A Trip to the ER

About 9:00 pm, I got a call from our good friends and neighbors. "It's an emergency." Can you take my husband to the hospital? The four of us piled into the car and drove to the emergency room over on the Libremiento. Bev and I dropped the two off at the door and parked the car. We had no idea how long we would be here. Judging by the States and my visits to places like this, we could be here for six to eight hours. Instead when we got to the waiting room, the emergency staff was already seeing  to his kidney stone(s). The docs said he needed to stay the night and they needed 7,500 pesos as a down payment, about $500.

The sky opened up as we ran through the deluge for the car. The lightning was flashing overhead. We fought high water all the way home. The rain was coming off the roof's gutters. It was like driving through a waterfall. We were home by 10:30 pm. Imagine, round trip in an hour and a half.

One note: When we first started coming to Mexico the exchange rate was 10 pesos to a dollar. Today it is 15.82 to the dollar. Assuming the hospital prices haven't gone up, in the past the down payment would have been 5,000 pesos not 7,500. That is a huge increase. In all probability, the price would probably been $300 to $400.

We have found the medical care to be excellent.

The Mexican Medical System

Be gentle, please!

We had our first interaction with the Mexican medical system today. Last Friday as I mentioned I was feeling a little down. The next day I awoke with severe stomach cramps. I was going to the bathroom and feeling like I was going to throw up. I slept a lot and it got better, but I had no energy and felt dizzy at times. Tuesday, I called the doctor and asked for an appointment for Wednesday morning. They took my information and said they would call me back. They called and said come in today at 1:30.

I got there early and at precisely at 1:30 they came and askede me to come to the Doc''s office. He introduced himself and asked me what was wrong. Then he had me lie down an he checked my abdomen, listened to my heart and took my blood pressure. Without some tests he didn't know if I had an infection or parasites. I immediately thought of Alien with some life form inside of me trying to get out.

He wanted stool samples, and told me where the lab was, about a block from our casa. Bill for the doctor was 450 pesos, then the farmacia wanted 207 pesos for some probiotics the Doctor prescribed. On to the lab for a blood test and a sample; another 710 pesos. I didn't have it on me so he just nodded no problemo, bring it in when you can, Total 1367 pesos or about $90.

Everyone was very nice. My lack of hablo espanol didn't get in the way. The doctor explained he was board certified, GP and general surgeon for almost anything gastro-wise. He told that anything major had to be done in the future there were fine facilities in Quretaro.

No one asked if I had insurance. They treated me like a human, took plenty of time to answer questions, and even let me joke with them about being gentle when they were drawing blood. My next appointment is Friday at 2:00.