dottiejane

Because I have a pacemaker, I was told by the folks at Quality care that I would need to have the technician from Medtronic s - the maker of mine - come from GDL to disconnect the computer in the pacemaker before the MRI and then have them reconnect it afterwards. Luckily, i haven't needed an MRI as yet but i iwas glad to know that. I have to admit I do miss the US when these things come up. I knew how to work Medicare and Med advantage and the big hospital that did installed the pacemakeer was just across the park with all the specilastis I needed on staff right there. So far I have not had a major illness but admit I rather a dread the experience if I do - i have a friend who was in the hospital in gdl for two weeks with diverticulitis - the bill was 17,000 US which she had to pay before they would let her leave. Luckily, she had it but it was not all in one place so she had to sell stock etc I have heard other horror stories about hospital costs - one person told me san antonio is 2300 us a night - can't imagine that is true but who knows. A lot of people I know are heading back to the states permanently because of the cost of medical care health issues - - I would be in big financial distress if I had huge medical costs as are a lot of folks I know dottie jane

it can be very tricky to denounce a doctor or hospital in print in Mexico. I have only been here for 18 months and when I needed a CT scan due to a fall went to Riberas and was as happy as one can be with a CT scan. Ajijic is a small town and bad news spreads fast and wide usually among disgruntled expats. I had a very bad experience with one of the doctors at Dermika and went directly to the head doctor with my complaint rather than spreading the news publicly. I have heard it said that you can get into legal trouble either complaining about or firing your cleaning lady so I would not want to take a chance of putting in writing about bad care at a hospital or individual doctor. Emergencies require instant care and it is hard to sit and ponder where one should go. I went twice to Riberas for a CT scan - before i got a cane, i fell a lot - i was seen immeditely both times but did have to hand over my visa before I saw the doctor -I think one should ask around before an emergency strikes , so you know what hospital is best if and when one occurs dottie jane

she is not coming to lcs anymore - you have to phone her and make an appt elsewhere

re bmh post. I am glad you got a second opinion re the pacemaker and found it wasn't needed. Alas , in the end, I did. have to have one. I had a series of "spells" in Portland for a couple of years and since there is no heart trouble in the family - but let's not talk ab out cancer - I simply ignored it. until when hiking I couldn't even make it up the slightest hill without nearly passing out. I had been leader of the pack for years until suddenly I was lagging behind. The leader of the hike, whose husband had afib, said you had best see a doctor. Finally, I had to see the electrophysisit in Portland and yes, I needed a pacemaker which I really didn't believe I needed. However, giving in, I showed up in the outpatient surgery department and got all prepared to go in and have the pacemaker installed but then decided I wasn't going to go through with it. When my doc came out I told him he would have the next hour or so off since I was going home. Luckily, he knew me well enough to know I was a bit looney so gave me his blessing and off I went. The next year found me in the ER every three months getting the shock treatments which did indeed get my heart back to normal but after a year of this and getting more and more dizzy and passing out one day( luckily at home,) I finally had to give in. By this time, I had changed from Kaiser to Legacy so in a sense I did have a second opinion since doctor #2 completely agreed with doctor #1. I have been super good since although the lump the pacemaker makes is not the most glamerous thing about me - but then I am REALLY old. I agree totally about second opinions and a third if you are still not comfortable with the first two. If interested, a very good book to read is called How Doctors Think by Jerome Goodman .(?) He is a Harvard Med center surgeon and wrote of his experience getting a diagnosis for a bad hand. After seeing the best hand doctors in the Harvard Medical community, it took a young resident to find out what was wrong.

thanks for letting me know -obviously false information even comes from the person who has just seen him and told me incorrectly. another source of info you shouldn't believe

i did notice that - the reason i brought him up was because I have heard nothing but good about him and with afib and a pace maker I thought maybe i should have a cardio just in case - so i had to cross him off my list and thought there might be others in my boat who were thinking of him - -realize it went out of the boundaries of his question - d

i was told briseno is not taking new patients.

I have been here for exactly 6 months and it has been a very expensive (for me) and stressful one. I thought I did the necessary research before coming down but did not consider as I should have, the possibility of a serious illness and what it would cost. I will not go into details but quite obviously since I don[t have medicare or medicare advantage which I had in the states. the cost of paying for many blood tests, doctor visits and a Pet Scan for $1400 US set me back far more than it would have in the states. The symptoms started appearing barely a month after arriving and knowing very few people, I had to maneuvre the very different way of doing health care here pretty much on my own. I know I am in Mexico - I love it here - so please no GO BACK HOME replies. I am just trying to alert people to consider how they will pay out of pocket once here. I Knew I would not have insurance but being very healthy and hardly ever at the doctor, i just didn't think about the What IF's long enough. I have no complaints about the quality of doctors but I didn't realize that when they order blood tests, they can cost a lot of out of pocket money and I would recommend asking the doctor why these particular tests are necessary l what he/she is looking for and then doing research as to whether or not you need that test. I had one well known doctor in town order a $700 US blood test which, when I did the research before having it done, found out was for a disease I knew I didn't have I didn't and don't have the disease in question and didn't get the test and changed doctors. The blood lady at Chopco and I became fast friends I was there so often and she told me she takes her father to GDL for his treatmennt since they cost half what they charge here. Luckily the Pet Scan showed nothing abnormal so it was worth the charge and obviously gave me peace of mind. The blood tests did show the possibility of a serious condition which is why I continued to track down what it could be. There is still no real diagnosis but I am still up and around plus it occured to me I would need a tranfusion if I gave any more blood.to Chopco. . I I know my way around much better and have a doctor who is not particularly well known or the owner of her own medical clinic, but comes with superb recommendations from people I trust. Don't know if this is or would be helpful to anyone - if not - just ignore it. If it helps, good.

My hour long visit with dr sam was 600 pesos . Wish I had found him six months ago.

i agree - 800 pesos for the time he gives, is a bargain compared to others i have seen - didn't notice when i made the appt for today that his prices were listed - guess i figured whatever they were, i would pay - dottiejane

i really didn't since i was in great shape until things started going down very rapidly about a month ago - but i certainly would consider any or all now home visits would be great - - i never thought hospital rounds - can you say more about those = i have the name of a female doctor near me who evidenlly does do home visits - she is not my doc-however ---- unfortunately i chose the a very good doctor when i came but he is not the doctor i need now - he for sure does not do home visits- i see dr sam on wednesday and depending on his diagnosis, will take further steps to get through whatever this is including changing to the home visits doctor - my next query might have to do with nursing/assisted living places -

He has moved to an office near Pancho's - he only gets to the office at noon - I saw him about three weeks ago - there is a site where you can make an appt online - he is said to call back up until 10 at night but my advice is, make an appt when you are there for the first time to see him for the second time if needed or to come in after the test results of whatever he orders comes back. Supposedly I am have an appt this week - but even though he told me to contact him by email once I got my testresults back he never did - but then to be honest I sometimes don't hear the phone so if he tried me that way, I may have missed him -there was no email however. He is known as the science doctor and he was the only doctor i saw here - and i had seen two others - who thought outside the normal medical box and ordered some strange test that did come back with some troubling results which is why i have to see him again- good luck.

i went today but thought i would have an appointment so didn't have my blood tests with me - i go back tomorrow at 9 - am really grateful for the advice - a great bunch of people on this site -

many thanks for the suggestion - i agree i need a doctor i can call for emergencies = I would have tried Dr Flores when I lived near San Antonio but now am downtown and don't drive so am hoping i can locate someone closer - but there is always the bus and/or a driver -

so i called lety's phone and she didnt answer = i got a spanish speaker of course I am in mexico who hung up - not sure if i was to leave a message of what - - so I called the other number and the lady who answered said to call the 332 785 number - she said this was the cllinic in the hospital - so maybe i should walk over there in person - is lety the doctor or just the scheduler - sorry to be so dense but this is a the first time I have been quite so sick since here - if lety isn't the doctor - who would i be seeing - d