Purple Extruded Fingers…
…also known as our Thursday hospital adventure.
During Zoe’s second night post-fracture, her arm and hand became dramatically swollen and she literally could not sleep last evening. By this morning, she looked as if she had purple Michelin Man fingers coming out of her plaster arm. Yes, that meant it was time to suit up for another medical outing.
We set off for a private hospital called El Sanatorio de la Trinidad, which is located in two different buildings on the same block. Building #1 main floor sent us to the basement of said building, which sent us to building #2 first floor, where I was informed that there was someone who could see us in 24 hours. I did a bit of a mommy freak out and explained as patiently as I could; “SHE CAN’T FEEL HER FINGERS, HER CAST NEEDS TO BE LOOSENED NOW.”
That got us up to the 3rd floor of building # 2 and a very nice doctor, who could see us immediately. She concurred that Zoe’s purple digits were not natural and sent us back to the basement of building #1 for an x-ray. The good news is that the fracture has not shifted at all and is still in a great position.
Zoe had her cast sawed open around her hand and a big strip cut down the side of the cast (pictured above), which was then pried apart to make room for her expanding flesh. I don’t know about Zoe, but I was mightily relieved!
Total Cost: $56 US. Keep in mind when you think about how much we paid, El Sanatorio is is one of the nicest private hospitals in Buenos Aires with very modern equipment. Compare that to what it would cost in the US to walk into the emergency room. Here in Buenos Aires, we were pretty much seen right away and only paid $40 US for the doctor and $16 US for the x-ray. Now this is health care, baby!
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With our insurance plan (Centro Medico Pueyrredon, which costs about the same as I paid in the US via my company for our family of three), we can call for a doctor to come to the house any time of the day or night (typically from Vittal). They come anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours later, so it isn’t great for emergencies. We’ve used them a number of times when our daughter has been sick. She’s not real found of going to doctors/hospitals right now, and sometimes it isn’t worth dragging her out at night. For everything else under our insurance, there are no co-pays. For the home visits, there are co-pays. The cost? 12 pesos, or just over US$3 at the current exchange rate.
Happily, our girls are have always been fascinated by all things medical and have zero trepidation about visiting the doctor and/or the hospital, which is good considering the number of times we’ve had to go to the ER. Everyone always looks at us like we’re crazy because we explain every step of all procedures to the girls in plain English, but they are truly interested.
Her specific fear relates to clowns and face-coverings in general. The ‘straw’ was when we took her to Hospital Aleman last November. They needed to draw blood, so they took us in a room (that had another sick girl and father on the other side). Then two nurses came in with masks, and said that one of the parents had to leave. When we refused, they called the doctor in who eventually relented. But the masks and the commotion of upset/angry parents were enough to do the damage.