Health Update

Today it was raining really hard in the morning. It was kind of nice to have the sky be so dark and see a heavy rain falling.

I had an appointment at noon to meet a woman named Aurora to talk about medical insurance with the Swiss Medical Group, but just to be sure, I called Blue Cross/Blue Shield, my insurer, to see what kind of coverage I have while I am here. It is great having skype, because if I am calling a regular land line, the calls cost me only .021 cents per minute. I call my parents and have called doctors, my mail order prescription company and today Blue Cross.

Well, Blue Cross told me that I could see any doctor and then just send them the receipts and they would reimburse me. Of course I don't think it is going to be that simple, but you never know. Either way, I decided I should go see a doctor to see what they said. Perhaps there is something else going on with my ear, or maybe there are new treatments since I last saw a specialist.

I called Aurora and canceled my appointment with her, apologizing for not checking with my insurance first. I then headed over to the German Hospital, two blocks away, with a copy of a printout of a description of meniere's disease from Wikipedia in Spanish, just in case.

I paid $30 US for the visit and waited for about 20 minutes to see a doctor.

The doctor I saw, Dr. Peralta, was not a soap star. He wasn't bad looking, but he was not the gorgeous soap opera, cover of GQ type doctor I'm used to seeing here. He also had a small piece of food on his chin which was very distracting.

I told him I had meniere's and showed him my printout, which he was not interested in. He apparently knew what I was talking about. He took a look in my ears and said I had some wax buildup. So we went to another room and he scraped and vaccumed to get the wax out. I was hoping that maybe that was the reason I've been having so many attacks lately. I had wax flushed out of my ears a few times, but that was over 25 years ago. I thought I was doing a good job keeping my ears clean, but maybe all of the soot and dirty air here is clogging my ears.

Dr. Peralta then wrote a prescription for a betahistine dicloride for the vertigo. He told me to take one in the morning and one at night. He wasn't familiar with meclizine. He also wrote a referral for me to get my hearing tested.

I was hungry and didn't know if I went to the desk to make an appointment for the hearing test if it would be right then or if I could schedule in advance. I also wasn't sure I wanted to go through that again if it was only going to determine something I already know. I am nearly deaf in my left ear. I know that. I can test it very easily by plugging up my right ear. I can hear almost nothing from the left side.

So, instead I came home and got a sweater (because it was colder out than I thought) and went to get the prescription filled. It was less than $10, but I only got a week's supply! I don't know how that is supposed to help me if I am supposed to take these pills every day. I guess I am going to stick to the meclizine for now.

I decided to try an all you can eat buffet for lunch because I didn't know what I wanted to eat and at least at a buffet I could choose based on what looked good. It wasn't that good, but it was enough to satisfy me.

On my way home, I stopped at a foot massage place that I pass often. I've really been needing my toenails clipped. I tried clipping them myself, but the toenail clipper I bought here didn't cut. My nails were too hard for me to pick them with my fingernails. So I went in and told them I wanted a pedicure and foot massage.

It was great! For about $25 I got a 30 minute foot massage which I slept part-way through because it was so relaxing and a 30 minute pedicure which not only gave me nice clean nails, but also very smooth feet.

Well, the good news is that I have an angel looking out for me. My friend Yaari who lives in Vancouver has been very concerned about my health. She did a little checking herself and came up with some leads for me. One is a website called vestibular.org, and on there I found a specialist in Buenos Aires who deals with meniere's. I called and have an appointment for next Wednesday.

I'm not going to get the hearing test that Dr. Peralta ordered and I am going to hold off on taking the medicine he recommended. Instead, I am going to try to find out more about the epley procedure that Yaari told me about that is a way of manipulating the head to prevent vertigo attacks. Dr. Videla, who I will see next week is certified to do this procedure.

I am hopeful now, where I was hopeless and frustrated before. This sabbatical was turning into a nightmare as it was becoming more and more difficult for me to live anything resembling a normal life here. I really didn't want to return home, mostly because I can't see myself dealing with all of the stress of travel while I am unstable and prone to attacks.

The rain has stopped and the birds are singing. I can hear the bird that sounds like an ice cream truck singing above the others. I'm going to go put my clean feet up on the sofa and watch a little TV before I figure out what I am going to have for dinner.