To answer some of your questions, think doing the med stuff in Argentina has it's advantages and disadvantages.
Disadvantages:
-Not understanding all the doctor requests of me, and them not understanding what has to be filled out on the forms: aka language probs
-Having to request a receipt for everything, and not really knowing if I will truly get one a week after paying (I've been told that I have to wait until after I receive results, etc to pick up a receipt... )
-Paying in cash for all appointments, aka, running around in block after block this morning in the rain trying to find an ATM. No, I don't want to walk 6 more blocks in that direction to go to Paratonal where there are lots of banks... I just want to know where the closest one is as my shirt, pants, and bra are already soaked through with water.
-Having to make more appointments with specialists since a single doctor can't do everything
Advantages:
-I get to practice my Spanish out of necessity, lol
-MUCH cheaper than in the US (about $10-13 bucks for an appointment here instead of like $120-200 for one in the US)
-Making appointments with doctors, specialists, and dentists is a matter of just waiting a week tops or even walking in and waiting a couple minutes depending on the office
-I can just go to whatever doctor's office I want, instead of being referred to specific specialists, etc. I just go to which ever one catches my eye as I wander the streets or ride the buses.
-It can all be summed up as a character building exercise :)
All in all, I think it's probably easier to do things here than in the States. It is certainly much cheaper. If I understood how health care works here, I'd probably be able to avoid some of my blunders here as well. I've just got my fingers crossed that I can get everything in tip top shape before I send it off so I won't have to repeat everything down in Ushuaia. And I hope I'll be cleared too. hehe
As I was surfing through some PC blogs on the net, I came across one about a current PC volunteer. "Meanwhile, I've been thinking that I'm so slim because of my active lifestyle and great diet! Cout it just be the worms? I mean, I'm down to 163 from 180 since I got to Honduras -- another couple of pounds and I'll look like a super model - a really hungry one. But, worry not - I think I'll be bulking back up without all these extra mouths to feed." LOL, I think it's amazing how eloquent this little goodie is. hehe. Speaking of some creepy crawlies...
Out in the field yesterday I was checking one of the boxes for fledges. Aka, I was looking to see if the chicks had grown up enough to leave the nest. I noticed that not only were they still in there, but that they also had some mites crawling on them. Gross! So then I realized that what looked like mold over the opening of the nest was actually a solid coat of even more mites that were scampering about. All too late, I noticed that I must have brushed up against said hole and had the said buggas crawling all over my hands... I started to shake my hands, trying to fling the mites off and being paranoid, I felt like they were crawling all over my face and head too with that creapy tingling feeling.
Nope, I wasn't paranoid. Sure enough I had loads more making a new home on my... well, me. Man, I'm getting the tingles again just writing this. lol So I do my best to brush off those guys, take my hair out of my pony tail and shake it out as well. Ewwww! I think I got all of them, but through the rest of the nest checks, I grabbed a few more off my forehead as I felt them crawling around. Suffice it to say that I also redid my hair quite a few more times out of what I hoped was now just actual paranoa. Worst thing was is that I didn't get out of the field and into a shower for another 3-4 hours!!! It was the longest day we've had in the worst possible circumstances. Okay, so I suppose it could have been much worse... but all I could think about is all the bugs that Ben must really have crawling around in his hat and head with the amount of chicks he plops in there each day. GROSS!
In other med news: After having my TB test read (negative!) and completing my eye exam today (20/20!), I just have two more appointments next week to pick up the rest of my lab results. (Lol, they know me by name at the main lab place as I've already been there 6 times.) Then I just need to make an appointment with the original doctor to have him sign off on all the results. I think I also need to go back to the dentist (3rd time) to have her fill in a few more parts of the form I think she missed. (She did the tests, but just didn't write down the results.) And then I'll finally be done!!!
So that's a cap of all things medical down here right now! I can't wait to be done with all of it and hopefully be cleared and get my invitation. I've been moved up for a departure in mid-April instead of mid-May, so that means I need to be cleared by mid-Jan now... Cross my fingers!!!
Disadvantages:
-Not understanding all the doctor requests of me, and them not understanding what has to be filled out on the forms: aka language probs
-Having to request a receipt for everything, and not really knowing if I will truly get one a week after paying (I've been told that I have to wait until after I receive results, etc to pick up a receipt... )
-Paying in cash for all appointments, aka, running around in block after block this morning in the rain trying to find an ATM. No, I don't want to walk 6 more blocks in that direction to go to Paratonal where there are lots of banks... I just want to know where the closest one is as my shirt, pants, and bra are already soaked through with water.
-Having to make more appointments with specialists since a single doctor can't do everything
Advantages:
-I get to practice my Spanish out of necessity, lol
-MUCH cheaper than in the US (about $10-13 bucks for an appointment here instead of like $120-200 for one in the US)
-Making appointments with doctors, specialists, and dentists is a matter of just waiting a week tops or even walking in and waiting a couple minutes depending on the office
-I can just go to whatever doctor's office I want, instead of being referred to specific specialists, etc. I just go to which ever one catches my eye as I wander the streets or ride the buses.
-It can all be summed up as a character building exercise :)
All in all, I think it's probably easier to do things here than in the States. It is certainly much cheaper. If I understood how health care works here, I'd probably be able to avoid some of my blunders here as well. I've just got my fingers crossed that I can get everything in tip top shape before I send it off so I won't have to repeat everything down in Ushuaia. And I hope I'll be cleared too. hehe
As I was surfing through some PC blogs on the net, I came across one about a current PC volunteer. "Meanwhile, I've been thinking that I'm so slim because of my active lifestyle and great diet! Cout it just be the worms? I mean, I'm down to 163 from 180 since I got to Honduras -- another couple of pounds and I'll look like a super model - a really hungry one. But, worry not - I think I'll be bulking back up without all these extra mouths to feed." LOL, I think it's amazing how eloquent this little goodie is. hehe. Speaking of some creepy crawlies...
Out in the field yesterday I was checking one of the boxes for fledges. Aka, I was looking to see if the chicks had grown up enough to leave the nest. I noticed that not only were they still in there, but that they also had some mites crawling on them. Gross! So then I realized that what looked like mold over the opening of the nest was actually a solid coat of even more mites that were scampering about. All too late, I noticed that I must have brushed up against said hole and had the said buggas crawling all over my hands... I started to shake my hands, trying to fling the mites off and being paranoid, I felt like they were crawling all over my face and head too with that creapy tingling feeling.Nope, I wasn't paranoid. Sure enough I had loads more making a new home on my... well, me. Man, I'm getting the tingles again just writing this. lol So I do my best to brush off those guys, take my hair out of my pony tail and shake it out as well. Ewwww! I think I got all of them, but through the rest of the nest checks, I grabbed a few more off my forehead as I felt them crawling around. Suffice it to say that I also redid my hair quite a few more times out of what I hoped was now just actual paranoa. Worst thing was is that I didn't get out of the field and into a shower for another 3-4 hours!!! It was the longest day we've had in the worst possible circumstances. Okay, so I suppose it could have been much worse... but all I could think about is all the bugs that Ben must really have crawling around in his hat and head with the amount of chicks he plops in there each day. GROSS!
In other med news: After having my TB test read (negative!) and completing my eye exam today (20/20!), I just have two more appointments next week to pick up the rest of my lab results. (Lol, they know me by name at the main lab place as I've already been there 6 times.) Then I just need to make an appointment with the original doctor to have him sign off on all the results. I think I also need to go back to the dentist (3rd time) to have her fill in a few more parts of the form I think she missed. (She did the tests, but just didn't write down the results.) And then I'll finally be done!!!
So that's a cap of all things medical down here right now! I can't wait to be done with all of it and hopefully be cleared and get my invitation. I've been moved up for a departure in mid-April instead of mid-May, so that means I need to be cleared by mid-Jan now... Cross my fingers!!!
PS. The pic of the chick is happily mite free. I was too busy exterminating the mites off of myself.
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