My Medical Care in San Pedro

For most expats moving to Belize, medical care is a big concern.  When I moved here I was the tender age of 33 and relatively unconcerned.  I mean, hey…I’d rarely gone to the doctor in the US.  Each time I tried to, it was a giant pain in the ass.  Me:  “I have a 104 fever, am fainting and feel like death”.  US Doctor’s Office:  “We have an opening 2 weeks from Tuesday”.

But since I moved here, I have been more than pleaseantly surprised.  In my time here I’ve been to the doctor a few times.  Once I got food poisoning in Mexico, once to have my physical for residency, once for a basic check-up, one time for a cold, twice for cat scratches/bites and one for a horrible STD. 

Okay…so I made up that last one. 

Meet my doctor.  Lerida Rodriguez.  She is quite honestly the best doctor that I’ve ever had.  She is smart, personable and really cares about her patients.  She actually could encourage me to go to the doctor much more often. (Well…let’s not get crazy).

L Rod (I hope she doesn’t mind the nickname) moved from Cuba to Belize in 1993 to work at the Belize City Hospital.   After a year she moved to San Pedro.  Forced to wait 2 years for her private practice license, Dr Rodigruez worked in a local pharmacy.  In 1997, she opened her own practice and specializes in General Practice as well as Stomach/Intestinal care (I’m sure there is a more official way to say that).

The bottom floor of her home is an emergency room, a waiting room with a full blown pharmacy, her office and attending room.

She is currently selling her house (which is gorgeous, has a great garden, is three stories and right across the street from the Belize Yacht Club).

If you want a doctor that can see you with an hour’s notice for non-emergencies, that is reasonably priced, actually looks at you herself (not an assistant), talks to you for as long as you want to talk, has the pharmacy right in the same building and really knows what she is talking about…L Rod is your lady.

By the way, the cat scratch looks like a small red set of lips oozing yellow stuff.  She gave me a powder to mix with water and blot on it and some oral antibiotics. 

Here is the injury and my swollen hand and wrist looking like a ham hock. 

And here is the culprit.  One more time buddy, and you are going up for adoption.

Or maybe we could just change this sign in Dr. Rodriguez’s office to read CAT rather than puppy.