So I'm not sad to say we had our last appointment in the Seguro. Honestly the treatment wasn't bad and it was all up to date but the thought of having the baby without Issac or the epidural was scary. Also as to be expected with something that is free most processes are more of a pain in the butt. For my last dr. appointment there we ended up having to wait almost 2 hours and only the thought that this was the last time got us through it. It was a new doctor but after we explained everything she simply gave us our paper work and wished us luck. We also found out that Issac can still have his surgery done through them if we wanted so we plan for him to go back to Tepa one weekend to get it done. This way it is free and because we already have all the paperwork done through them we figure we might as well.
It didn't take us to long to find a good place to go here in the city. To be honest the first place we checked into was only 2min from our house and we thought it was to expensive. But after checking into a few other places we found that it was actually one of our cheaper options. So we already have our new doctor and have had our first appointment with him. He is young and its kind of nice because he still seams fascinated with the whole pregnancy thing. For example during the ultrasound the baby had the hiccups and he just sat and watched the stomach and laughed for awhile. Anyway he was very thorough and did a great job with our first appointment. He did approve me to fly on Monday to Dallas (Ill explain in a different post, its for work) but said that had we not had it all set up already he prob would have suggested I dont go. He only agreed because I'm doing well with everything and there doesn't seem to be any issues. Also with the statement that it should be the last time I leave town until after the birth. This we agreed to and we set up a date for our next appointment in two weeks. To give you all an idea of the cost here, for the rest of my dr. appointments (4or 5) and the hospital stay and all the meds and doctors during my stay will run close to 2,000usd. I feel like Iv left a lot out so for any of you that may be looking into needing health care down here if you have questions please ask. One thing I know I still have to look into that some of you may be able to answer for me is for my mom. She is coming down in November and is on several medications. I'm wondering if her pill bottles show that she can get refills will the pharmacies here refill them or will we have to get her a dr appointment and a new script. She will be here for almost 3 months and I dont think will be able to bring a full supply of all of them.
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteAs long as your Mom doesn't need a narcotic or an antibiotic all she has to do is tell the person behind the counter what she wants or show them the old container. They may have to look up the name in a big book to get the equivalent name used here or the generic name. Medications are generally a lot cheaper here also and the quality is the same as you get in the U.S. because in most cases the manufacturer is the same. A lot of the medications come from other countries like Germany. Shouldn't be a big worry and if for some reason she would need a prescription she could go visit a doctor and get one just by explaining her situation.
Your mom might be able to get approved by her insurance for vacation refill- when I go to Mexico for the summer I have to call my insurance and tell them, and then they approve it to my pharmacy to give me like two extra months' worth. It will depend what she's on I suppose but it's worth a shot.
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteYour mom won't need Rx's for any of her meds unless they are a controlled substance, like a sleeping pill or a pain medication, etc. If it is a controlled substance you just go to a doctor at Farmacia Similares and pay 25 to 50 pesos for the prescription. All Farmacias Similares have an on call doctor in a small office attached to their store, and you don't need an appointment and the wait is usually not too long. The important thing to find out, though, is whether or not all her meds are available in Mexico. I take a few meds that are still not yet sold in Mexico, so that can be a problem. Ask your mom to give you a list of her meds and then go to a couple of farmacias and show them the list and ask them which which ones are sold in Mexico and if they have them or can order them for you. They've got a big book, kind of like the PDR in the states, that lists all the meds sold in Mexico and they will look them up for you. Farmacia Similares is great for generic meds and their price is usually the best, but they don't have some meds and for those you can try Farmacia Guadalajara (a national chain also) which is really good. Some people won't buy their meds at Farmacia Similares because they say the medicines there are inferior, but in our 5 years of living in Mexico we never found that to be the case. If your mom is on a med not sold in Mexico the only solution would be for her to stock up on them before she leaves as it is against the law to have meds mailed into Mexico. Heck, they wouldn't even let my daughter in NY mail down some over the counter eye drops. The package got rejected by the mail customs department bc they said it was a medication. Oh, you should also make sure you google the names of her medicines to find out the generic names for them as that is what they will use in Mexico, not the brand names, and anyway the brand names are different from what they are called in the US. In Mexico they call the generic name "la sal"----yes, they call it "the salt"---so my husband always makes a joke and tells the farmacist that he has "the sugar" name for the medicine he wants to buy. He can be dorky that way, but I love him just the way he is.
Thanks all, I will be going to the pharm today to see if they will be able to provide her peds and how much it will all be.
ReplyDeleteHey Amanda, I heard that in most parts of Mexico they are now requiring a doctor's prescription for antibiotics, but not other meds (and you still need a Rx for the controlled ones like pain meds or sleeping pills), so if your mom is on an extended antibiotic treatments then she'd need a Rx for that too. Don't forget that Rxs are easy and cheaper to get from the Similares doctor than from anywhere else. We call the doctor there "Dr. Simi"---I get happy as a kid when I see the big costumed version of the jolly Dr Simi dancing outside Farmacia Similares! I even have a Dr Simi keychain.
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