April Checkup

Today we went back to the doctor's office for our monthly checkup, and all seems to be well.  We have a really nice doctor that I like a lot, but the visits are pretty different than those I might expect if I were going to my doctor in the United States.  We are also going to a more "popular" clinic than we might in the States (popular in Colombia referring more to folks with lower economic resources), so my comparisons are not particularly equivalent as I have always had private, insurance-covered health care.

I could name a variety of things that strike me as odd or just distinctive, but I think the main difference for me revolves around time.  In the United States my doctor made appointments.  She did not always manage to get me in at the precise time we scheduled, but she was always within shouting distance, and I only had to read People magazine for 15 minutes or so before someone attended to me.  Here, Dr. Lily does not take people by appointment.  It is strictly first come, first serve.  Hence, if you show up at 10am when her office hours begin on Saturday, you could easily wait until 11:45am before you even get into her office.  It all depends on how many other people showed up to see her on that day.

What struck me most today about this was how annoyed I could get just waiting there.  Rather than just sigh loudly, I started to think about what was so frustrating to me.  After all, it is not as if she suddenly changed the system on me, and it is not as if I had anything particularly pressing to do -- I was simply perturbed at having to wait.

And then I remembered going to the VA clinic with a homeless guest from Room in the Inn in Nashville and waiting the better part of the morning.  I thought about how much longer it takes us to catch the bus rather than find a taxi to get to and from work.  I thought about the hours-long line one can find at the emergency room or the day-long journey to get social services in Chicago for someone needing help from First United's Walk-In Ministry, or here in Barranquilla the mountain of people outside the stadium here when the government gives out a measly $30,000 COP ($15 USD) subsidy to families from lower economic backgrounds, and I realized that I was irritated because I have always had enough money to avoid such waiting.  Being poor (which, let's be clear, Richard and I are not) takes time.

It was a good reminder that I remain a deeply privileged person, and that such privilege rears its head in all sorts of forms - including internal disconnects when I choose not to exercise that privilege.  Don't worry about Peanut.  I have total confidence in Dr. Lily, and I am glad that someone of her care and quality attends to people in more difficult circumstances, as well as to privileged North Americans like myself.  And when we finally did get in to see her, she was pleased by how much Peanut seems to have grown and we were tickled to hear 140 beats per minute from our still en-stomached friend.

We have our first official obstetrician-gynecologist visit/interview on Tuesday, so keep up the good thoughts!