“I THINK I NEED A DOCTOR”- AN INTRO TO COSTA RICAN HEALTH CARE

Costa Rica Costa Of Living Update: Three heads of garlic-90 cents

A lot has been going on behind the scenes at Happier Than A Billionaire. Unfortunately, there has been a few not so happy times. My husband needed hernia surgery and I chose not to write about it until I knew he would survive. I’m nice like that—I prefer to have my husband alive and well when I write about all the embarrassing things that happened to him while infirmed.

And since he is convalescing, he has less ability to reach the computer to read about it and less of a chance to yell at me for talking about him on my blog.  

So here it goes. A three part story on my introduction into the Costa Rica health care system.  Grab some popcorn and hug your Blue Shield card…it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Since moving here, I frolicked through a crocodile infested bat cave, came face to face with a kinkajou, and even watched my husband mace himself in the face.  But few things prepare you for when your husband walks up to you and says, “I think I need a doctor.”

Rob stepped out of the shower and walked over to me while gripping his abdomen. “I think I need a doctor,” he said before removing his hand and unveiling a bulging protrusion across the lower part of his stomach to his pubic bone. Apparently, my husband had a hernia.

After the initial shock, it really wasn’t a surprise this happened.  He admitted he had been nursing a hernia for the past 22 years. It started after a stint in the high school gym where Rob was going head to head with his stronger friend Vinnie Zamboni.  If Vinnie benched 200 pounds, my husband did 225. If Vinnie did 5 squats with a heavy barbell on his shoulders, Rob would do 6.  After one of the exercises, Rob felt a sharp pain in his groin area. Although he walked away the champion of the stupidest competition ever performed, he also walked away with a hernia. It’s amazing any teenage boy makes it past puberty.

Rob would feel it tear over the years but refused to see a doctor. “We have a ten thousand deductible,” he would say. “And I would rather spend that on a vacation than having surgery.” This procrastination had now brought us to this moment—him standing naked in front of me holding his guts in.

“Oh my god, I don’t know what to do.  You have to see someone immediately. How did it get so bad?” I said.

“Lately, I’ve been lifting really heavy weights. I felt some pain so I started wrapping things around my stomach to give it some extra support.”

“Is that why that rainbow belt is on the table? It’s meant for wrapping around our suitcase so it doesn’t explode from all the weights you insist on packing. It’s not meant as a medical device. What the hell is wrong with you?”  I wanted to kill him but I had to get him better first.

I wasn’t sure where to go for medical care in this rustic beach town. This wouldn’t be as big of a deal if we still lived in Grecia.  The hospitals—some of the biggest in the country—were less than an hour away. It was as if comparing the medical facilities of New York City to the rural outskirts of Kentucky. I felt like the coal miner’s daughter, ready to honky tonk my way to the nearest outpost that could stitch up my husband’s belly.

“We should go through the CAJA system,” said Rob.  “We pay for health care every month, why not use it. How bad could it be?” He makes a good point; however, I always imagined our first introduction to the government run health care system would be for something as minor as an antibiotic. It never occurred to me that one of us would require surgery. Needless to say, I was hesitant having Rob go under the knife in Central America.

“I don’t know, maybe we should just drive to San Jose and pay cash at one of the better hospitals. The ones all the gringos use.” I suggested.

“It’s an option, but why do it when they use the same doctors as CAJA. If we are going to get the same doctors, why pay more when we can get it done under our insurance? Let’s not drive the 6 hours to San Jose and see what we can get accomplished around here.”

While considering his suggestion, I went online and Googled the cost of a hernia operation in the states.  If we had to go home to do it, we would just pay the expense out of pocket. After a couple searches, I found the range fluctuated from $15,000 to $20,000. The decision was made; I was going to ship my husband off to a Costa Rica clinic. In fact,  I might have even planted him on a float and sent him off with a ticker tape parade. The budget insisted on it.  

We made a couple phone calls and found the clinic closest to our house was is in Brasilito, a fifteen minute drive away. It was equivalent to seeing your family doctor. You had to go there first to get a referral to see a specialist. So far, it didn’t seem as different as home.

The clinic turned out to be a small, run down building surrounded by a chain link fence with barbed wire on top. Aesthetically, it was about as appealing as a North Korean work camp. Rob was optimistic; I in turn said a prayer under my breath. With our limited Spanish, we explained to the receptionist Rob’s condition and she directed us to a back room to speak with the doctor. I was immediately impressed. 

“Wow Rob. That’s fast service. I was under the impression that we would have to wait all day.” But after meeting the doctor she shooed us both out of the office and told us to return on Friday morning. Before we walked out the door, she suggested we show up by five AM if we wanted a spot in line.

Two days later, we woke up super early and made sure we were at the clinic by five.  There were already 7 people sitting along the side of the road in front of the gate.  I had no choice but to join my amigos and sit down next to them.

“When do they open?” I asked. The crowd shrugs; it could be 7 or 8.  All depends when the staff decided to show up.

It had been a long time since I sat on the street for any length of time. But it does give you a fascinating perspective to observe what is going on around you. All in all, it was not the worst place to be on a Friday morning—sitting under a palm tree only 200 feet away from the beach.  In fact, my sister might just consider this a vacation when compared to getting her kids up and ready for school.

 If ever you want to get the feeling of a town, sit along the side of the road.  This morning people walked and biked to work at a leisurely pace. The guides gathered their horses and clients for the day’s beach tour while ATVs offered rides to pretty girls dressed up for work.  Happy stray dogs paused in front of the crowd and entertained us with their antics. It was a complete 180 of my old life.

When I worked back in the states, every morning I stopped at a gas station to get a cup of coffee. We were a sorry looking lot, stumbling around like a scene from Night of the Living Dead. I could practically hear my fellow zombies moaning in the Krispy Kreme aisle. It was just a matter of time before we all turned and ripped each other’s faces off.

Mornings don’t feel the same here. Everyone looked happy. Not jump up and down hysterical happy, just a calmness that radiated as they stopped to talk with others waiting for the bus. I believed where I lived before had a slow pace, but beach towns in Costa Rica practically turn back time.

It was an interesting way to watch the morning unfold—sitting on the side of the road with two stray dogs at my feet. Even if it was to see a doctor about surgery.

(Stay tuned for what happens next)

By | 2018-04-15T18:19:38-04:00 July 30th, 2011|Categories: Cost of Living|Tags: , , |14 Comments

About the Author:

Nadine is the author of the best-selling series, Happier Than A Billionaire. Join her as she navigates living as an expat in the sometimes confusing, always beautiful, country of Costa Rica.

14 Comments

  1. EMERGENCY IN COSTA RICA July 11, 2016 at 8:42 am - Reply

    […] “Are you finally going to tell me what happened?” I asked when we were driving to find an emergency clinic. […]

  2. Kathryn September 26, 2011 at 8:43 pm - Reply

    My husband and I loved your book! We just closed on a condo in Tamarindo where we hope to retire early and slow down to enjoy Pura Vida. As a managed care provider- I too am feeling burned out by the wasted time of jumping through hoops to complete paperwork and justify treatments rather than dedicating my full time to my patients. Good for you and Rob that you got out early before Obamacare destroyed your business! Having been to Costa rica a few times, I can vividly picture your numerous escapades. At times I get nervous that we will be faced with the unknown. You have given me the courage. After all, if you and Rob survived these situations, I believe I can handle them as well! (Perhaps without as much grace and dignity). Please PM me if you wish to exchange links for your book on our vrbotamarindo.com website or if you’d like to meet up in Tamarindo and discuss life as fellow health care providers and authors.

    • admin September 27, 2011 at 10:13 am - Reply

      I am so glad you loved my book, I am sure you could relate to so many of those stories. Definitely email me, I would love to meet up. Your place looks AMAZING!! I am going to keep it handy for my gringo friends. People always ask me for a place to stay, now I can give them your link. You can’t get better than that!

      Keep up the hard work, soon you will be here full time, drinking a great cup of coffee while watching the surf roll in.

  3. Boone August 18, 2011 at 11:41 am - Reply

    I loved your book. You should have named it “Life is Short”. And it is. So why not enjoy it? Like you and your husband, my wife and I got out of the rat race (I was a trial lawyer and she was a University administrator) by selling all of our earthly belongings and moving to a small Florida beach town. And yes, we had considered moving to Costa Rica, having vacationed in Tamarindo many times. But we felt more comfortable on U.S. soil. And believe it or not, you can live in Florida almost as cheaply as living in Costa Rica. The key is to live simple. We humans do not realize what we can do without until we try. In many ways, not having all the material trappings is very liberating. Freedom to us is more important than a new Porsche 911. We have been living a non-working lifestyle now for five years and still love it. We are happier and see life with different eyes. We live a block from the beach and virtually live on it. The ocean is beautiful and nurturing. Our friends back home are jealous and constantly ask us how we did “it”. We tell them and suggest they too can do “it”. But it takes a lot of nerve (as you know) to throw caution to the wind (not to mention careers) and head for sanity. My advice to your readers is to enjoy life and to change their mind-sets. We as humans growing up in the U.S. are taught to strive for all the material things money can buy, from large homes and fancy cars, to country clubs and designer clothing. And for what? So we can impress our friends and neighbors? It took us a long time to realize how shallow that type of thinking really is. Like you, we are now living Pura Vida. We will be again visiting Tamarindo soon and may come knocking on your door! Keep up your wonderful blog and maybe someone reading it will as a result decide to get off the hamster wheel of life and LIVE!

    • admin August 18, 2011 at 10:43 pm - Reply

      You are absolutely right. My book isn’t necessarily about Costa Rica. It’s about taking a risk and changing your life. Giving up all those things that people make you believe will make you happy.

      I often think I took my life and poured it through a strainer. All the anxiety and stress fell through the holes, and what was left was the real me. Sometimes it takes something as drastic as a big move to get back to the person you knew was strapped inside you.

      Give me a heads up when you are out this way. I promise…..absolutely no hamster wheels down here!!!

  4. jorge velasquez August 15, 2011 at 10:50 am - Reply

    i was in ecuador 2 months ago looking to buy property to move there for retirement, but after some search, i changed my mind: a lot of muggings every day, every where. the water goes out, electricity goes out, bad roads. i would like to know if this is also the case in costa rica. are the houses windows and doors all protected by metal rods, like jails, ? in ecuador all the houses are like that !!!! all. if you cannot help me, can you point me in the right direction. thank you very much.

    • admin August 15, 2011 at 7:41 pm - Reply

      The water and electicity does go out. Some roads are really bad. And yes, there are bars on windows, but all that doesn’t bother me. If people are looking for something that looks like America, this is not it. There are definitely sacrifices you have to make, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The incredible parrots in the trees every morning, the monkeys howling across the canopy, it is a wonderful way to watch the morning unfold.

      The police system is different here. They are grossly underpaid and their resources are spread thin. Remember, there are not high taxes here. Your real estate tax is only .25% of the value of your property. That doesn’t leave much for the government. So people take it upon themselves to protect their valuables.

      I would suggest you come and rent a place for a while and get the feel for the country. Maybe it’s not for you, but you’ll have a fun time while you are here and have a great strory to tell your friends.

  5. Alanna August 11, 2011 at 2:51 pm - Reply

    I’m going to have to look for your book. After graduating from college I taught abroad in Venezuela, Korea, and Japan. I have now been back in the states for 4 years and it’s driving me crazy. I feel completely burned out, I miss my daughters terribly and am not all happy. More and more I’ve been thinking to sell everything and head off to Korea. I’ve been seriously considering if this would be crazy and if I’m being selfish or if this would truly benefit my family as well. I just discovered your blog but after reading two posts it’s given me inspiration and made me feel a little less crazy. The one reason why I’ve hesitated packing up is because of medical insurance and my children so I’m looking forward to reading more about your experience.

  6. Tobias August 1, 2011 at 1:40 pm - Reply

    Thanks for the first part! I am curious about the other ones 😉

    • admin August 3, 2011 at 7:25 pm - Reply

      Will have it out in the next couple of days. Funny stuff guarenteed!

  7. Annie July 30, 2011 at 7:48 pm - Reply

    First, I gotta say – what a cruel trick to stretch this story out into 3 episodes!
    I’m laughing out loud as I read this…love your sense of humor.
    I also just ordered your book. Always look forward to your postings.
    I’ll be down to meet you one of these days 😉
    Annie
    (I don’t sound like a stalker or anything, do I?)

    • admin July 31, 2011 at 8:34 am - Reply

      Thanks for reading! I had to stretch this one out, lots of good stuff I didn’t want to have to edit. I hope you do come down, this place is amazing. Could have done without the hospital stint, but other than that, things have worked out for me here.

      I love the baby monkeys outside my window every morning. They have such energy! I took a video and will post it soon. I wish I could have found this peace while I was working back in the states.

  8. rebecca July 30, 2011 at 6:30 pm - Reply

    i work for amazon here in costa rica and i found your book this morning when i was giving support for kindle, and letme tell u i just love ur book and ur blog!!! (i got ur book already 🙂
    its so nice the way u and ur husband decided to move from a hell life to a happy one…
    to be honest right now i just feel like the first pages of ur book i really hate my job, and reading ur book convince me to move forward and start living as a real costa rica’s person 🙂 🙂 🙂

    • admin July 31, 2011 at 8:42 am - Reply

      Thanks you, I wish I could write to you in Spanish. Pero mi Espanol muy malo.

      Everyone in Costa Rica has been so nice to me. Nicer to me than they should have been. They take time to help me with my Spanish, and will even call someone who speaks English to help me. I wish my own country was as kind to foreigners as Costa Rica has been to me.

      Costa Rica changed me. I am a much kinder person and have more patience. I try to take pople on a journey through the book, from someone who was overworked and confused where her life was headed, to someone who found a life that fits. I hope you enjoy it. With each new adventure, I learned so much about myself. I finally became the person I wanted to be.

      Thank You Costa Rica.

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