Doctor's Visit

I took myself and Epril's father to the doctor's today for a checkup. I decided to go to Dr. Edmilao, the cardiologist who is our next door neighbor, since family physicians don't really seem to exist here. He was quite booked, but made special Saturday office hours to accommodate us.

The last time I had been to a doctor was for a physical in Thailand, which cost about 2,000 pesos. This visit was a bit more expensive, didn't include as much diagnostic work, but was still substantially better: Dr. Edmilao spent nearly an hour each talking to myself and Epril's father. (And I know my doctors, and I know a good doctor's visit when I see one: This was a good, in-depth physical.) In Thailand, the hospital checked my hearing and vision and did a wider array of labs, but the doctor only spent about 10 minutes witih me.

Anyway, my uric acid was high due to the fact that I snack constantly on pumpkin seeds and pistacios, my hemoglobin and hematocrit are still abnormally high as they have always been, and I could stand to lose some weight. (Nice thing though is I haven't gained an ounce in the last three years.)

Total cost for a physical (labs, chest X-ray, EKG, urinalysis, and an hour of the doctor's time and clinical examination) was about 2,500 pesos... about $60.