My First Trip to Ebais

All expats living in Costa Rica have to join the Caja. That's the nation's socialized medical program. For a monthly fee, about $42 in my case, I get unlimited medical coverage.

Today is the first time I have used the Caja since I joined six weeks ago. When I arrived in Barcelona on May 18, I got a cold. It started in my throat, worked its way down for a couple of days with coughing and a sore throat, then worked its way up with sneezing and a head full of mucus. The cold mostly went away after I got situated back home in Santa Ana.

But my throat remained sore, rough and red. I had to keep clearing it of phlegm or else drown. The more I cleared my throat, the rougher it became.

So this morning I went to my local Caja office, called an Ebais. I got there at 6:30am to stand in line to get an appointment to see a doctor later in the day. There were already 22 people ahead of me, so my appointment was for 11:15.

I left, went on my morning walk, came home for breakfast and a shower, wrote some emails, then went back for my appointment. I was taken right away. First a nurse took my vital signs, using old-fashioned equipment: a pump blood pressure cuff, a scale with weight balances, and a watch to count my resting pulse. Plus I had to stand against the wall without my shoes on to get measured for height. Yes, I am still short.

Then I sat outside the doctor's office for just a few minutes. When she ushered me inside, she took a brief medical history since this was my first visit. Everything was conducted in Spanish. How do non-Spanish-speaking foreigners get through this system?! I wondered.

She looked at my throat and concluded that I needed antibiotics for my virus. No no no, I said. I do not do antibiotics anymore. I told her about the antibiotics I took in October for bronchitis that caused all kinds of yeast and UTI infections. So she backed off and wrote me two prescriptions for allergies medications.

Allergies?! I rarely am affected by allergies in this country, and when I am, it usually happens in October when it's really rainy. But then I thought about it. It was extremely dry in Spain, so much so that my skin puckered up. Then I came back to humidity and rain here in Costa Rica. Maybe my immune system was a little depressed from traveling.

I had to return to the Ebais for a third time today, at 2:30pm, to pick up my prescriptions - free of charge. So I'll try these meds and see if they help.

Getting health care here is a full-time occupation.