MexicoTrip - 12/23/05

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John Kinney - 24 Dec 2005 23:09 GMT

Well, today has been a disaster.

It started innocently enough with everybody packing and organizing to go
to Valle de Allende. About 10 AM Kathy tripped over something on the
stair from the bedroom and half-fell against the kitchen counter, twisting
her back a little and straining her shoulder. Five years ago Kathy had a
7-level spinal fusion following an accident that left her with severely
damaged nerves in her left leg. By noon, when the family arrived to see
us off, she was in so much pain that she could barely walk.

One of the brothers-in-law, Vito, who had helped us with the axle problem,
offered to take her to CIMA, a large modern medical center in downtown
Chihuahua. We were impressed by the attention and level of care she has
gotten at the Urgencia center. By 5 PM she had seen three different
doctors including an orthopedist, had been X-rayed, and was medicated to a
point of reasonable comfort. The consensus was that the twisting
semi-fall had strained some damaged nerves that have been caught up in
surgical scarring.

Nidia was available to translate during the day, but most of the doctors
and some of the nurses spoke at least some English, so we were able to
communicate reasonably well even after she had to return to her family.
We decided to admit her to the hospital overnight in the care of a pain
management specialist in hopes that she would be sufficiently recovered to
travel on Saturday.

If so, I've decided to cut the trip short and return immediately to the US
via El Paso. Even though the X-rays showed no physical damage, we've had
experience with this sort of temporary nerve strain before, and the
effects can be debilitating for weeks.

I found the hospital cafeteria just before it closed, but unfortunately
not before they had run out of flan. I bought a couple of toasted ham and
cheese sandwiches, layered and sliced like club sandwiches, and a Coke
Light - the local equivalent of diet Coke. The sandwiches were very tasty
and filling, made with the soft white Mexican cheese instead of the
processed cheese food commonly used in the US.

About 9 PM the pain management specialist sent orders for night
medications. Kathy has been reasonably comfortable so far, but I suspect
it's still no more than 50-50 that we'll get on the road Saturday.

I woke up a few minutes ago and couldn't get back to sleep, so I thought
I'd spend a some time continuing this little journal. I was surprised
to find that the hospital has an accessible wireless Internet node in
addition to its secure network.

Anyway, I'm about to crash out again. Hopefully Kathy will be feeling
much better in the morning. If so, we'll probably make our way back to
Livingston TX and hole up with the Escapees over New Years. We have
friends in Houston and it would be good to see them again.

Regards, John Kinney

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Hunter - 25 Dec 2005 01:51 GMT

> We were impressed by the attention and level of care she has
>gotten at the Urgencia center. By 5 PM she had seen three different
>doctors including an orthopedist, had been X-rayed, and was medicated to a
>point of reasonable comfort. The consensus was that the twisting
>semi-fall had strained some damaged nerves that have been caught up in
>surgical scarring.

John,

I'm so sorry. What a terrible development, and on Christmas Eve )c:

I hope she's comfortable for the trip back into the states.

Hunter
--

http://members.aol.com/hhamp5246/roadtrip2005.htm

Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well-preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "...holy sh.t...what a ride!"

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John Andrews - 25 Dec 2005 03:30 GMT

John, please keep us up to date on the continuation of the trip
and Kathy's progress. We are all concerned about her and your
trip reports are spontaneous and delightful. We wish you all a
Merry Christmas, or as merry as you can make it under the
circumstances. You have lots of friends here.

John Andrews, Knoxville, Tennessee

> Well, today has been a disaster.

...snip...

> Anyway, I'm about to crash out again. Hopefully Kathy will be feeling
> much better in the morning. If so, we'll probably make our way back to
> Livingston TX and hole up with the Escapees over New Years. We have
> friends in Houston and it would be good to see them again.
>
> Regards, John Kinney

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Leanne - 25 Dec 2005 04:35 GMT

> Well, today has been a disaster.

> If so, I've decided to cut the trip short and return immediately to the US
> via El Paso. Even though the X-rays showed no physical damage, we've had
> experience with this sort of temporary nerve strain before, and the
> effects can be debilitating for weeks.

John,
Our best wishes for Kathy. I was enjoying your comments on the trip. I see
now that I am not the only one that rubs the walls or has the little fun
things happen. I hope all turns out well for you both.

Leanne

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Ken Harrison - 27 Dec 2005 08:24 GMT

This saga has been very interesting for me to read. Last
December/January, my wife and I drove from our home in the beautiful Bay
Area as far as Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico (to be there for the Christmas
celebrations). In order to stave off some of the problems associated
with food in Mexico, we took a lot of things with us (including a box of
several hundred Taco Bell hot sauce packs, since the salsa in Mexico can
be the source of much intestinal discomfort to those not already immune).

My wife got sick in Oaxaca, but not enough to completely immobilize her.
But as we left Oaxaca and headed for Taxco, she got progressively
worse, and when we arrived in that fabled silver city, all she wanted to
do was head for bed. I, too, was feeling a bit under the weather.

To make a long story short, I went to the best hotel in Taxco, asked for
the name and phone number of the doctor they would use if one of its
clients were sick, called him, and within two hours he was at my wife's
bedside in our hotel. He gave me three prescriptions, which I filled at
the nearest pharmacy for much less than it would cost in the US. His
bill for the personal visit was $250 pesos, perhaps $23 dollars US. The
three prescriptions cost a total of $470 pesos, perhaps $44 dollars US.

Mind you, these were the same drugs as available in the US. The
packaging had that information printed on it. So what did I learn from
this experience?

1) Medicine as practiced in Mexico is (for those who can afford
it...most Mexicans not included), both as competent as that in the US,
and is better than in the US with respect to the availability of doctors
for personal service (I remember Cuba here) and the ease of acquiring
prescribed medicine; and

2) Prescription medicines in Mexico (and perhaps in many other
countries) comes already packaged in the customary dosage (which means,
the number of times per day and the number of days of administration),
thus requiring no highly trained professionals (at greater cost) to sell
a customer the product.

So the bottom line here is that it appears to me that there should be no
fear in traveling to Mexico; if we get sick, we will have better care
than we will have here (because there, we are those that can afford it),
and if we are still in fear, there are insurance policies that cover the
cost of evacuation from the country.

I do love Mexico, so maybe I am more generous to it than some of the
listers, but if you do not find Mexico to be a fabulous place to visit,
that is your loss.

This is not a commentary about the start of this thread. These folks
have been through enough. But if I could move to Mexico, I would
probably do so.

Ken H

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John Kinney - 27 Dec 2005 17:30 GMT

> So the bottom line here is that it appears to me that there should be no
> fear in traveling to Mexico; if we get sick, we will have better care
> than we will have here (because there, we are those that can afford it),
> and if we are still in fear, there are insurance policies that cover the
> cost of evacuation from the country.

I would agree. The medical care Kathy received was at least as competent
and quite a bit friendlier than we were used to in the US. The pain
management specialist was as knowledgeable as her regular doctor in
Raleigh, NC. The hospital was staffed and equipped as well as any simlar
large city hospital in the US. Had we had deeper pockets or the
appropriate health insurance, we would have stayed and completed our trip.

> I do love Mexico, so maybe I am more generous to it than some of the
> listers, but if you do not find Mexico to be a fabulous place to visit,
> that is your loss.

For ourselves, we plan to take lessons learned and return for next
Christmas. We really like the Vasquez family and hated to miss the
Christmas festivities.

> But if I could move to Mexico, I would probably do so.

Kathy's son is presently serving in the US army, but does not plan to
reenlist. He's been talking with one of his wife's brothers about moving
to Chihuahua to help him with some of the international aspects of his
business. We've talked about the benefits and the drawbacks, and it seems
to us that with his situation, it might be a very good move.

Frankly, if he does that, Kathy and I just might consider a similar move
ourselves.

Regards, John Kinney

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Ken Harrison - 28 Dec 2005 07:26 GMT

> Kathy's son is presently serving in the US army, but does not plan to
> reenlist. He's been talking with one of his wife's brothers about moving
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Frankly, if he does that, Kathy and I just might consider a similar move
> ourselves.

Hello John,

It sounds as if you two and we two might be people who could travel
together to and into this wonderful country. I have two additional
thoughts in regard to your paragraphs:
1) Chihuahua is a happening place. It is also very crowded, especially
on the east and north sides. If I were to move there, I would look at
places southwest of the city, beyond the present greater population
limits. There are wonderful places to stay, eat, museum-browse, shop,
and generally live well; and
2) A much more relaxed place, not a day's drive from Chihuahua, is Nuevo
Casas Grandes. It has the amenities of a city and some of the charms of
a village (excluding the downtown area, sorry to say).

There is a very large ex-pat population in Mexico, ready to help at a
moment's notice, and there are wonderful resources available to those
who wish to move there (excluding coastal land, which is still expensive
and difficult notwithstanding what they say).

If you can, go for it.

Ken

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R.J.(Bob) Evans - 27 Dec 2005 17:43 GMT

>So the bottom line here is that it appears to me that there should be no
>fear in traveling to Mexico; if we get sick, we will have better care
>than we will have here (because there, we are those that can afford it),
>and if we are still in fear, there are insurance policies that cover the
>cost of evacuation from the country.

We've had exactly the same experience. Marilyn has a very tender
stomach - she has had trouble with drinking coffee in Mexico because
the water wasn't heated sufficiently. She normally carries a little
cache of drugs that our family physician gives her and self-medicates
while on the road but one year those drugs weren't powerful enough &
she ended up seeing a Dr. He said "those drugs aren't strong enough
for Mexican bugs", told her to drop her drawers and gave her a jab in
the a.s with something potent. I think she paid him $20 or $25.

I've been accused of being a pollyanna on the subject of Mexico which
may or may not be true but health issues would be the absolute last
thing that would keep us from crossing the Rio Grande.

R.J.(Bob) Evans
(return address needs alteration to work)

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