United States about how we lead the world in healthcare, and it's an exaggeration. And your point about healthcare access also is thought provoking-and true-because everyone we talked to in the US had a story about a friend of a friend living outside of the US who had to wait forever for healthcare as a reason not to have socialized medicine. We felt that the level of service and care we received was completely appropriate and without the price gouging. It's terrible that you need a job with excellent benefits to afford healthcare in the US. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Great video ! The reason why there is a difference in perspective of health care in US and other countries in the world , that have socialized or combined health care (besides the obvious ones , like different culture/mentality , financial state of particular country , existence of good medical schools and infrastructure...) is social structuring , meaning , in the USA , "health care" isn't health care , but a pure business. I've read , some time ago , in some Bloomberg article , that 98% of "health care" is owned by (if I remember correctly) 6 big insurance trusts and big pharma. They , also , own quite a bit of investments in system of school loans , therefore , they "own" doctor (and particularly specialists and surgeons) before they even finish their education and internship . So , when they get a job , they must comply with any regulation and rule , that is imposed on them (in their place of work) , because otherwise , they loose their job (in severe cases of dis abidance they get struck off of the medical profession) and the student loan is hanging over their head (average time for paying off the student loan , for a surgeon is 10+ years). Since it is a business , they advertise accordingly (through mass media and politicians they fund , even through school system) , therefore , most Americans think that they have "THE best" health care system in the world. Don't get me wrong , there are some of the world best medical experts in the USA , but access to them (for an average person) is almost non existent. There are , also , a lot of very good (in terms of human treatment , not just professionalism) doctors and nurses . There is a lot of videos on this subject on YT and other social media (American citizens reactions to European , or other places health care and cost). All the best and happy travels !
@pedjamilosavljevic6235 Thanks for taking the time to share this information. This all fairly aligns with my understanding of things in the US. I don't know how we Americans have allowed healthcare to be such a business. There are some non-profit hospitals, but you still have insurance companies taking their cut. I do not understand it. Thank you for watching. -Judy
Wish you both good health and energy and success on your adventures.
Thank you so much! We’ll happy take that positive energy. I’m recovering quickly and hope to be 100 percent by our next trip at the end of this month. - Kevin
@@FindingGinaMarie thank you very much for responding to my comment. I am very glad for your recovery. And all my best wishes to you both in all your endeavours. I came
across one of your videos a couple of weeks ago when you were in Egypt and I watched a few afterwards. Your way of explaining and giving tips is very interesting and engaging and realistic. Although I am not the travelling type but I enjoy these types of videos. Especially when people visit the Middle East as I come from there originally but I live in the U.K. I am Kurdish from Kurdistan of Iraq. Egypt is very special to most people in the Middle Eastern countries because of their influence through their cinema,dramas and music. Egypt has a huge cultural and intellectual influence in the Arab world. So videos about them always grabs my attention and I was happy to see your videos and that despite the difficulties and cultural differences you enjoyed your visit. I hope you always enjoy your travels. All the best.
Thank you very much for the well wishes. Kevin is doing much better already. We are so glad you found our videos and appreciate you watching them and also taking the time to share these kind words with us. Be well. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie thank you ver much. Best regards.
The google maps/apple maps not working for public transportation is a recent thing, because the public transportation is currently in a transition. The city terminated a contract with KentKart (the company which was responsible for ticketing and tracking support) in May this year, and the govt is slow at making everything work again. Fortunately moovit still works.
Hi Dusan, thanks for providing this explanation and for watching. It's very helpful to know! By the way, we have another episode coming out from Serbia this weekend and hope you'll watch it! -Judy
I'm looking forward to it! Best Regards.@@FindingGinaMarie
You did the operation in Serbia because it is eight times cheaper than in the USA and two and a half times cheaper than in Austria. Also, in Serbia you got better accommodation, care, doctors and medical staff than in your country. And by the way... they asked for your father's name because in Serbia the name of the father or mother is added to the full name and surname of the person. One more thing... where you were has nothing to do with socialized medicine. It is a private hospital.
Hi Bojan, we agree in many respects except maybe your comment about socialized medicine. I don't know if the care or accommodations were better, but I don't think we missed some of the "extras" that are built into the US hospitals. I think when you're in a country with socialized medicine, you might still have some of the economies that are employed in a public hospital, except improved wait times, more attention, and additional resources the hospital can utilize. Because there still were major differences in how the Serbian private hospital operated versus one in the US. Maybe the difference is tied to more profiteering in the US? Thanks for watching. -Judy
My thoughts too :)))))) kaki mi se od amera&Co
Glad you had a nice experience and I'm happy to hear everything went well! I hope the recovery was not too long.
However, it is important to note that the public system we have is vastly different than the private one. Most people here do not have the funds to pay for a nice and fancy private hospital. The standard of living is not that great, so our option is always a public hospital. The public system is actually kind of horrendous, and that's just facts. People will wait for 6 months - 1 year for a simple scan.
Thanks so much for taking the time to watch and then provide additional insights. When we booked Kevin's surgery, we had no idea that this was a private hospital. It's frustrating to hear that wait times are so long. They are long in the US as well, but not that long. But anything complicated could completely bankrupt you in the US, so that's a pretty broken system as well. I wish there were better solutions since quality, affordable, timely healthcare should be a right given to every human being.
You might want to watch our impressions video from Belgrade, which I'll link below. We did have some fun there, even though time was spent recuperating. -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
Healthcare is free in Serbia, if you have insurance, youre good to go for free in a public hospital, however there are potentially huge waiting lists depending of the procedure. Doctors are quite underpaid and choose to move out of serbia or to move to a private hospital. Either case check the waiting lists in your local hospital, if they are too long, search for a private ones. Often private hospitals are even cheaper in smaller cities than they are in Belgrade.
For fathers name, thats kinda youre middle name in Serbia, and required in many paperwork. In some slavic countries your father name becomes your second lastname
Are you saying you need health insurance for healthcare in Serbia? That wasn't my understanding. You might need a private policy to go to a private hospital (not sure exactly about this) or else be prepared to pay out of pocket like we did. Thanks for watching and for taking the time to comment. -Judy
Don't worry you'll be fine my mother and brother had hernia surgery long ago ... I know others who had hernia surgery.. 🎉❤❤️🌎🌎🙏🥰💓🎂🍮🍰🥧🌎🌼💐🌻🌹
Kevin ended up doing very well and is now fully recovered. We are so grateful to the great care he received in Serbia. Thank you for your kind words! -Judy
Serbian medical personel is amazing!
Hi Alo, We can only speak from our experience, but the people we dealt with did a great job. We were grateful for the great care we got while we were in Serbia. Kevin is recovering well! We have a second video coming out this Saturday from our time in Serbia and we hope you will watch it. -Judy
I feel bad - I’ve lost you for a while. Then I flick by and there you are laying in a hospital bed!
Thanks so much for finding us again and for watching. You might need to adjust your subscription. You can select "personalized" or "All." When you select personalized, TH-cam will curate what it sends. When you select All, you'll get every new video we release. -Judy
I wait in Chicago to get an appointment for 5/6 months at the Nortwestern hospital
Hi Ann, we agree that appointments in the US can take forever. Also, with an average price for a surgery of this type around $9,000, that would have been a huge cost out of pocket. Granted our insurance would have covered the amount in excess of our deductible, but there wouldn't have been any additional value for the excessive costs. Thanks for watching! -Judy
The father's name in Serbia is not a so-called middle name, but is entered for the sake of more secure identification of a person, since there are several people with the same first and last name, and even the same father's name. In that case, another letter from the father's name is added, for example: Milan St. Protic. Greeting
Thanks so much for this information and for watching. We had no idea what they were talking about when the hospital asked fro this information! -Judy
First time I hear that and I'm serb
Could have gone to military medical academy but that whould cost some extra, but you would atended by colonel or general whith real life combat experience. But all is well that ends well.
We had great service and zero complaints. The speed with which we were able to move through the system astounded us. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Serbia has great doctors and terrific medical care for anyone that has enough money to stay away from public hospitals. Doctors in private and public hospitals are the same but they show a lot more attention to their private practice. The prices are, of course much, much lower in compare to USA but in Serbia most of the people work for 400€ a month. Serbia is wonderful but corruption is eating us alive...
Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment on our video. It's discouraging to hear that doctors focus more attention to their private practice. I was hearing a similar story from someone recently who's living in the UK. And as far as corruption, it is unfortunately everywhere. We've gotten a bit jaded over the years, but we try to focus on the good in the world and try to focus on what we can control. It's not easy when you look at the daily news. But we are very thankful for the good experience we had in Serbia and try not to take that for granted. -Judy
zato što većina želi "besplatnu uslugu" ali ne želi dati realna izdavanja iz plate
@@tihomirilic1662 To je tek neki treći problem, prvi problem je sistem koji dozvoljava lekarima da rade i u državnoj i u privatnoj praksi, koji dozvoljava ubacivanje preko reda i preko veze, čašćavanje itd. Moja supruga i ja svaki mesec damo od plate oko 300€ za državno zdravstveno osiguranje jer smo na to primorani i koje hvala bogu ne koristimo a najskuplje privatno osiguranje košta 65€ mesečno i pokriva sve "ne daj bože" situacije i to na privatnim klinikama bez čekanja i cimanja, tu dolazimo do tog problema socijalizma gde neki plaćaju, neki ne a svi imaju pravo da koriste. To treba ukinuti, kao u Americi, daju mi bruto platu pa ja uplatim kol'ko hoću i gde hoću a ko ne plati-zna se...
@tihomirilic1662 It's unfortunate that people do not all treat healthcare as a basic human right. Thanks for watching. -Judy
@bnast6849 There are so many problems with the US system. If you don't have a job, it's nearly impossible to afford insurance, some jobs don't offer health insurance, and even when some people have insurance, the cost to use is is exorbitant so some people use it only in emergencies, and by then the cost of treatment is astronomical. As I mentioned in our video, in the US when you go to a hospital, they bill you for everything they bring you (and you don't have any choice about it and the prices are grossly inflated). If you need a urinal, it's on your bill, your pillow is on your bill, they give you a jug for water, it's on your bill. It goes on and on and it takes weeks to dig through a hospital bill to see if they only charged you for what they brought you. Often your bill has thousands of dollars of charges that weren't incurred. That may be errors, but it's on you while you are home recovering to figure out if you were overcharged. If you end up getting cancer, for many people that basically can send them into bankruptcy. They will pay on that hospital bill for the rest of their lives. -Judy
Sometimes they do regular cuts because of possible complications that they can act faster 👍🏻
Thank you so much for this insight. It makes sense! You might also be interested in our other video from Belgrade, which I've linked below. Thanks for watching! -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
Im Serbian, who lives in Canada for 20 years, and i can proudly tell Serbian Heather is 100 % better than Canadian ....
Hi Katarina, We've never had healthcare in Canada, but we were very happy with the care Kevin received in Serbia. Everyone was kind, helpful, and professional, and he's doing great now! Thanks for watching. You might enjoy our other video of our impressions of Belgrade. We would have liked more time to explore (without Kevin being health compromised), but we had a great time with what we saw and plan to return to see other parts of Serbia as well. -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
Medi group is very fancy clinic not very affordable to serbians. I am glad you had great experiance im our country. :)
Things are different in a public healthcare,there is a lot of waiting,but when you pay for private services ,things are going so much faster.
I hope you are having great time in Serbia!
Hi Zoya, We had no idea when we went to Medigroup that it was a private hospital. It was great service and doctors, which we needed especially since we needed to travel shortly after the surgery, but Serbia outdid itself. We're disappointed that the public system doesn't offer this type of prompt service to its locals. Kevin has been healing very well. You might enjoy our impressions of Belgrade video. We would have preferred that we could have explored more and not needed to be sidelined by the surgery, but we were very grateful for the experiences we had while we were there. We are eager to explore other parts of Serbia at some point. Thank you so much for watching and for your comment. Here's a link to our video.-Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
many Americans come to Serbia because of the low prices compared to the prices in America for dentists... For $3000, you can rent platinum food here and complete reconstruction of all teeth.... Otherwise, Serbia is known in Europe for very well-educated and high-quality doctors....
I had no idea that there was dental tourism in Serbia as well. We are extremely fortunate not to have needed it, but it's helpful to know it's available. Our doctors, nurses, and the entire hospital staff were kind and helpful. We are looking forward to visiting Serbia again. Also, you might want to watch our most recent episode about our impressions of Belgrade, which I'll link below. -Judy
Belgrade impressions: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
My daughter and son in law had to get medical care in Jaipur India. It was a frightening experience even though they were well treated. We finally had to cut our trip short, because my daughter wasn't making progress. It's probably for the best that we did because two days after arriving home, I became sick from food poisoning.
I'm sure it was scary for your family to need medical care in India. Is your daughter doing better now? I've never heard of food poisoning showing up after a few days, but it sounds like that actually can happen. I don't envy that for you at all. Thanks for watching. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie she is finally doing better. It's taken many months for her body to recover. I think my food poisoning incident occurred shortly before we left Jaipur. The type of food poisoning I had is caused by an organism that acts kind of like a virus, in that it can take from two to seven days for symptoms to appear. Oddly enough, the first symptoms were like the flu, with muscle aches and fatigue. Then it got really unpleasant.
Hi Teresa, That does not sound fun at all. What would you do differently after having this experience? We are considering visiting India in 2024. Do you recommend Jaipur? I can imagine if your illnesses have left too bitter of a taste in your mouth to recommend visiting! -Judy
Serbian physician here. If you are in a visit, have private insurance or you are our citizen working for some big company who pays you the private insurance you are totaly fine. Everything will be done fast and with ease. If you are a local who is strugling to survive, in most cases you will need to go to the public health institutions, you will need to find a connection with the doctor to do it quick, you will need to give him a gift mostly a whiskey bottle with an envelope with a few hundreds of euros depending on the procedure. If you are poor hard worker and you need a hip replacement you will be put on a waiting list and it can take up years before they call you. In other cases, all emergencies will be settled fast and after you recover go buy a whiskey bottle and you know the rest...
We would hate to believe this is happening. As a Serbian physician, why would doctors accept bribes? I understand that the pay isn't outstanding, but when people's health and lives are involved, it's a stretch for us to believe that there would be that much corruption. It seems the opposite of why someone would go through all the work of becoming a doctor, which is to help people. -Judy
Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm glad you were able to have a safe procedure in Serbia.
GOD bless you and only Yahusha saves.
Hi Lacy, yes, it was a great experience for us. Everyone was helpful. The doctors and all the medical staff were informative, professional, and kind. The price was reasonable, and we were blown away by how fast the surgeon was able to see us and then operate. You might enjoy our other episode from our month in Serbia, which is linked below. Thanks for watching and for your kind comment. -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
Amazing. All in 24 hours.
It really shocked us, in a good way, Melinda! Thanks for watching! You might also want to check out our impressions of Belgrade, which showcases how we spent the rest of our time in Belgrade! -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
Ah, your father's name 😁 In Serbia we don't have 'middle name'. Instead, for identification, one of parent's names is required in some forms, usually father's name, but mother's will also do.
That’s helpful to know. I was asked for my father’s name before and after surgery as well. Cheers!
U Srbiji najčešće ime je Jovanović Dragan., samo u Beogradu ih ima 5000.
@@zaklinaivkovic4550 That could get a little confusing and it's probably especially hard if someone is trying to get ancestry information for a family tree! Thanks for watching and for sharing this information! -Judy
Serbians and maybe many other countries don't understand the middle name thing. I was the oddball in school without a middle name and I asked my mother what was my middle name insisting that I must have one. But Serbians use a lot of nicknames so it's hard to keep track of two names for the person. lol
Hi @frostflower5555, My adopted mother didn't have a middle name, either, but in her case it's because her mother said that her name was beautiful without one! Italians use a lot of nicknames as well, and thankfully they do use middle names because everyone is named after someone else and it would be hard to match up records otherwise! -Judy
I live in France. US health care is not known for being good. Glad you were cared for in Europe.
There's a lot of US propaganda focused on convincing Americans otherwise. But we did have great care in Serbia and are grateful. Thanks for watching. -Judy
The fathers name thing is for all the forms because we don't have middle names here and there's a lot of people with the same first and last name so fathers name is an identifier.
Thanks for this information! You might also enjoy our impressions of Belgrade, which I'll link below. We had a very nice time in Serbia (outside of needing to get surgery, of course!). -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
Private hospitals in Serbia do things faster, they are kinder to their patients for witch they charge more money, down side is usually they will not take hard cases. Public hospitals have better doctors and medical technicians and they charge less because most expanses are covered by state, however people working there are not as pleasant (probably because they work harder and have way more patients daily) also there are some bottlenecks, some procedures and medical examinations have longer waiting lists so its not going to be quick. In Serbia people go to public hospitals fore medical treatment but if they have to wait for some medical examination for weeks, they would go in private hospital and pay for that examination like going on some machine, and they would go back whit results to their public hospital doctor.
Thanks for sharing all this information with us. It's quite interesting. Fortunately, we had a wonderful experience. All the medical staff did a great job. You might also want to catch our other episode from Belgrade. Here's a link. -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
A hospital washing pillows or just disinfecting and reusing anything should be common. I don't think buying pillows you've slept on should be the norm, it's kinda wasteful if you ask me. Also common medicine should actually be cheap because it's very easy to make, I wouldn't call it socialized medicine, more like non corperatized medicine.
Agreed, but it is the norm in the US in the hospitals that are local to us. And although you say common medicines should be cheap, hospitals build a whole host of costs into each of those pills or injections. Call it what you want, but it's not okay that (1) proper healthcare depends on the job you have and (2) people at the top get rich on the backs of sick people. -Judy
I assume it was inguinal hernia surgery. I had laparoscopic in the US and ten years later had to have it done the traditional way for a permanent repair. Laparoscopic surgery does not repair the tear so it will get larger over time. No one should ever get laparoscopic. It's US doctors wanting to play with their toys. Only finding the tear and stitching in mesh over it will repair that tear as tissue will grow into the mesh completely repairing the tear.
I had to have not only the additional inguinal surgery but earlier surgery 3 years earlier over my belly button area where he went in for laparoscopic surgery because he weakened that spot. When I had that repaired the doctor in Vietnam asked me why the previous surgeon had not put in the mesh. I had no answer because it was never discussed with me.
And I still have the other side to have the second tear repaired eventually as I had both sides done at once. Never get laparoscopic surgery for hernia. Never.
You are absolutely correct. It was inguinal hernia surgery. Your note gives us some reassurance, since the internet says having it done laparoscopically is better. We had no way of knowing for sure, but we’re happy to get what we could so quickly. Kevin is healing very well at his point. Thanks for watching and for taking the time to leave your comment. -Judy
Not sure if it's related to your experience, but if someone asks for you father's name in Serbia, they are asking for an extra way of identify you. In Serbia we don't have middle names, we all use our father's name (it's a common practice to use father's name, you can use your mom's name as well, but it's less common). So you end up having the majority of women with a man's 'middle name'. It put it in quotation since it's not your middle name per se, it's just a way to avoid paperwork mistakes. I believe that Russians have a similar practice where they get the possessive form of their father's name, but that's like part of their full name.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. We have learned that you're right about this, but we could have used the information when we Kevin was in the hospital. It was very confusing at the time! Thank you for watching. You might also enjoy our episode about our impressions of Belgrade, which is linked here. -Judy
Impressions of Belgrade: th-cam.com/video/BpKhj60BFe8/w-d-xo.html
I’m very glad you had a positive experience and an uncomplicated recovery. As a nurse in the U.S. I can confidently say that most of the developed world does a significantly better job with healthcare than we do. Third party payers, aka heath insurance companies, are a large part of the outrageous cost of healthcare in the U.S. Universal healthcare or what we refer to as Medicare for all, would vastly improve our system but alas corporations run our country…… and don’t get me started on Big Pharma 😉
First off, thank you for what you do. Nurses work very, very hard and it has to be tough when there's so much patient need and hospitals are notoriously understaffed. We agree that health insurance companies and Big Pharma are HUGE problems. You are right about corporations and profits driving the country. This particular episode created a lot of mixed feelings from our viewers regarding healthcare, so it sounds like no place has it worked out. Our low price and excellent care in Serbia is partially due to the hospital being a private one versus public and there are apparently huge issues with the public healthcare system there. I wish we lived in a world where everyone always acted altruistically, but it turns out that corruption and greed rule the big picture. Fortunately, there are good doctors and nurses and medical staff who do their best every day in order to take care of people. Thanks for watching and for your thought-provoking comment. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie I believe your positive experience was greatly influenced by accessing a private option opposed to a public one. I also feel that being an elective, non-emergent situation also impacted the outcome. Healthcare disparities are a global phenomenon but often I feel Americans believe our healthcare is far superior to most other countries and that simply is not true. Wishing you healthy travels for many years to come.
I agree with your assessment of our situation, Emily, although I think the doctors at this private hospital would have been equally effective in an emergency. We've known for a while that healthcare in the US is egregiously expensive with no benefit to the patients but primarily to the corporations that run them. It's a huge propaganda mill that healthcare in the US is the best in the world. We are falsely led to believe that drug costs are high because of all the amazing but expensive R&D that is done in the US. NOT. I love Katie Porter's grilling of Big Pharma here: th-cam.com/video/vOftaNdqIUk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=5ej2VHROaT3cRXvp -Judy
Sending ❤-- feel better.
Thanks, Mike! I’m doing much better and getting around fine (but at a slower pace up the hills of Belgrade). Cheers! - Kevin
That pillow / glasses thing is not a Serbian thing this is done all over Europe like Germany/Austria/Switzerland, there are Companies that come to Hospitals take the dirty pillows and wash them, there is something they invented a few years ago called Washing Machine. 🤣 I really think that the reason they do this in the US is to generate more money for the Hospital.
Hi Ivan, Thanks for your comment. I wasn't aware of it, but it makes sense. And I'm old enough that I remember a time in the US when we didn't have to buy everything in the room, but we have been convinced that the new way is superior in some way. It isn't. We agree that it's to generate money for the hospital and its shareholders, nothing to do with better quality of service. But this slow conditioning has really misled us, and it's not cool. Thanks for watching our video! -Judy
Glad to see u well
Thank you so much, Marwa! We are so glad, too. We would have stayed here longer if it was absolutely necessary, but there are some exciting travels ahead for us that we don't want to miss. We are grateful for the system here that allowed such an efficient medical experience. Thank you so much for watching! -Judy
This is an elite private hospital. State owned hospitals are way behind in comfort, though university hospitals are being renovated and got all new, even the improved meals. Private healthcare is still relatively cheal for a Westerner, a CT or MRI scan would cost you 70-100 eur, an appointment with a senior medic around 50-60 eur, LASIK/PRK is 600 eur, and lung cancer lobectomy upwards to 10-12k EUR (including ICU and hospital stay), labor 2500 eur (including all standard appointments during a normal pregnancy).
Citizens, employed or retired along with children have free healthcare in public hospitals and free drugs from the list, or they pay 50 din supplement per appointment and per drug dispensing. The government froze salaries for public servants including healthcare so we lost many professionals and clinics are understaffed due to dismally low salaries there. Its a source of corruption, the public clinics are oftentimes reduced to a sales funnel for private ones. Private hospitals are out-of pocket and with private insurance. Only top-level employers include private healthcare insurance in the employee package and its usually only for primary care.
Thanks for watching and for taking the time to leave this insightful comment. We had no idea this was a private hospital when we made the appointment, but were very grateful to find it and that the care was top notch and the price was reasonable-much more reasonable than we could have done in the US. I'm sorry to hear about the low salaries for such important work. We actually could have had the hospital bill our insurance company so that it wouldn't have had to be completely out of pocket, but our policy has a high deductible and the cost of this surgery wouldn't have met it. We've heard (not necessarily in Serbia) about some doctors who only give about 1/4 of their time to public hospitals to be available for private patients/hospitals. It's unfortunate and disappointing. -Judy
1,600 euros for a hernia surgery + blood work, cardio vascular exam...etc. .... - minus not getting a hospital gown (🎉😅 come on now) ... it's a lot cheaper than having all of it done in the US.
Just a blood work in US with no insurance is $1,000(LabCorp) with the results ready in a week...
And speaking of sanitation and cleanliness of Hospitals.... there's absolutely no difference between US and Serbia (including public hospitals in both countries).
P.S.
You could have done it in a public hospital since it was an emergency, and it would probably be "Free" since you're tourists/foreigners.... however, you wouldn't get a private room in that case LoL 😂
Thanks for sharing the experience, God bless and stay safe guys.
Bloodwork before a surgery would be able to happen faster in the US than a week, but it definitely would not be cheaper than Serbia. We were very happy with the care and the cost. I am confused why the US feels it's necessary in the last 30 years to have you buy everything versus sanitize things and reusing them. What a waste. Technically this may not have been considered an emergency, but we were guests in Serbia and wouldn't have wanted to use public services that a local needs (and pays for!). We felt very fortunate that it we had some time and money to take care of this. Thank you so much for watching and for your comment! -Judy
Serbia is beautiful contry with beautiful people
Thanks for watching and for providing this kind comment. We agree, and are happy to be bringing an additional episode from Serbia to our viewers on Nov. 4, 2023, so they can get a better sense of our time there. Unfortunately, Kevin's surgery put a damper on some of our explorations, but we still had a wonderful, peaceful time. -Judy
I like you and your format of videos. I might sound rude and unfriendly but it might be a fact European Hospitals are maybe better, faster and cheaper even for American tourists that did not contribute to our "Socialist " healthcare system.
It might be true that we do not make you buy every single article that touch your body because we actually believe that durable items can be cleaned and sanitized and be re-used. As we care about the environment. We might be doing the things surprisingly well.
Maybe the USA could even learn a thing or 2 from their very well educated colleagues. As we do have great educational systems too.
Maybe the world does not need to be all about the money money money ?!! 😛
Hans, we actually could not agree more! We long have believed in the benefit of socialized medicine, but it was a thought-provoking experience for us to deal with it ourselves. We have been quite tired of healthcare being so profit driven. We hadn't quite realized how much propaganda we've been fed because even though we know healthcare in the US isn't the best, we are taught to believe it is. We're taught to believe that our medicine and our doctors are the brightest and the best and you go to the US for the best healthcare. However, we realized through this experience that for as much as socialized medicine may do things to save/cut costs, there is at least an equivalent or more chance that unnecessary things are done in the US for profit.
We definitely think that the US could learn a thing or two (or three) from other countries in the world who prioritize health over wealth. And your comment isn't rude or unfriendly, it is SPOT ON. -Judy
True. We have class specialist in Serbia. Also in every single hospital and institute abroad with high reputation there is a Serbian doctor who is one of the best.
The problem with our doctors in Serbia is that they are highly corrupted. Most of them work in private clinic like those ones, and in states ones. They are sending people from state hospital’s to private, and that’s how they are taking money from people. Most of Serbian people cannot afford to pay private, and often they cannot get in to the operations lists, or they have to wait for long time for that.
We hope that’s not true of everyone, and we are careful not to make generalizations about any group of people. But corruption is everywhere in every country, and thankfully there are kind and good people doing the right things every day, but nobody talks about that because it’s expected. Despite everything, we still like to think most of the people in the world are mostly good. Thanks for watching. -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Not all of them, I absolutely agree with you.
Anyway, it’s nice from you to send nice picture to world about Serbia.
Hi Veljko, It was our pleasure! -Judy