Emergency Room Visit :(

I got to see the medical system in action yesterday. We went to Dominical to pickup some last minute gifts and I had to run to the sanitorios when we got there. I went up these rickety stairs to get there and when I came back down I managed to severely cut my leg on the rusted nails and rotted wood. The blood was gushing out and I had the sense to apply pressure quickly. Mario saw it happen and grabbed a paper towel from the little food stand that was right there. We got the bleeding to slow down and wrapped it with a rag (dirty of course). We opted to return to the hospital in San Isidro because we had Diego with us and it was too hot to leave him in the car. So we drove back and went to the emergency room.

What an experience! There were people everywhere in wheel chairs, on stretchers, in the hallways, wandering. As soon as I started walking I started to bleed again. A nice woman offered me her seat, another started talking to me to calm me down. I was scared and upset because I had no idea what was going to happen. Mario took my passport and went to fill out paperwork. He came back and grabbed a nurse and said I was bleeding and they had to help me. I never saw him so forceful! I didn't know he had it in him, but he was really worried about me. In about 15 minutes from the time we came in I was on the stretcher face down getting ready to be stitched up. Pretty impressive for a non-life threatening injury. I am sure I would have waited hours in Philly. They shot me full of Novocaine and stitched the wound, Mario said there were a lot of stitches and it was very neat. They put a bandage on and I was ready to leave when a doctor came in with the person that had stitched me up (I don't know if she was a doctor or a nurse) and asked them to remove the bandages so he could look at the wound. He said that I needed to be stitched again since she had only used one thread. Because the wound was so large he wanted the stitches tied off each time so that if there was infection they could remove a few and not all. So more Novocaine (man I hate needles) and out came the old stitches and she restitched. Now the wound looks kind of hairy but I guess it's better.

Next we were told that I would need antibiotics and pain killers and a tetanus shot. We had to pay first so we went to the caja (cashier). We expected the worst, but everything came to 36,000 colones or about $72. That's with no insurance because we procrastinated about looking into any here. Incredible.

The pharmacy is in the hospital so we got the medicine right there. I go the tetanus shot in the same emergency room. The people were really nice and they explained everything that they were doing and how I need to take care of the stitches. All in all I am really impressed. We stopped in a local pharmacy today to buy gauze and stuff to keep the wound clean. The pharmacist asked what they gave me for pain and then sold me something stronger than the Tylenol they had prescribed. I am not sure if I will take them, but I bought some because I will be on the plane all day tomorrow when I fly home so I wanted to have something in case it hurts. He also sold me a cream that is an antibiotic and will also help scarring. Pretty cool if it works.

Anyway I probably won't be updating for a few days as I am travelling to see friends and family. When I come back we are moving so stay tuned!