Emergency Surgery in North Africa - Sailing Helios S02E02 

Indeed. We had wonderful support from the cruising community and locals.

Thank you, we are very much intending to have no more medical problems. In fact I feel a lot better than I have done in years. I think that gallbadder has been bad for a while.

Thank you. Yes, luck was on our side.

Thanks David. We thought it was important to document our experience as it is very easy to imagine/be told by others what we should be scared of in other countries. To date I have never found any country even close to any warning However, we were not expecting it to get as serious as it did and glad that it turned out ok with the good care of the people of Tunisia.

Hi Drew, hope all is well back in Melbourne. All good with me now and enjoying being back out on the water. Hope you enjoy a few more

Thank you. Before this I always thought problems with gallbladders were just stones and while painful, were not that serious. Boy was I wrong. Glad to rid of the thing as it has caused me some problems for a while.

My Daughter had Gall Bladder removed!

Thank you. Yes, it was a good reminder to us that it was a good decision to set off and have these adventures while we can as things can change very quickly.

I would have thought so too. However you don’t get the sharpie pain like gallstones and the pain is in the centre of your chest so it feels like heart burn instead. Also because it is practically dead it stops being able to give you pain.

Glad to have the thing gone but could have done without the drama. I didn’t realise they could be so dangerous

Thanks Bill. Yes, the medical services were good. Its common for yachties to get a lot of things checked and fixed over the winter months in countries like Tunisia becuase the systems are good and the prices are cheap.

Thank you. If you need any dental work done then I would do it there. Cheap and very good.

Thank you. Yes, our insurance covers us everywhere, other that the US. But lets not go down that rabbit hole.

Thank you. Its a story we wanted to capture but didn't expect for it to get that serious.

Looking forward to catching up on all your videos. Stay well!

Thank you, I was a bit worried too but was well looked after by Jude and the people at the hospital

Thank you. It certainly knocked me out for a while and delayed the start to the season but I am all better now.

Thank you. Yes we were very surprised with the price in Tunisia. Dental is very cheap there as well but seems to be very good. I had a crown done over winter that cost $300 AUD. And, I agree, I was shocked by the price in Portugal. I assume they had a similar stay in hospital as me but still it seemed like a lot of money and a very good reason to have insurance.

Thank you

Thank you. Hope all goes well with getting your boat ready

Thank you. I very thankful of the doctors and nurses that looked after me

Thank you

Thank you

Me too, thank you

Thank you

As we travel full time we need a special kind of insurance. It’s like a travel insurance but rather than being limited to a short trip, it can go on indefinitely. It covers public care where available and private care when public is not available. It covers repatriation to another place for better medical care or sending one or both of us home for more extended treatment. As Australians, we have a great public system waiting for us at home, so if we were repatriated we’d be covered at home. It’ll even cover emergency assistance such as helicopter to the boat on an ocean - that’s why we need something more than a travel insurance designed for holidays. We have Topsail. They have been fantastic.

Thank you

Thank you, me too.

Thank you

At the time I didn’t realise how serious it was getting so not too bad. Much better now it is gone

Thank you

Hah! I keep telling him he’s a lucky bastard! 😂 Jude

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We are with Topsail insurance. It’s designed for yachties. We could not have been happier. I didn’t think that insurance was anything more than recuperating costs but they did so much in monitoring Richard’s health and treatment.

We are with Topsail insurance. It’s designed for yachties. We could not have been happier. I didn’t think that insurance was anything more than recuperating costs but they did so much in monitoring Richard’s health and treatment.