Two physical therapists that are helping me walk again
I had not originally expected to have such an immediate interaction with the medical care capabilities of Cuenca. After breaking my ankle the day before being scheduled to fly here, I found myself needing their care immediately upon arriving. We had heard several stories about how good the medical care was here, but I must admit, I was a bit worried about having to really go out and try it myself.
Better, Faster and Cheaper
In software development (and probably in other fields), there is a very old saying: “You can have it better, faster, cheaper — pick any two.” Well, I found that in Ecuador, you can get all three!
When I arrived in Cuenca five weeks ago, I called to make an appointment with a GP (General Practitioner doctor) that I had heard of from other gringos. To my surprise, I was able to get in that very afternoon, only a few hours after my call. I have already told most of the story of that appointment, so I won’t go into the details again here, other than than to note that the full cost of the doctor visit was about the same as my copay with Kaiser back in California. (See the original blog post here).
A month later I went to an orthopedic surgeon, who told me I could now put full weight on my foot and no longer needed crutches. Again, I already wrote about that visit, which you can read here.
The next day I started physical therapy. I had physical therapy on a couple occasions in California under Kaiser. Each visit there cost me $20 co-pay, with each visit lasting 15 to 30 minutes, and consisting solely of the therapist giving me a set of exercises to do at home. There was almost never any hands-on treatment in those sessions.
Here in Cuenca, it is a different story. The visits still cost me $20, but that is the full cost of the treatment, since we have no insurance here in Ecuador. Each visit lasts 60 to 90 minutes, and is comprised completely of hands-on therapy. The session always starts with an ultrasound treatment for 10 minutes, followed by electro-shock and heat therapy for another 10 minutes. Then the therapist goes to work on my foot and leg.
The main therapist that I work with has limited English. I thought that might be a problem at first, but quickly realized that by just adding a few targeted Spanish vocabulary words, I could communicate quite well. The last few days has had an intern do most of the work with me, and he speaks no English at all. Again, I have found that to be an advantage, as it is helping me push my Spanish learning a bit faster.
The therapist pushes and pulls and presses with make it hurt like a sun-of-a-gun. As I got stronger over the course of a week, they started having me spend the last 20 minutes on balance exercises — I have a hard time balancing on a ball in the best of times, but this hurts with a healing ankle!
The progess has been remarkable. Nine days ago, I was on crutches. When released from those, I was told to use a cane for two weeks, yet I was able to abandon the cane after only 3 days. When I abandoned the cane, I could walk two or three blocks before my foot hurt too much. Now, one week later, I can walk two or three kilometers before my limp sets in again. At this pace, I expect to be able to walk 10 kilometers by the end of next week.
- The physical therapy here is better than I ever got in California under Kaiser.
- I can get an appointment the same day for a new doctor here, and sometimes within a couple hours. In California, I was lucky if I got an appointment in two weeks.
- My cost per visit here is the same as I used to pay for the co-pay in California, but there is no insurance premium to pay. As such, this is cheaper than in California.
One more reason to fall in love with Cuenca! ☺