Not to sound morbid, especially this time of year, but it needs to be discussed.
First healthcare -聽 if you do not have insurance you better have money. That being said what happens when you get gravely ill here?
Sadly there is no understanding of聽 palliative care or hospice care.聽 As a mostly catholic country this is a new聽 and resisted idea.聽 Helping someone who is suffering is okay in theory but not really in practice.聽
Be ready to advocate for your loved one if they are聽 terminal.聽 Be ready to explain the concepts and be ready to fight for them.
I recently had the honor of doing this for a聽 good friend. He was terminal with brain, lung and stomach cancers. He also had 2 strokes and more were expected.聽 聽Doctors wanted to 鈥渋nvestigate鈥� spend lots of money聽 on tests to determine where the cancer originated. I wondered, and asked,聽 WHY? For what reason do you need to understand this? The answer: to create a treatment plan.聽 Well again for what reason was my question. I asked聽 both specialists,聽 will he survive treatment? A resounding NO was the answer. So聽 I fought for them to stop doing these invasive tests.
At that point the insurance stopped paying. If you are not actively 鈥渢reating鈥� something then they wont pay!聽 Be ready to pay for palliative care.
My friend was聽 6鈥�1鈥� and had dropped to 105 pounds when I asked about treatment options!聽 聽Silly doctors really, he was not escaping this, it was discovered far too late.
Doctors tried to force a feeding tube. We were having NONE of that.
Doctors and hospital tried to discharge him. We were having NONE of that.
Doctors and hospital had NO idea what to do.
I explained and fought for humane treatment,聽 keep him comfortable and out of pain and assist him in聽 letting go.聽 His wife at this time was unable to communicate聽 with the doctors.聽 Her Spanish was very limited normally, made worse by all the stress!聽 I am grateful聽 I could help them both.
Eventually we got doctors to understand what is needed.聽 They helped keep him comfortable and he let go! He died on October聽 10th 2021.
Because of a previous experience, I have a pre planned funeral. I聽 encouraged my friends to do the same.聽 We had聽 arranged and paid for everything.聽 聽
Details:聽 via Blandino聽 which has聽 offices and alliances all over the country we followed my friends wishes, he wanted to be cremated.聽 Cost for everything was聽 RD 80,200,聽 or about US $1,435 at the time we purchased.聽 You can reach Blandino at 1-829-872-7481. There are other companies聽 as well,聽 I found this one to be very professional!
One phone call was all we made, arrangements were set in motion.聽 Within 2 hours聽 transportation聽 arrived and paperwork was completed.聽 As聽 foreigners normally an autopsy must be completed,聽 then the聽 final arrangements can be followed.聽 Within聽 4 weeks we got the call that his聽 remains were ready for us to retrieve.聽 They are presented in a beautiful wooden box and聽 velvet bag. This is slower than normal due to the pandemic.
We received the聽 death certificate etc shortly after.聽 All notifications are automatically done to the embassy and Dominican governments.聽 I encourage everyone to make arrangements if you live here full time.
Wills -聽 聽if you live here, have聽 property here and or bank accounts here I聽 encourage you to get a will HERE.聽 Your will聽 from somewhere else MAY OR MAY NOT be valid here. AND if it is valid here there is a long expensive process to make it so!聽
It is easier and less expensive to handle your affairs here!聽 聽The laws are very very different here!聽 聽The law is territorial so anything you have here is covered by Dominican law. That law determines how you must leave things. And if you want to get around and of this, there are ways but you need to organize this now. Dying without a will here leaves a big mess.聽 Things here are complicated normally,聽 leaving this undone is a huge burden to those left behind.
Lishali Baez聽 has been recommended on聽 this聽 platform many times for immigration聽 聽and residency. She is also highly knowledgeable in this area. I encourage you to reach out to her聽 if you need help.聽 1-809-860-1231 or libaezm@gmail.com
As a business person here, I am now looking to the future to open hospice/palliative type care facilities. It will take some time to do so, but it is sorely needed here.聽
The intent of this thread is to help people plan, to make them aware of what can happen, create dialogue.聽 If you need any other info feel free to message me or reach out to the聽 people mentioned!
