More Hospitals - Navigating the Medical System in the Big City

On Saturday night, I got a message from my friend's mom on facebook that she got a horrible eye infection where a bacteria was eating her cornea and she needed my friend's number in Puntarenas.  I was shocked.  When I left for Panama she was so much better and we thought we had made our last visit to the Quepos hospital.

Well, that night at 1am she and my friend took a taxi all the way to San Jose to go to a hospital where she could get her eye looked at ASAP.  It is a really good thing that they went because the doctor said that depending on how much of the eye was eaten, she could possibly need to have her eye REMOVED.  Yes, as you may imagine we were all super scared. 

I woke up Sunday morning, still in Panama, to messages on facebook asking me where my friends in Heredia lived.  My friends who had left the hospital at 6am had no where to go and the eye drops that had to be administered every 15 minutes needed to be refrigerated.  They told me that hotels didn't allow check in until 2pm and they of course hadn't slept at all.

I tried calling the friends in Heredia, but they didn't answer.  I even called my friend's sister in Tucson to try to get in contact with them.  Nothing.  She couldn't get a hold of them, either. 

My two friends decided to make their way to the house anyway.  My friend with the eye infection remembered where the house was as we had stayed there just two weeks earlier.  One of the many crazy things is that as we were leaving the house when we were on our trip I told her, "Now if you ever need help in San Jose, you know people here."  That sounds like really bad foreshadowing in a book or movie, right? 

So, they showed up at their door and said through the intercom on the gate: "um..... hi.... I need help."

My friends who are really more like family, especially now, took them in and took care of them.

I returned from Panama super stressed and wanting to be there to support my friends.  Luckily I got a 90 day visa this time, no questions asked.  A nice man in the bag check line even gave me a sandwich after I offered to help him watch his bag and randomly explained that I hadn't eaten that day. 

The next day, Monday, I went to work at the high school and then got on a bus to San Jose.  It was time to tag out my friend who had been taking such good care of the one with the eye infection.  Even the process of getting on the bus was difficult (sometimes I wonder why everything here is so weird).  I went to my friend's host family's house to get her some new clothes (this is the same family I lived with for 6 months) and called at the door for someone to open.  The grandmother walked up with her underwear in her hand and tried opening the door.  It turns out they had locked her in and she didn't have a key.  Great......

So, I called my old host sister who sent her husband on bike to open the door.  Mission accomplished.

Then, to the bus - which left 15 minutes earlier than it usually does.... luckily I walked up as it was leaving.

Then, on the bus - the guy sitting next to me told me that his friend had just gotten dengue and then a bacterial infection that was eating her eye, too.  I don't understand how this could be possible.

Ok, so in San Jose we went to the doctor and he said that her eye was a little better but that we had to continue with the drops every half hour day and night... and come back tomorrow... but to a different clinic.  Little did we know we were about to embark on a journey where we  were to follow this doctor to every clinic he worked at in San Jose. 

My Tica friend went home to Quepos and I stayed to take care of my friend. I am so impressed with her calm and her trust that her eye will heal.  She is being so strong.

We continued the routine of drops all day and all night and went to the doctor again on Tuesday.  He said it was getting better, but it would still take a while.

I needed to go back to Quepos, too, because I had already missed 2 days at the HS.  So, I invented a way for her to do the drops herself, even though she couldn't see, based on placement of the thumb, wrist rotation, and muscle memory.  It was super exciting to help her be a little more self sufficient.

One of the remaining things to figure out, though, was who could go with her to the doctor on Thursday.... she couldn't walk around the streets of San Jose like this.  She would be too vulnerable.  I started contacting all the people I knew in the area to see if they could go but nobody could.  My friend called as we were about to leave the doctor and told me that her cousin that studied in San Jose could go.

Whew.... As we needed help, someone always came through.  From finding a place to stay to someone to go to the doctor, there was always someone to help.

It really amazes me that we can be in a country where we have no family and I have only lived her a little over a year, yet there is such a big team of support.  It is incredible, the kindness these friends show and the way that they go so out of their way to care for someone they barely know or have only met once. 

This is truly a testament to the kindness and sense of community that the Costa Rican people can have.  I am very grateful to have such family here. 

Also, I was pretty proud to be able to navigate the city and doctors visits and everything... leading my friend on and off buses, being responsible for her..... all in Spanish, of course.  I definitely could not have done this a year ago. 

Now, here's to my friend's continued recovery and that her eye fully heals as quickly as possible :]  I think she might have the biggest team ever supporting and praying for her.


....So, just as there is always a bus.... there is always a friend or a "primo"....