...keeps the doctor away, or so I'm told. I don't know if that's true, but I recently had my first personal encounter with the Mexican health care system. I've heard from others on the staff about how the medical staff in this area isn't quite up to parr and about how local hospitals don't really pay much attention to you when you go to the ER or something, so I was a little nervous. But I had to see the doctor because nothing I was doing on my own was working to treat the health issue. So, I walked across the street to the clinic, made an appointment, and then later that afternoon went for my exam. The doctor was very cordial, but in the end his diagnosis left much to be desired. I went for some blistering in my mouth that will not go away and is very painful. It looks like thrush, yet he told me that I have a bacterial infection caused by fillings in my teeth that have been there for almost two years. Now, maybe that's possible, but I've never heard of such a thing. I took the medicine anyway...WHICH WAS FREE...and went home to talk with a missionary nurse that I know. I ended up going with different medical advice, and have started treatment, but I thought I'd just take a moment to share what I know about healthcare here.
It's quite interesting because these doctors and nurses have been to medical school, but it never occurred to me that they would be taught something other than what I have always understood to be medical science. Our understanding is that medical science is not a subjective thing. It just is what it is; doctors learn it and treat their patients accordingly. I had never thought that medical science could say one thing in one country and something very different in another. Yet, that is what I keep encountering when people I know get sick and relate to me what their doctors diagnosed them with! For example, a friend of mine got sick last October with something like a sinus infection. She went to the doctor and they gave her like 10 injections to give heself to treat it. However, what blew my mind was how they told her she contracted it: they said that it happened because she had been working in the watermelon fields so her body was heated up from the work and the sun, and then she went home and opened the refridgerator and the extreme change in temperature is what caused her to get sick. I'm sure your reaction is the same as mine was, but you'll have to let me know. I hear similar things quite frequently. Some of it to me seems a little superstitious or akin to old wives tales, but I'm not a doctor, so who am I to say for certain? But it's certainly taking some serious redecorating of my mental file cabinet to wrap my mind around the idea that what is medical fact in the US isn't necessarily medical fact in Mexico.
Anyway, one of the nice things about Mexico is that you do not have to have a prescription to get medication! You just go to the pharmacy and tell them what you want, pay for it, and go home! This means that although the clinic gave me meds according to what the doctor prescribed (an antibiotic), I can go to any pharmacy and get something totally different no questions asked. So, that's what I've done. We shall see how it all turns out. The other nice thing about Mexico is that if they prescribe you meds at the clinic, you get them there for free. But if you buy meds at a pharmacy, they are not expensive at all! In addition to that my entire doctor's appointment, free meds and all, cost me a whopping $2.80 USD!!! Now how's THAT for affordable healthcare! And that's without health insurance. For the local people, if they have health insurance, it's FREE!!
Here's another illustration of the overwhelming difference in medical costs between here and the US. One of our staff couples is expecting a baby, and they recently went to Tepic to find a hospital for the birth. They figured out that in the states, if they were to end up with a C-Section birth which is more expensive, without health insurance, they would spend a total of $22,000 including all the pre-natal care. Here in Tepic at the most expensive hospital in town, even if they were to have a C-Section, it would cost them a total of $750 USD. That is, however, in additoin to the cost of her doctor visits which cost a whopping $50 TOTAL each time, without insurance!! I don't know how they run their healthcare system here, but I'm thinking we might be able to learn a little something from this affordability!
Mexico never fails to keep me guessing, but for now my dinner awaits! And it's off to the beach tomorrow with our youth group! May you have a blessed weekend!
It's quite interesting because these doctors and nurses have been to medical school, but it never occurred to me that they would be taught something other than what I have always understood to be medical science. Our understanding is that medical science is not a subjective thing. It just is what it is; doctors learn it and treat their patients accordingly. I had never thought that medical science could say one thing in one country and something very different in another. Yet, that is what I keep encountering when people I know get sick and relate to me what their doctors diagnosed them with! For example, a friend of mine got sick last October with something like a sinus infection. She went to the doctor and they gave her like 10 injections to give heself to treat it. However, what blew my mind was how they told her she contracted it: they said that it happened because she had been working in the watermelon fields so her body was heated up from the work and the sun, and then she went home and opened the refridgerator and the extreme change in temperature is what caused her to get sick. I'm sure your reaction is the same as mine was, but you'll have to let me know. I hear similar things quite frequently. Some of it to me seems a little superstitious or akin to old wives tales, but I'm not a doctor, so who am I to say for certain? But it's certainly taking some serious redecorating of my mental file cabinet to wrap my mind around the idea that what is medical fact in the US isn't necessarily medical fact in Mexico.
Anyway, one of the nice things about Mexico is that you do not have to have a prescription to get medication! You just go to the pharmacy and tell them what you want, pay for it, and go home! This means that although the clinic gave me meds according to what the doctor prescribed (an antibiotic), I can go to any pharmacy and get something totally different no questions asked. So, that's what I've done. We shall see how it all turns out. The other nice thing about Mexico is that if they prescribe you meds at the clinic, you get them there for free. But if you buy meds at a pharmacy, they are not expensive at all! In addition to that my entire doctor's appointment, free meds and all, cost me a whopping $2.80 USD!!! Now how's THAT for affordable healthcare! And that's without health insurance. For the local people, if they have health insurance, it's FREE!!
Here's another illustration of the overwhelming difference in medical costs between here and the US. One of our staff couples is expecting a baby, and they recently went to Tepic to find a hospital for the birth. They figured out that in the states, if they were to end up with a C-Section birth which is more expensive, without health insurance, they would spend a total of $22,000 including all the pre-natal care. Here in Tepic at the most expensive hospital in town, even if they were to have a C-Section, it would cost them a total of $750 USD. That is, however, in additoin to the cost of her doctor visits which cost a whopping $50 TOTAL each time, without insurance!! I don't know how they run their healthcare system here, but I'm thinking we might be able to learn a little something from this affordability!
Mexico never fails to keep me guessing, but for now my dinner awaits! And it's off to the beach tomorrow with our youth group! May you have a blessed weekend!
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