Reason #87 I Love Antigua
ByOur first six months here, which coincided with the dry season, passed without any illness in our family (if you ignore regular bouts of explosive diarrhea). We’re halfway through the rainy season and allergy/cold type symptoms are severe. So much so that I dug into the luggage and found some Amoxicillin I got the last time I had a sinus infection (in DF, Mexico).
As it turns out I only had 3 days’ worth, and my internist always told me to take it for 10 days, so I went to see a MD for an examination and his expert opinion my favorite Farmacia (yeah, the one where you can buy almost anything), and asked for twenty 500mg tablets of Amoxicllin. The total was about half my co-pay on a premium BlueCross/BlueShield plan in Phoenix:
If you pay with plastic, they add 15%.
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8 Comments
August 20th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Mark, I'm so tired of these posts about how much you "LOVE" Guatemala. These types of blogs are those which make me want to report you to the embassy. It is this kind of propaganda that will make me boycott your blog. Tell us how you really feel for once.
Kidding aside, we are on our way back to the States and I am carrying with me anitbiotics for strep, pills for amoebas (last time my wife got hit with them mid-flight) and several other medications so that I can self-medicate without having the enormous costs in the States. I wonder if Obama is going to charge me for his health insurance plan for not burdening the system? I'm sure a fine is in order.
August 20th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Self-prescribing! You really are going native now.
August 20th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
I also like this feature of Latin culture. I saved a bunch of money this past spring by buying steroids in Nicaragua to treat my allergic cat.
August 20th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Don, stop abusing your feline friend. Don't you realize it's perfectly acceptable to self-medicate, but the UN Constitution on Feline Rights imposes a penalty of 200 hours of parasite-infested water boarding for failing to provide proper medical care to cats?
August 20th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
I don't try this children, but on myself. I have been known to go the lab, get an order form, check all the boxes of blood, urine, stool samples I think I need in order to diagnose myself. Then I look on the internet at all the values to see what is out of normal ranges, check out my symptoms, give myself a diagnoses and then buy meds. Fortunately, I have been right when diagnosing two autoimmune illnesses. When I finally did see a doctor he asked what doctor had ordered the labs. I sheepishly said, "me". The doctor, here in Guatemala, was impressed that I had diagnosed my own illnesses, I doubt I would have had the same response from a doc in the States. Since I have no health insurance I really am self insured, that means not paying a doctor. And the truth is I have a terrible fear of doctors so my own "self-care" program has worked so far.
August 20th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
¡Jajajaja! Dr. Don must not have read about the "euthanized" chick.
August 21st, 2009 at 2:34 am
Most doctors I know don't do a good job of diagnosing patients anyways, so I do the same as you, Nancy. In most cases, an intelligent person can figure out what they need and it saves a lot of hassle.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:12 pm
This is one of the good things in Guatemala. I am lucky my husband was an E.R. nurse for years in the USA so he can pretty much diagnose most things he and I get. We too order labs ourselves and monitor things ourselves and my husband was a pharmaceutical rep early in life and so is comfortable talking with the pharmacists here and getting our meds. However, even he went to the private hospital Hermano Pedro when he got amoebic dysentery and we let it go on too long untreated thinking it would resolve itself (didn't know it was amoebic) so that he needed IV hydration in addition to meds.
There is a time and place for it all.
Medical care here for most ordinary things is quite good, at times better than in the USA. We learned that early on here. Now spinal surgery, I am heading back to the USA for, but most other things we save money and get good care right here.