Friends trip to the emergency room

Guest Post
Hello. My name is Marsha. I am a 60 something retiree who moved from Florida to Cuenca Ecuador seven weeks ago. I have arthritis in both knees and thought it wise to bring a walker with me. In the States I used electric carts in the stores to shop. There is only one store that I know of Supermaxi that has one. So my walker has been great.


Last night I went to bed and felt a considerable amount of pain in my left knee. The pain kept me up all night and by morning I could barely walk with my walker. Not good. With much ado, I got dressed and called for a taxi. The security guard at my condo complex was very helpful as well as the taxi driver. Getting in the taxi with a knee that does not want to bend is challenging.

I called Steven as I knew Susan was out at that hour. Steven and their daughter Courtney met me at the hospital. Susan was not far behind.

I went to Monte Sinai via emergency. The emergency room was clean and quiet. The nurse got my name, address and phone number and asked if I had any money. I gave her my credit card and it was good. Thank goodness I speak some Spanish. The female doctor got my history. Then it was decided to call Eddie who is fluent in Spanish and we had a three way conversation.

The doctor said she was a general practitioner and asked if I wanted a specialist. No. Not at this time. I was given a shot for pain and then had x-rays taken of my knee,

The diagnosis was bone on bone. Ugh. The doctor called an orthopedic specialist who showed up within 20 minutes. I started explaining what happened in Spanish and then he asked if I spoke English. Yes. The remainder of the conversation was in English. Yes! He explained my situation and was very kind. I have a follow up visit with him in a few days.

When it came time to pay my bill, I did so in cash..not with my credit card. The emergency room, pain shot, x-rays, exam by two doctors came to $92! Susan and Steven then got my 2 prescriptions filled for $10. As a retired nurse I know I received good medical care. I was seen in a timely fashion and treated well.

Hopefully not, but should I require further medical care here, I will go without qualms. The same care in the U.S. would have taken much longer and certainly would have cost much more.

Thank you Marsha for the guest post.

I also wanted to let you all know that with a Supermaxi card at Monte Siani you get a 10% and 5% discount on some services.