More about health care here

There are very good doctors, especially in Guatemala City. Specialists, fine hospitals. And - I've had really bad doctors when we lived in the USA. I mean, somebody graduated bottom in their class but still got the MD certificate!

Out where we live, the system is a bit different. There are good doctors who live here because they prefer to not live in the city. I was very happy with a doctor I found recently. She treated my recently-rediagnosed diabetes with expertise, and she only charges $25 cash a visit. She gave me her personal cell number. She works during the day in the public hospital, and takes private appointments in an office co-located on the grounds of a small private psychiatric hospital, a source of unending amusement to me!

Public hospitals here provide free or low-cost care to Guatemalans, but Americans would consider them VERY substandard. There are horror stories.

A Guatemalan who needs surgery can go to public hospital for care. Before they can do the surgery, the hospital requires that the patient send in a certain number of relatives or friends to donate blood. Of course, for Jehovah's witnesses, who neither accept nor donate blood due to Biblical prohibition, this raises a big problem.

Some Guatemalans opt for private hospitals, either due to the matter of blood transfusions or to receive better care. We hung out with a boy in our congregation who had his appendix removed in a  private hospital in Solola, the larger town up the mountain from us. It was very modest but seemed clean and the staff were caring.

But a surgery in a private hospital may be around $500 -- just a number I am pulling from distant memory as an example.  It could be more or less depending on the hospital, the surgeon and anesthesiologist, and whether it's in Guatemala City or our here in the boonies. But even $500 is an enormous sum to Guatemalans. For instance, Lucia, who cleans our house twice a week, receives the going rate of 10 quetzales an hour, about $1.20 an hour. Saving (or borrowing) $500 is unthinkable to most.

And Lucia needs surgery. She got an appointment for surgery next week, but is not sure if they'll really do it. They often just cancel or put things off. She is not a witness, and she did have her relatives donate blood. But she is on pins and needles to see if they will do the surgery to remove some uterine tumors.

As for self-care, you can do a certain amount of watching out for your own here. You can go into a lab and ask for tests of blood and urine/poop. They will give you the results directly, and even talk with you about what it means. You can also go into the pharmacy and get anything they carry without a prescription.

Some doctors out here in small towns are good, but many aren't as good. So for a specialist and to have more confidence, and maybe even get a doctor trained in the US, hop a shuttle to Guatemala City and get your care there.