Second Opinion

After the four phases of lockdown, we have entered in the unlock phase. In this phase, everything is open and we are allowed to go out but for limited hours in a day. Although we are allowed, it is advised to stay in until unavoidable circumstances.

For me, those unavoidable circumstances are my grandma’s knee pain. The doctor had advised going for knee replacement surgery last year. She was hesitating about the operation because of her stubbornness towards the pain. We (my family) prepared her to go for it in February this year but at that time, her blood pressure shot up. Thus, doctor recommended waiting till her blood pressure normalized.

Lockdown 2.0

In the second phase of lockdown, grandma’s blood pressure normalized. Everyone in the house noticed that her pain was unbearable but not once did she complain about it. Even though we could feel her pain, the strong-willed lady never told us even once to take her to the doctor.

In the month of May, the doctor was not regular and there was a heatwave in this part of the country. Thus, we were afraid of other complications on her body during bed rest after the surgery. Ultimately, we decided to wait until the end of lockdown.

As soon as the lockdown was over, I took an appointment from the doctor.

Visit at Orthopaedic Hospital

I took grandma to the hospital in the first week of June. As I entered the hospital, I held the door while giving support to grandma so that she could enter slowly. I made her sit on a chair in the waiting area. Then I went to the reception, touched the table and shared the appointment details. After giving the file, I came back and sat next to grandma.

While we were waiting for our turn, I tried to catalogue all the things I touched in the last ten minutes. I didn’t do it intentionally, I did it unconsciously. I immediately got up and sanitized my hands and thought about all the new rules I needed to keep in mind to #RestartRight.

Doctor’s Viewpoint

After going through the scans, the doctor called for the surgery. He asked for my grandma’s insurance papers and health insurance ID card and instructed me to admit her next week.

While driving back home, I started thinking, “If I am exposed to so many things and people whenever I step out of the house then this surgery will be a huge risk for grandma.”

I came home shared all the details and feelings with my father. After giving a thought to it, he said, “I think we should go for the second opinion.”

I agreed with my father but the question was, where to look while finding the right doctor for yourself in India? And how to do that without stepping out of the house?

I pulled the insurance file out of her cupboard and started searching for grandma’s health insurance ID card. I found the insurance policy but ID card was still missing. Apart from the ID card, I wanted the list of network hospitals because I thought that list will be helpful in finding the right doctor for second opinion.

Take Care

I went to play store to find ICICI Lombard’s app as I knew (through an ad) that it allows you to download Ecard on their app plus you can access the list of network hospitals. Before this incident, I had renewed the motor policy on their app. Thus, I had an idea about its user-friendliness.

When I found the app, I noticed that ICICI Lombard has changed its app a bit. The company has named it ‘IL Take Care’. I downloaded it to get the Ecard and the list of network hospitals but I found a great feature about which I had no idea. The feature is known as health assistance. This feature helps with treatment-related information, hospitalization, doctor’s appointment and even a second opinion. It helped me in finding the most appropriate doctor for that second opinion.

I got the second opinion on grandma’s knee surgery without even stepping out of the house. I mailed the scans and reports to the doctor and after going through them, the doctor suggested that if she has the will power to bear the pain then let this year pass by, go for the surgery next year. It was a great relief for me and my family.

Apart from the services and features mentioned above, with IL Take Care app, you can register a claim easily, tele consult a doctor and even order the medicines.

We (me and my family) were so impressed by the service of ICICI Lombard that I was pushed to increase the sum insured of the policies considering the exposure and the habit of touching things while being out of the house.

In this way, I restarted this new phase of life in the right way.

If you don’t have the health insurance or don’t know where to look while finding the right doctor for yourself in India then download the IL Take Care app, get all the answers and #RestartRight.