Expat Community > Belize

mgammo
Joined 2016
Posts: 661

Medical care in Corozol

8 years ago

I know medical care is in the front of a lot of people's minds regarding a move to Belize. Corozol is near Chetumal, Mexico and I suppose one could go up there to a hospital if necessary. Crossing the border and customs could be problematic in an emergency.
When I went to Belize I was on a variety of meds and had had a total knee replacement a couple of years before. Actually, when I was down there I just decided to cull all the meds save one. I felt great and decided to walk away from the meds. Actually I found drinking coconut water lowers cholesterol and cinnamon jacks my blood pressure to rock bottom.I could find the meds I thought I needed however in most any pharmacy.
I tripped over a dog chain and broke my wrist. I went to the Corozol local hospital for treatment. A Cuban guy who didn't speak a lick of English X-rayed my arm. I read it myself and could see the crack. I've broken quite a few bones and just knew what to look for. A nice Belizean girl was the Dr. on duty. She set it in a cast, they gave me an " injection" of voltaren anti inflammatory and I was sent on my merry way. They are really big on injections. It blew my mind the hospital could not dispense pain meds! I remember seeing a wheel chair rig they had. It was a plastic lawn chair tied up on wheels....I was thinking, MAN... I hope nothing really serious happens down here. I went to the pharmacy and they gave me codeine with no script.

Another time I had a bad fall at my house. My feet stuck in some wet concrete that wasn't supposed to be there and I fell flat , nearly on my face. I was totally wigged out on this one and made my man take me to a Dr. in Corozol. He is an internist who was trained in Miami. He sold me a big bag of meds and assured me I was just suffering bodily trauma all over. I was afraid of internal bleeding and thinking the absolute worse case scenario would be this. I would have to find. Sen. lindsey Graham of SC and pay 25.000 K to be medivaced back up to the states. I always consider the worst case scenario. LOL..I will be the first to concede I have a very active imagination in some circumstances. But truthfully, it is always smart to be able to calculate a situation and think on your feet. I will never forget. That Dr. handed me a huge bag of codeine. 20-40-60's no Tylenol and said. ' Share some with your friends." I was non plused. I checked into Tony's Inn on the Bay and sat up on pillows and had those little ladies bring me room service for a few days. Fortunately, a group of American drs were staying at Tony's. One young anesthesiologist from Stanford took pity on me and took that bag of codeine and put the pills in little piles telling me when to take which ones. I didn't want to OD and he didn't want me to OD either...
I also a problem with my eye and the lady Dr. at the hospital helped me out with that situation as well. It was free.
The one Belizean private DR. charges 25.00 for a visit. The internist trained in Miami charged 75.00 for his visit.
The whole point of this rambling mess is to point out that if something really serious had happened, I'm not sure what I would have done. I know some people have doctors in Belize City.
It is certainly something to consider..I managed to survive my catastrophes and was very thankful nothing major had happened...

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Medical care in Corozol

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