CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES...COME ON....IT'S A CELEBRATION
Gord has passed the 5 year mark being cancer-free!!!. He is now back in the general population with regards to his health. Here's to you honey!
TIME FOR MY ANNUAL CHECK-UP: What is the health care like in the Yucatan????
What??? I don't need a referral to see a specialist??? I can choose one and phone them myself?
Yes it's true... I made an appointment to see a gastronologist at Star Medica, a hospital in Merida. Doctora Icaza, who speaks English, saw me the next day for 45 minutes and charged me 550 pesos which is about $40.00
I went downstairs to the clinic to book an ultrasound and blood work for the next morning with the results in my hands at 5:00 that day. Cost totaled $3295 pesos ( $240.00)
Note: the doctor does not receive my results... In Mexico the patient is responsible for picking them up, taking them to the doctor for a joint review and then keeping them at "su casa". ( their home) Here I am with photos of my endoscopy and ultrasound............................................ oh that's what my pancreas looks like!!! and yes, that is a full bladder"
Back to the Doctora 2 days later with my results which she thoroughly reviewed with me for about 35 minutes with a plan to follow-up with an endoscopia.( esophagus, stomach and duodenum She apologized that she could not do it the next day, having been away at a conference, so we scheduled it for 2 days later. Her bill for this visit was $425 pesos ($31.00).
I returned to the hospital and was escorted with Gord to the room where the doctor joined us several minutes after. Her assistant made sure I was very comfortable as she got me ready for the anesthetic. Dr. Icaza put me to sleep with Gord at my side. She explained to him what he was seeing on the monitor as she performed the scope. When I woke up she brought us a hard copy and disk with pictures of what she had scoped, telling me all was fine!.. Always good news. This procedure was $1,150 pesos for the doctor and $2445 pesos for the hospital (total of $262.00).
EFFICIENT, FRIENDLY, CLEAN, AND MAS RAPIDO ( VERY FAST)...
2 DOCTOR VISITS, BLOOD WORK, ULTRASOUND AND ENDOSCOPY ALL WITHIN 2 WEEKS AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN FASTER IF SHE HADN'T GONE TO THAT DARN CONFERENCE...LOL.
WE NOW HAVE 2 DOGS... I mentioned "Ita"in previous blogs and realized she was never properly introduced. She was being fostered here at the beach by some friends and as they said " she is the bookend to our Zeus" As a pup she was abandoned in the doorway of a tienda ( store) in Merida and had mange which often means death. The store owner took her to the local shelter where she spend 3 months with the shelter's veterinarian and then in the carport of one of the shelter's workers. She came for a "playdate" and got along well with Zeus who moped around after she had left so now she has come to live with us full time.
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MEXICO IS A COUNTRY OF MANY CELEBRATIONS..
DIA DE TRABAJO ( Day of the Worker or as we know it Labour Day.
Crosses like this are erected by the los trabajadores (workers) wherever construction is happening. They try to outdo each other using local materials, plants and flowers. In Progreso there was a procession with banners, music and of course the requisite fire works...
DIA DE MARINER : specific to the fishing villages of Chelem and Chuburna to remember fishermen who have died and to pray for the safety of others.
Our friends Paulino and Minerva invited us to attend this special day with them at the Chuburna Port ( Puerto). Paulino is a fisherman and they both want to learn English so we see them weekly to speak English and Spanish...while son, Cristian nadaren ( swims)
The day began with an Open Air Mass, ( in Canada when the priest blesses with holy water he uses a gold aspergillum ( tool); in Chuburna he uses a handful of local foliage dipped in a pail of holy water)
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| We attended the service from under these trees |
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| The captain of the Port crowns a young woman and gives her flowers...note the stature of the Virgin to the left. |
The statue of the Virgin and flowers are on this boat which led 30 Lanchas (boats) out of the puerto to the ocean where flowers are thrown overboard for those who have died at sea.
Our skipper and his family
Note: no life jackets... and later during the fiesta we saw young men carrying boxes of beer onto the boats right in front of the Policia ( police). Life on and by the sea is very relaxed in these villages.
We sampled more of the local food and I learned how to dance a customary Mayan dance in anticipation of the upcoming Chuburna Pueblo Fiesta in August.
Abrazos de la playa (hugs from the beach)
Dorothy and Gord
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