¡Eye-caramba! An ER Visit in Mexico
Last Saturday I woke up seeing weird flashes of light out of my right eye. This is one of the not so glamorous parts of full time nomad life: medical stuff that can’t wait to be investigated.
All of my regular doctors are back in the states. Mostly in Florida, a few in Colorado. Covid has actually made getting care on the road so much easier. Virtual visits have become the norm. I had an appointment with my endocrinologist in Denver while sitting at my dining room table on the Mayan Riviera; I had a consultation with my neurosurgeon while sitting on our terrace in Costa Rica.
Unfortunately, eye issues like this can’t really be resolved virtually. When the flashes weren’t any better Sunday morning and I had an increase in floaters drifting across my field of vision, we decided a trip to the ER was warranted to rule out a torn or detached retina.
The small private hospital in Playa del Carmen was only twenty-five minutes from our Airbnb. Unfortunately, they didn’t have an ophthalmologist on call and referred me on to a larger private hospital in Cancun an hour away.
We appeared to be the only ones at the Hospiten private hospital in Cancun. I don't know if it's always like that, or if the drop in tourism plus end of snowbird season had something to do with it. We walked in and explained what was going on to the gal working the intake desk. The ER doctor happened to be right there. She let me know that they would have to call the on call ophthalmologist and warned me that it would cost $300. She wanted to make sure we understood how expensive it was going to be. Anyone who has ever walked into an emergency room in the US knows $300 is a steal. I'm not sure you can walk into the ER in the US without an automatic $1000 charge.
The doctor brought us to a small exam room and let us know the ophthalmologist would be there in forty minutes. Sure enough, forty minutes later he was there leading us through the hospital to his office where he did a quick exam before he dilated my eye and asked me to hold tight out in the hospital waiting area. Once again, we were the only ones there.
About thirty minutes later, and a few more drops to numb my eye, he looked at my eye very thoroughly. Actually, he went over my eye three times with his fancy lens and blinding lights to be 10000% sure I didn’t have any tears in my retina or a detached retina.
Nope, a diagnosis of just good ol’ old age. It's what you always want to hear the doctor say: you’re just getting older and have Posterior Vitreous Detachment (PVD).
Additional good news: our travel insurance should cover the cost of the emergency room visit. We filed a claim this week, but if it doesn’t cover it, it's nice to know how inexpensive emergency care in Mexico is.
Just call me crazy eye haha