Get Sick a Lot!

Some things are really cheap here. Medical care is such a bargain that we should spend a lot of time sick. I'll try to explain without making you scream, "Too Much Information!"

Shortly after arriving, one of us experienced that traveler's complaint that kept us at home and near the bathroom. Fortunately there are pharmacies everywhere in Tbilisi. I think there are three within about 100 yards of our apartment. Many of them stay open 24 hours a day. At night they pull down a grate, or lock the door, but there is an opening or window through which you can discuss your medical situation with the pharmacist and buy your drugs while you are standing on the sidewalk. And the pharmacist can sell you pretty much whatever you need.

A couple of our neighborhood drugstores

The challenge, for us, is that the medicines are often not familiar. The product packaging and literature is generally in Russian or German, but not always in English.

Typically unhelpful packaging

Fortunately/unfortunately Google knows everything. Fortunately - because you can find out what the ingredients are in whatever the pharmacist sold you, and how to take it. Unfortunately - because you find out more than you really wanted to know. 

In the example I started above, the recommended antibiotic cost us $3.00 for a five-day course and it cleared up the symptoms very quickly. Google also taught us about which countries had banned this drug combination, or limited its use due to the "toxic side effects." Yes, I know, if you read the product insert literature for many drugs you get in the States, you would not want to take them either. But how about this recommendation: "Stay out of direct sunlight, especially between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., if possible. Wear protective clothing, including a hat and sunglasses."

Then, there was the second major health crisis. One of us suddenly developed a medical issue that was potentially scary. It turned out to be not as serious as we at first worried it might be. But, we knew that we did not want to stand on the street and discuss this issue in sign language through a window with a non-English speaker. But a referral from a friend here got us a phone number and a name of an actual doctor. So we called him. What followed is the reason for my thesis in the title of this posting. See if this could ever happen in the States.

We were able to call the doctor directly, on his personal cell phone, and get an appointment to see him in less than 24 hours. Google, again, taught us that he is a professor and head of his department at Tbilisi State Medical University. He is also the president of the Georgian Association for his medical specialty. In addition, he is a Fellow of the (British) Royal College of his discipline. It seems as if we were tracked right in with the top guy in the country in his field.

We met him in his office at a very large (80 in-patient beds, laboratories, and out-patient clinic) private hospital. The facility looked clean, modern, and not busy at all. The courtyard inside the fence on the street was full of people hanging around, but the guards at the door were keeping them out. All we had to do was speak the doctor's name, however, and we were whisked inside where a receptionist said "Follow!" and walked us down to the waiting room. 

The doctor himself greeted us there... 12 minutes before our actual appointment time. Discussion, exam, recommendations and handwritten note from the doctor in English and Georgian so that we could get two medications at our local pharmacy followed. We just paid the reception clerk on our way out, and were back in the car within about 45 minutes. Oh, yes, the total cost of this service, paid in cash was 35 GEL (Georgian Lari), the equivalent of just under $21. The medications were another $10 or so.

It will probably cost more than the total above to have the hospital receipt for the consultation translated into English so that we can claim reimbursement from our health insurance. I don't think I'll bother.