Dominican Health Care

Yesterday was my first experience with the Dominican health care system.

I'm rather clumsy in general so what happened is not that much of a surprise.  The way my mornings work is that I set my alarm for about half an hour before I have to get up.  This is because the water heater has to be turned on so that I can have a non-cold shower in the morning.  But on Saturday, my alarm went off and I ended up falling back asleep.  So when I did wake up I was in a bit of a rush (remember I work on Saturdays) to get the heater turned on so that I wouldn't be super late.  However, in my rush of getting out of bed, I didn't realize that my left foot had fallen asleep (I have not great circulation) and if anyone has ever tried walking while your foot is asleep - you know it doesn't work so well.  I totally rolled my ankle and crumpled to the ground.  Ouch.

As I lay on the ground, I tried to tell myself that it was okay, no big deal, but I couldn't put any pressure on my foot.  I hopped out to the kitchen as I had heard that David was up.  I hoped that it would somehow get better quickly.  I debated whether or not it could be broken (as it was swelling up very quickly) and thought, I'll call Ozumy (since she has all the answers).  I said that I think I should go to the hospital and she said, wake Pavol up, since he knows where one is and can take me sooner.  So David woke up Pavol and Maria.  I had to call the insurance company prior to going to find out what hospital they wanted me to go to etc.  We caught a taxi and off we went.

The process began quite smoothly.  They had me see a nurse right away and took me in for x-rays while Pavol and Maria dealt with the paperwork.   The x-rays were interesting.  They didn't use any lead coverings.  Then I got taken to a bed to wait for the doctor to look at the x-rays.  While waiting, a couple emergencies came in that were quite bad, so understandably, me and my ankle/foot had to wait.  We then found out that there were problems with the hospital connecting to my insurance company.  Because the hospital said they couldn't call Canada (even though the number was collect) I ended up calling the insurance company back several times and relaying messages.  First it was that the fax number they originally gave the insurance company wasn't working, so it had to go to another fax number.  They still had problems with this, so I suggested email, but the hospital didn't have email (what!?).  Finally the forms got sent through.  Then the hospital said they didn't have a representative from my insurance company in the Dominican (or like a partner company).  The insurance company didn't understand this since they had on their file that the hospital was one they could direct bill to.  ANYWAYS, long story short - I ended up having to pay up-front and would be reimbursed later.

The doctor finally came and told me it wasn't broken, and proceeded to bandage it up.  They wanted to inject me with antibiotics, but I said no to that since I didn't think that was exactly necessary.  They gave me a prescription for a cream and some pain killers - neither of which I filled - and sent me on my way.  Until I went to pay.  My MasterCard was declined.  So I then called MasterCard to find out what the deal was.  Turns out, my card number was "compromised" but everything was fine.  They are sending me a new card with a new number.  Great, except it has to go to my address in Canada - which means I won't have it until mid-June when Bart comes to visit.  I asked if they could put my Dominican number on file so that they could actually get a hold of me if this were to happen again but they couldn't do that.  Maria was lovely and paid the bill for me.  It was just under RD$3000.  Which isn't much by Canadian standards (especially when x-rays are included) but here that is a lot of money.  Anyways, I paid everyone back once we got home and all was well.  Plus I have a nice set of x-rays!

I spent the rest of the day in bed with my leg up.  Today, I can now hobble around without having to hang on to walls and other furniture and the swelling has gone down quite a bit.  Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be able to walk 2 blocks at a time, thus being able to go to work, but I may have to call O and see if he can pick me up. 

My plan for today is more relaxing.  Paula is coming over in a bit to hang out and perhaps watch a movie or some TV episodes!  Should be fun!