A Trip To The Emergency Room

I have to say that we have been very lucky health wise since we have come here.  We have never had a  health concern that going to a doctor at Farmacia Similares has not been able to help with.

  Roy has been feeling yucky off and on the last few days.  One day he is fine and then next day not so great.

Last night he was in a lot of pain, neither one of us thought that it was a heart attack; but he was in quite a bit of pain so he decided he needed to go to emergency at the hospital.  Roy has no health care here as he has never wanted to sign up for it.  We decided to go to the Hospital Pabellon Guadalupe and just in case I couldn't understand everything the doctor said we asked our landlady to go with us.  Our landlady does not speak English; but she and I communicate very well, we are both used to each others speech and if I don't understand one word she uses she will dumb it down.

We arrived at the hospital around 5 PM and were signed in and told to sit down, we barely got sat down and they called us into a examining room.  They asked some questions, told Roy to lay down on the bed.  He was having a lot of pain breathing so before checking too many things out they asked about allergies and immediately started an IV with pain medication in it.  Within 10 minutes he was comfortable enough to lay down and the Dr. checked him out more thoroughly.  He decided that Roy had Gastritis, that the parasite killer had not worked for him as it was bacteria born.  He continued to check on him and chat with our landlady and I until Roy was pain free.  He then wrote out a bunch of prescriptions and sent us on our way.

After heading to the drugstore and filling the prescriptions we were back at home.  Roy was feeling much better and pain free.  The whole trip took about an hour and a half.

This morning he is his normal self, I am happy to say.

We had never been to an emergency room here before; but after this experience I am comfortable with the fact that I could understand what was being said and with what was happening and if it happens again we will do it on our own.

Now for the nitty gritty, the costs.

To see the Dr. on a Saturday evening at emergency cost 300 pesos.

The hospital costs were 911.28 pesos  (cost of medication in the IV, materials, etc.)

So the total cost at the hospital was:  1211.28 pesos or approx. $ 101.63

Cost of the medications at the pharmacy was:  655.90 pesos or approx. $ 55.03  some of the meds. are for 5 days and some are for 10 days supply.

So the total cost in pesos was 1867.18 or approx. $ 156.66

All in all a good experience if going to the emergency room can be a good experience.  Happy with all the care and procedures that were done.  Doctor was in no rush and explained everything very well.  Nurses and Dr. were very good and we both felt very comfortable with the level of care.

Alamos and La Aduana, Sonora, Mexico

The other day we headed south a bit to Alamos, Sonora and a small town just before it called La Aduana.

We went to La Aduana first as it came first on the road.  Very small town with a mining history.  We wandered around the town, saw the church, visited an artisans co-op and bought some honey.  Lovely stone foot bridges over the arroyo that the town is built around.  Time well spent.

Alamos is designated as a "Pueblo Magico" and if you are interested in Colonial Architecture and spending time in a small city you will love this place.  Alamos is also known as the city of the "Portales"- arched covered verandas and walkways.  Lovely.

Many of the historic old buildings have been restored and it is wonderful to wander the narrow streets and just spend some time looking at all of them.  Sit and relax on a bench on the Alameda or one at Plaza de las Armas.  Great views of the historic buildings wherever you are in town.  Walk down the Callejon de Besos, (kissing alley), with your favorite someone and eat some great food.

We stayed in the Don Andreas Hotel, where we spent some time in the mornings and evenings sitting and watching the action on the Alameda and around the Mercado.

We visited the museum, which was very interesting and informative, with displays from the silver mining era, among many other things.   We wandered around the city hall, took photos of the huge church and many other things.  Naturally, we walked through the "kissing alley" several times. We people watched at the Plaza de las Armas and checked out the Mercado.

A not to be missed experience is driving up to the outlook point, El Mirador, where there is a great view of the surrounding mountains and the city below.

The best part of the visit there was getting together with fellow blogger Linda and her husband, Linda writes the blog: Good2Go2Mexico.  We visited over drinks with them our first evening there and then the next day we visited their home before we all headed out for a yummy lunch.  Thanks for the good times you two.  Linda also gave us lots of info. on the not to be missed sites.  It turned out that the room we were staying in at the hotel was exactly the same one that Linda and her husband stayed in on one of their trips before buying a home.  They also spent time sitting on the little balcony relaxing and  people watching.

Alamos is also in an Ecological Reserve and offers lots of bird watching opportunities.

We saw the birth place of Dr.  Alfonso Ortiz Tirado , I had wanted to see the home of the well known actress Maria Felix; but apparently it has now been sold and the museum is closed.  We saw the old Casa de Monedas among many other things.

We drove across the arroyo and walked along the malecon type walkway they have.  Lots of benches there to relax on also.

We found it to be a very friendly, relaxed, clean city and really enjoyed our short stay there.

I took so many photos while we were there, so I put them together in a slideshow.  Hope you enjoy it.