A trip to the doctor

After a week of Foster's face looking like this,

we decided it was time for professional help!

Here's how it went:

Yesterday afternoon, Rosi called her dermatologist on his cell phone. (This is not a personal friend; he lists his office, home phone and cell phone on his prescription pad). We were told to come between 8 and 10 am tomorrow, or else he had no appointments until March because he would be out of town.

This morning we arrived at his consultorio about 9:00am.

The receptionist wrote down this much information: Foster's name, address and birthdate.

She asked us to take a seat.

This is the common reception and waiting area shared by a number of doctors.

Within 5 minutes we were sitting in Dr. Diez de Medina's office-exam room combo. He chatted with us for a minute, sat Foster up on his exam table, and quickly diagnosed an infected rash (impegio). He prescribed an oral antibiotic and a cream, gave Foster a lollipop, and we were on our way. Follow-up appointment next week, same time.

At 9:15 I was taking Foster to school.

Total cost: $21 for the office visit, $14 for medicines from the pharmacy.

We have been to the pediatrician here with Elliott and then Susana, but having not been to a specialist before I was curious if it would be different. But it was the same quick service, same consult fee as the pediatrician.

Bolivia certainly does not have the sophisticated medical technology that is so widely available at home. Javier says there's only one MRI machine in La Paz, for instance (city of one million.) But for primary care, there's something very refreshing about the personal, immediate attention and lack of red tape. It sure worked for us...

The happy patient.