Possible Trip to Germany for Multi-Level ADR

[Tom B.]

Hello! I'm exploring the possibility of going to Germany for surgery. What have been the experiences communicating with surgeons beforehand? How is payment made for the surgery? How is a medical tourism company paid? Is a tourism representative necessary or recommended? Should I go by myself if it's not convenient for family members?

[Fathub]

Hello! I'm exploring the possibility of going to Germany for surgery. What have been the experiences communicating with surgeons beforehand? How is payment made for the surgery? How is a medical tourism company paid? Is a tourism representative necessary or recommended? Should I go by myself if it's not convenient for family members?

I went to Bertagnoli in Bogen if your looking at him......call me.

[annapurna]

To give partial answers:

Communication: really depends on the surgeon and their office. Some are better than others but, in general, everyone's consensus here is that they're reasonably good. There's always a few real stinkers so check into posts about any given surgeon once you start narrowing your list.

Payment: Again, depends on the office. We've paid by bank transfer, credit card and by cash, depending on who we were paying.

Tourism representative: Personal opinion is to avoid them and only use them if you're stretched on your research time to the point where you can either research the medical stuff or the location. Buying a Lonely Planet book or similar plus a little time on the internet typically gives you enough to get a feel for an area. Pretty much all of the surgeons you're likely to see in Europe aren't in places that tend to be abusive towards tourists.

Going by yourself: Can be done but you're likely to need more recovery time and more help. If you do this, I can't argue strenuously enough to pack light. Use the money you would have paid for the second ticket and figure that you'll go through that same amount making travel easier for yourself. It can range from taxis and help during travel, purchasing some stuff overseas, leaving behind travel-only purchases when you return to make your returning luggage lighter, etc.

[Tom B.]

To give partial answers:

Communication: really depends on the surgeon and their office. Some are better than others but, in general, everyone's consensus here is that they're reasonably good. There's always a few real stinkers so check into posts about any given surgeon once you start narrowing your list.

Payment: Again, depends on the office. We've paid by bank transfer, credit card and by cash, depending on who we were paying.

Tourism representative: Personal opinion is to avoid them and only use them if you're stretched on your research time to the point where you can either research the medical stuff or the location. Buying a Lonely Planet book or similar plus a little time on the internet typically gives you enough to get a feel for an area. Pretty much all of the surgeons you're likely to see in Europe aren't in places that tend to be abusive towards tourists.

Going by yourself: Can be done but you're likely to need more recovery time and more help. If you do this, I can't argue strenuously enough to pack light. Use the money you would have paid for the second ticket and figure that you'll go through that same amount making travel easier for yourself. It can range from taxis and help during travel, purchasing some stuff overseas, leaving behind travel-only purchases when you return to make your returning luggage lighter, etc.

annapurna, thanks for the advice. I read on here somewhere about checking the exchange rate used by your bank (for paying the hospital) - don't know much about that. The other thing I'll have to look into is how to pay for things there. I've been to Germany twice, but that was back when people used travelers checks.

[Romakis]

The bank normally charges 3% fee for currency conversion. Credit Card does the same (most of them), but most cards have at least 1% credit reward or whatever they call it. it might be better to pay with a credit card if you can pay it all back on the next statement. In my case I saved 1%. It was not huge savings, but $350 bucks doesn't hurt either :).

[Romakis]

Sorry, forgot to add - Clavel will accept credit cards, and it is one payment. Bierstedt will only accept a wire transfer, and you have to make 2 of them.

[annapurna]

For non-surgery costs, you can sometimes find a bank in the US who will sell you Euros for very low to no fee, generally if you already have an account with them or they're already making money off you in some other way. Depending on how much money you want to carry, you might be able to use that for food, lodging, and travel instead of paying the credit card fees for every transaction.

[Tom B.]

Romakis and annapurna, thanks for the info. and ideas!

[Stonewall_Boris]

I had my back surgery by Dr. Biersted in Germany in 2012. Is there anything I can answer for you?

[Tom B.]

Thanks, Boris. How did you transfer funds?

I've been researching how currency exchange works. It really seems to be a bank scam. And I'm not using this word lightly. It appears that occasional travelers like us are routinely ripped off by banks. So, with a little searching, I found TransferWise. There are probably other similar companies. Has anyone here had experience with TransferWise? I haven't signed up yet, but probably will.

[Stonewall_Boris]

We went through our credit union. My wife did the transfers. As I recall one to ONZ and one the the hospital in Hattegin.

[Tom B.]

Cool. I mainly noticed the huge difference between the exchange rate that Google shows and the rate used by Bank of America. Banks are making a killing on this.

[Fathub]

Thanks, Boris. How did you transfer funds?

I've been researching how currency exchange works. It really seems to be a bank scam. And I'm not using this word lightly. It appears that occasional travelers like us are routinely ripped off by banks. So, with a little searching, I found TransferWise. There are probably other similar companies. Has anyone here had experience with TransferWise? I haven't signed up yet, but probably will.

IF you think the 'exchange of money' is a scam or rip off Tom, you should try and book a flight on a plane around Christmas or Spring Break......airlines double and triple the price of a ticket for absolutely no valid reason......except to take advantage of people needing to travel in the season and time of year. "Oh great, it's gonna be really busy, let's gouge the crap out of the public since they can only travel now". Basically illegal in any other industry.

Do you homework and take advantage of the many, many ways to do it economically AND safely (part of what your paying for).

[Tom B.]

Thanks, Fathub. One thing I'm going to have to look at is connecting to destination via train or plane. I've been to Europe twice. The first time, we connected from Frankfurt on a plane. The second time, we just got on the train, which I think was much easier.

[Romakis]

Travelling by train in Western Europe is easier and cheaper in my experience. Lived there for 3 years.

[Fathub]

Thanks, Fathub. One thing I'm going to have to look at is connecting to destination via train or plane. I've been to Europe twice. The first time, we connected from Frankfurt on a plane. The second time, we just got on the train, which I think was much easier.

If your going to Bertagnoli, he has a 'driver' that picks you up in Munich (airport) if you choose to use him and he runs you on the Autobahn to Straubing/Bogen and then you can walk one block from Bogen hotel to the Hospital. He'll run you around on the 2nd week taking you to Straubing (my recommendation on the town square) and back for checkups. He's a bit pricey but when you in a lot of pain/discomfort, WTF wants to be buggering around with the sashaying around on a train. Peter's got a C class Mercedes and never forgets a time or place to get you there.

[annapurna]

Laura and I were cheap and took the train each time we went to Bertagnoli but Laura had me to shlep stuff around for her. When we went, you had to change trains and occasionally the time between arrival and departure of the two trains was rather tight. The driver might fall in the list of things that would be worth paying for if you were traveling on your own. No need to rush off the train in hopes of not missing the transfer.

We actually stayed in Bogen, not Straubing. That was too many years ago for any advice we'd give to be really useful but both towns work for both the patient and any accompanying person.

[annapurna]

Laura mentioned another point about traveling to get ADR surgery alone: you can make the travel acceptable, but you should also make sure your home will work for you if you're going to return to a situation where you have little help. Getting the house prepared for someone who's going to be in surgical recovery and healing took us several days and some real thinking and planning such that Laura didn't need to lift or otherwise stress her spine to do daily activities of life.

[Cheryl0331]

bank fees are small coin for the investment ;) Thankfully our bank only charges a flat rate of $35.00 for the wire. Be advised; some credit unions cannot do bank wires; at least not internationally.

[Tom B.]

Thanks, guys, for the advice. I think we're sold on using the driver.

I hadn't thought about chores around the house afterwards. My wife is an occupational therapist, so I may have to put her to work.

About currency exchange, from what I've learned, using banks will cost you thousands vs. hundreds using TransferWise or other similar companies. I think this is something that wasn't available just a few years ago. Thank goodness for Google. Just look up the exchange rate, then look at the rate Bank of America uses. You'll be shocked.

The other thing I found is that Capital One cards don't have any foreign transaction fee. And credit cards in general have good exchange rates.

[scoop302]

When I went to Spain in 2014, I told my bank (chase) that I was going for surgery, not vacation, they wired the money for free. Thanks obumacare. I also asked Yolanda about a driver. They have a service that uses Mercedes and are very helpful. This is a must, as it receives the stress of getting to the apps., traffic, etc. The added fee is definitely worth it, not matter where you go. You will have enough to worry about.

[Tom B.]

OK, made it to Bogen. Three-level ADR surgery yesterday. So far, so good. Level 8 distraction pain. A bit of sciatica when I straighten my legs. Drank a whole pot of tea.

Happened pretty quickly because the Prof. Dr. had a cancellation and we flew standby with no problems.

[Romakis]

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