Family Emergency

Can you call me Sigrun?

I always get a bit worried when my mom sends me a text asking me to call her. Normally it is just something simple, like if I want to come for dinner or that I should bring her something.?

This time it was different.

Sunday, 10 days ago, I called her back to find out that my dad was in the emergency room at a hospital in Tenerife (one of the Canary Islands in the North Atlantic, just outside the coast of West Sahara, North Africa) where my parents were on a 4-week holiday.

My mom was asking me to help her contact their travel insurance. The hospital said my dad needed to go into the intensive care unit (ICU) but they were not going to admit him into the hospital until they had figured out how they were going to get paid.

I figured out which insurance company deals with emergencies around the world on behalf of other insurance companies and credit card companies. I called them and after I had followed up and sent them all the details they asked for we waited… and waited...

Two hours later my mom called and showed me my dad lying in the hospital. He was shaking like a leaf in the wind and the hospital was still not taking care of him because the insurance company had still not confirmed he was insured.?

Turns out you shouldn’t get sick on a weekend as the credit card company that needed to confirm that my dad’s credit card was in good standing didn’t answer the phone on a Sunday. Instead my very sick dad had to pay €6000 upfront - with his credit card.

Those 3 hours waiting for my dad to get any help inside the hospital were horrible for all of us. He had already been sick for several days and when he finally decided to go to the hospital he had to wait to get the help he needed, because of some insurance mess!

On Monday morning we got the diagnosis; pneumonia. Pneumonia is bad for anyone but when you have a compromised immune system due to cancer then it is really bad. My dad could barely breath and his fever shot up well above 39°C.

To say we were all very worried is an understatement. The following day there wasn’t any improvement, the fever was still not down and there were rumours that it might be something worse than pneumonia. My mom was able to see my dad and he looked nothing like himself.

I started to wonder if this was it. Was I going to lose my dad in a hospital in Tenerife? I had started to have those thoughts already on Sunday and had looked at options. Most of my work is remote but this time I wasn’t sure I could go away because of an upcoming retreat.

But after seeing my dad briefly on Facetime on Tuesday I knew I had to go. I looked at flights, and as it turned out there was a direct flight the day after but not the two following days. I thought about it for a few minutes and then booked a 5-hr flight to Tenerife.

My mom wasn’t happy that I booked the flight. She is always so worried about my work and thinks I have to sit at my desk 8 hours a day to achieve my goals. I told her that I could take my work with me and that I was coming whether she liked it or not.

That wasn’t completely true. I had to cancel a retreat that my clients had been looking forward to for a couple of months. It was supposed to be a 3-day retreat in a 5 star hotel in Ascona, directly at Lake Maggiore in the Italian part of Switzerland.?

I told my clients about my dad and they all understood. Then they decided to go to Ascona anyway and mastermind together. They just sent me some pictures yesterday morning from the mastermind room that I had rented for them.?

When a crisis hits you really find out if you have great clients or not, and I have the best. Also this is the time when you know if you have a great team or not, and I have an amazing team. Also my friends have reached out to me and helped in the best way possible.

And one of my wisest friends, Lisa Larter, sent me this quote:

True wealth, true freedom is being able to show up for those you love.?

My parents are very grateful that I am here. It may sound woo woo but just the fact that I was on the way and my dad knew it, helped him get a bit better. The day after I arrived he was able to leave the intensive care unit and was moved to a general ward.

My dad is now slowly improving and is looking like himself again. He still has a lot in his lungs and therefore will need to stay in the hospital a few more days. Today I will find out more after the doctors have done some new tests.

I am focusing on the things that I can control instead of the things I cannot control. I’ve been in touch with the insurance company multiple times, I’ve booked us a new hotel for when my dad will be discharged, and I’ve rebooked our flights back to Iceland.

My mom wants me to help her transport my dad home so I am staying as long as I need to. In times like these you are reminded that nothing is more important than health and family. Everything else is secondary.

I wanted to share with you what is going on in my life right now to remind you that life is now. Design your business around the lifestyle you want to have.

I never wanted to sit on a beach with my laptop but I wanted to be able to jump on a plane whenever someone in my family needed me.

And that is what I am doing right now.