We often say we come home to Ontario to see our doctors, accountants, dentists etcetera, get fxed up and sail away again for another few months. Of course the fixing up time seems to be taking longer the older we get, but we hope to be able to continue in our sailing life as long as our health lets us. This year was a case in point with our delays because of Rob's heart, but we are happy to say that he is feeling well and the medication seems to be keeping the arrhythmia in check. There is a time and place for drugs.
People often ask us about health care when we travel and the cost of insurance. Our Retired Teachers of Ontario plan covers us for up to 62 days out of province emergency medical insurance and further to that we generally purchase an emergency MedJet insurance for evacuation purposes. Our feeling has been that for the most part we can afford to cover our medical expenses everywhere but the United States. Over the years we have had very good care in The Bahamas and the cost has been very reasonable.
I hadn't planned on doing a blog entry on the medical care in Grenada; however I have had the good fortune to have been looked after extremely well by a local doctor, Dr. Gail Friday. Just after arriving in Grenada I discovered a lump under my arm in the area of my lymph nodes. I left it for a couple of weeks to see if it changed and it seemed to be getting bigger. In checking myself I also found a pea sized lump in my other breast that hadn't been there the last time I had checked. I had had a mammogram last summer and all was well but we thought it prudent that I see a doctor to ease my mind if nothing else.
A little over a week ago I made an appointment to see Dr. Friday. When we arrived at her office at 1:00pm the waiting room was full. I imagined being there all afternoon; however if you make an appointment you are seen at that time. The catch is that you have to pay a $4.00 appointment fee and the locals don't want to pay the fee. I hadn't realized this at the time and when I was called I felt like the whole waiting room was looking at the white woman who gets special treatment. The receptionist was quick to say that I had an appointment. My first visit was an examination with Dr. Friday recommending a mammogram. The cost of my appointment with Dr. Friday was $28.00 which included the $4.00 for making an appointment. The next day we came back in to St. George's for my mammogram at a private clinic anytime between 9:30am and 2:30pm. This time we could not make an appointment but were told to go early. We managed to get there early enough to get the first appointment. The mammography machine was the old crusher type, probably a machine donated to Grenada by the United States; however at least there was the technology available. The clinic also had a MRI machine, a CT scanner and ultrasound facilities. The cost of my mammogram was $110.00. I imagine OHIP pays more than $110.00 for our scans in Ontario? Despite the older technology, the facility was very impressive. Before hurricane Ivan they had been operating out of trailers; however since the hurricane they have built this brand new modern facility Spice Island Imaging Services shown in the picture above.
My results were read by a radiologist the next day and this week we picked up the report and saw Dr. Friday again. This consultation cost $20.00. The report was inconclusive and recommended an ultrasound to be sure. Dr. Friday's office called a local sonographer and were told to send me over that afternoon. Once again no one makes appointments and after about 1.5 hours sitting in an extremely hot office on a very uncomfortable bench with nothing to read but a catalogue and a 2006 magazine among many others waiting their turn I had my ultrasound.
This time the equipment looked every bit as good as what we see in Ontario. The sonographer works at the hospital during the day and comes to her private clinic Tri-Island Echoes at 4:00 in the afternoon. The cost of the ultrasound was $48.00 and the report was given to us the next day. We were reassured to see that the ultrasound agreed with the mammogram and the results showed only benign cysts. Dr. Friday has agreed to fax a report to my doctor in Ontario so that we can plan appropriate treatment when I return home in a timely manner. My last visit to go over the ultrasound results and send a report to my doctor cost $20.00.
The trips to town and the appointments have been a bit stressful; however I must say that I couldn't have asked for better or more professional care. In only eight days I have had 3 appointments with the doctor, one mammogram and one ultrasound and a hand written referral to my doctor in Ontario...$226.00 spent total....and now my mind is at rest. How long would this process have taken in Ontario and how many more weeks of worry?
There is a permanent market in St. George's. In the past the vendors have erected tents and umbrellas. Within the last couple months there has been a new market being built and this picture shows the mix of the two. Obviously it will be much more expensive to be inside the new building so it remains to be seen how many people choose to sell out of the new space?
This picture shows the local fishermen loading ice onto their boat in preparation for a day's fishing. Between climbing the hills and the manual jobs of fishing and farming you see very few people who are overweight.
No comments:
Post a Comment