Do I look like Frankenstein or what?
So many cruisers are afraid of foreign medical care and I want to share my experience this morning.
Well I had a bit of an emergency on Saturday. My tooth which started to feel better took a turn for the worst and abscessed. It felt like I had an ice pick in each ear as well as horrible ear infections, PAINNNNN set in pretty hard over the weekend.
A friend with a car drove me to a dentist in Colon first thing this morning. I have to return tomorrow as I’m getting my first root canal in the morning :(
Colon is a funny place. It’s the dirtiest and most dangerous city/town I’ve ever visited. It’s not the kind of place you want to go for medical attention. My friends Owen and Betty assured me they had a great dentist in Colon that spoke really good English. She (The dentist) is left over from the days the American troops were here and is the best dentist I have ever visited, seriously. The office was clean and modern and I instantly felt comfortable. She had a great bed side manner and was gentile with all the shots and drilling. Today wasn’t so painful :)
A specialist is coming in the morning to do the root canal. She said the tooth is in really bad shape. I wanted to just pull it as its a molar in the back and wouldn’t tarnish my devilishly handsome smile but she didn’t recommend it. She said I was too young (I don’t know about that?) and said it would rearrange the structure of my mouth?
Anyway I’m on antibiotics and pain medication, ARRRG. I’m really not so happy about this but I can do nothing with the exception of rolling with it as best I can.
I hope everyone’s new year is starting out better than mine.
Peace, love, and don’t forget the dental floss!
I think I’ll turn out to be a toothless old salty sailor anyway :)
Cheers
– Alex
Alex what does a dentist visit cost in Panama? Is is as much as the states or Canada?
The whole deal with medication included will run me about $450.00.
Alex:
Best of the new year to you Amigo. 2011 is going to be an amazing year. Good to see everyone is emptying their closets and shaking out the cobwebs. I’m doing the same. Making life more simple and direct is my goal this year and taking the time to simplify my life.
Always good to get reminders from friends. Your last post did bring it all back together. Thanks.
So Cheers Mate! Here’s to a GREAT new year and plenty more of them coming up.
Oh I talked to the marina about that boat and the price thrown at me was 3k. I’m going to beat ’em up on it and I’ll get back to you.
Capt. Paul
s/v Panacea
I had five crowns,four inlays three fillings one root canel two crowns with pins (inplant). In Guatemala,Total cost $3000 U,S.
I went thru a friend..Lori Shea.. At guatemala Medical Travel.. Lori @GuatemalaMedicalTravel.com
Miami Fl. 305-797-0540 Guatemala 502-5737-3023 My estamate here in the states was ove $9000..
My dentist in Guatemala is a Maxillofacial surgen..(Alex..He said because of a few missing and a screrwed up molar my jaw bone had shiffeted.causing neck and face pain) he also fitted me with a mouth guard that I wear at night to corect my bite. He is in Antigua Guatemala…Dr Luis Ramirez…(502) 7832-9440 I will be going back to him in May Sandbar Sam
Sam,
I’m happy with my dentist. No Novocaine today :(
The doctor wanted to know what was dead and what was not and said if he numbed me up he’d be guessing. The infection was in my bone and I have to go again next Tuesday. I was in the chair for about an hour and a half. I have confidence in the guy, he seems to really know what he’s doing, and I am happy with the service. He took lots of digital x-rays during the procedure, he had to drill 20mm before the real pain hit (good material). They also want to make a mouth guard to correct my bite but I opted out for now. He thinks that’s why I have pain in my ears all the time.
I’m pretty exausted now, especially after almost a 2 hour commute each way.
I’m thinking to knock all my teeth out, get dentures, and put an end to all this. Someone on my facebook page said “you don’t need teeth to kiss girls and smoke cheap cigars” I thought it was funny and replied “with no teeth you’d be kissing cheap girls and smoking good cigars”.
I’d still rather sit in a dentist chair having my teeth drilled for a few hours every week than going back to “the grind”!
La vida es aci (Life is so).
Cheers
GOOD LUCK ON THE TOOTH , I’VE HAD WORK DONE IN THE PHILIPPINES AND WAS GREAT . MOST OF THE DOCs ARE WESTERN TRAINED AND COULD WORK ANY WHERE IN THE WORLD AND MAKE MANY TIMES MORE THEN THEY DO THERE . SO THAT SAYS ALOT FOR THEIR COMMITMENT .
Hi Alex, Happy New Year. I have been following you for years and have both dvds. Keep up the good job. I was wandering how you handle day to day things like food ( I keep looking for meals that don’t require the frig.) Bathing ( I use a sun shower as the head area is too small on my boat) Water ( do you collect rain water).
Thanks,
Pete
Pete,
I’m going to put something together on food soon. I’ve just started making yogurt every day again and I’m really enjoying it in the morning with honey, nuts, and oats.
My friend Alex is flying to Rio De Janeiro on Tuesday and I’m going to have the second half of my root canal. My ears are really hurting and I’m worried I might have some trouble shaking an infection brought on by my bad tooth. The infection is in my bone and I’ve heard some horror storied about it possibly getting to the braine/spine.
I’ve found a nice Tayana 37 down here for 35K. Good engine, sails, and rig. Needs some TLC but is a good boat one could easily make a home and sail the world. A Tayana 37 is the boat I wanted to buy after selling Namaste. I will get some pictures but if anyone is interested (for real), let me know.
Cheers
Hi Alex,
Sorry to hear about the tooth, if there is anything that we can do to help from a long distance away, let me know. :)
I too am interested about the food / provisions, just FYI. Particularly bread, as so many including yourself mention it as an important item.
Would the owner of the 37 take payments until another boat sells? :)
Cheers, and best luck with the tooth issue.
Mark
Mark, I will put bread making into a video shortly. I don’t think the owner will take payments and I don’t think the boat will last long. Got to love a T37 :)
Hey Alex, Sorry to hear about the troubles with your tooth but just be glad it didn’t happen on a crossing or you may have been looking for pliers! We are pretty spoiled but at a huge price. Take care ourself.
Hey Alex, Sorry to hear about the troubles with your tooth but just be glad it didn’t happen on a crossing or you may have been looking for pliers! We are pretty spoiled but at a huge price. Take care ourself.