A trip to the hospital

After missing two days of work I am semi back in the saddle. I feel really weak still, but the medicine at least is helping me stay upright instead of stuck in my bed. I guess I needed the rest, but I still get stir crazy sometimes.

So, I went for the first time to a Mexican hospital for treatment yesterday. It was an emergency / urgent care clinic. Things were getting better, not worse, and I even though I wasn’t keen on the idea of getting help I knew it was the only thing. So, let me back up. A new friend, Rocio, is living here in Toluca with her husband Tom. She’s from Peru, he from Wisconsin – but they most recently spent the past three years in Denver. They came over for dinner on Sunday night (I made lasagna) and she mentioned how she had to go to the doctor here a few months ago. So, I called her up and asked for advice, and she told me exactly what I needed to do and where I needed to go, which made it much less scary. And, she also said they were very good, and helped her, so I felt pretty good about that too.

Keith and I went to the Centro Medico of Metepec, and say I need a consultation with a doctor. It took 5 minutes to fill out paperwork, and after I went right into a room. Two seconds later a nurse came in (by the way, they still wear the little nurse hats) took my vitals, and 5 minutes after that the doctor came in. I told him I didn’t speak very good Spanish, but tried to give him an idea of what was going on (head congested for two weeks, couldn’t breathe very well, etc.). Turns out I have a sinus infection AND a bronchial infection. They gave me a nice huge giant shot in my ass for immediate relief in my lungs, and gave me 3 other medications (one for lungs, one for head, and one for antibiotics). The whole thing, including waiting for meds and driving time, door to door, took an hour and a half. Crazy efficient. AND total cost? $80. $40 for meds, $20 for my ass shot, and $20 for the office visit. Crazy, eh? I don’t have any insurance, either. Well, all people who live/work here have major medical insurance, so I will be covered when I get treatment for my allergies, or if I cut my arm off, but for the little stuff its not too bad. I kind of like not having to deal with insurance companies, especially since I owe $1500 from my knee surgery still. Stupid heads.

The reason why I got so sick so quickly, I think, is because I was hanging out all day on Saturday at the Rugby pitch, kind of helping Keith scout for teams. OK, really, I was just drinking beer. So, drinking beer all day while you’re already sick isn’t the best idea. But, we did meet some cool peeps, and Keith is going to have a hard time choosing, but I will probably be good for our social lives :)