Mexican Public Health Care

Sandra drove us to a hospital that was on the other side of school from my house. We had to climb an unbelievable amount of steps. I just kept thinking about the old people that would have to climb all that. By the end, they’d need to be there for a heart attack on top of whatever they were there for in the first place. On the way in, Sandra pointed to an altar that had been made on the sidewalk. She said that when people die in Mexico, it is common to note the place for years to come. She said this person had been killed. Since we were walking into the hospital (now in hind sight this seems in poor taste, but it was humorous at the time), I asked if they were going to kill me in there and would she and Ashley have to put up an altar in my honor? Sandra clarified that the person had been murdered. Nice.
We went in, made our way to the vaccinations window and waited our turn. Lines in Mexico are interesting. Sometimes there is in fact a line, but it doesn’t take the form of a US line. Most of the time, it’s every man for himself pushing and yelling.
Sandra again took great care of me. She showed them her insurance card (or something similar), but it kind of didn’t matter because the services here are free. We explained what had happened and the ladies took my info. Ashley had a straight shot view of the vaccination area and leaned over to me and whispered, “You’re gonna get it in your butt. I just saw a that man getting his shot.” UGH. I had flashbacks of my steroid shot in the Green Hills walk in clinic in college with that unfortunately gorgeous male nurse. It got me all nervous just thinking about it. These nurses were all women, but clearly the view of the patient was pretty clear. I’m pretty modest in general. But in medical situations and in Mexico, I guess that feeling is exaggerated. They called me in and I sucked it up. Thankfully, they did slide the door completely closed. They were not friendly or calming. They didn’t even put a band-aid on me after the shot (I guess that’s how they give you free tetanus shots!). When I came back out, Ashley told me that one of the men who had been standing in line near us with a baby and who had heard our conversation I guess, had seen them close the door and told her that they were going to shoot me in the bum. At that, she said, Sandra made her way into the nurse and asked if they couldn’t give it to me in the arm. Love her. It didn’t help, but see how she takes care of me?!
We left there and Sandra had to change an appointment, so we got to the bottom of the hill and went into the office. I made my way to the restroom and made a homemade band aid with toilet paper and medical tape that I had in my purse for my disposable bandage! Who knew a shot bled so much?
We made our way back to school, and Ashley and I commented on how great Sandra was. She had mentioned during our ride that she’d like to take us to breakfast on Saturday morning. She said she’d talk to her family (she has a daughter my age and two other younger children and I have met her husband on a couple of occasions) and get back to us with the details. She had me write down my address so she’d be ready when the time came.