Doctors, Dentists and General Healthcare in Chapala

It feels like I don’t do much until I go back and look at all the photos I have taken throughout the week. I guess if I were a bee I would have pollinated a lot of flowers with all my travels from one place to another. Since I don’t write on the Access blog every day, I sometimes forget all the things I have done. Fortunately I always have my camera with me and have a photographic record of the week. I had to do several things relating to my health this past week. I wouldn’t ordinarily write about a subject like this except that I know I am not the only one in my age group dealing with health issues. People want to know what happens in Mexico if they get sick.

Dra. Marion Osterberger Romo, MD works in Guadalajara during the day. She takes care of people who can’t afford to pay for a doctor and she is paid by the State of Jalisco. She also rents space in the clinic in West Ajijic and sees private patients in the evening.  Her e-mail address is: marionosterberger@hotmail.com. Her Office number is (376) 766-5357.  She speaks English, Spanish and French. She is a natural healer and a General Practitioner. She does acupuncture on my friend’s shoulder and he said it takes away all his long-term pain.

I can’t say enough good things about Dra. Osterberger Romo.  A friend recommended her to me after she got him off insulin shots. He looks great now. I have a fear of doctors.  I only go when I am forced. I will ignore health issues for years. I have what Dr. Oserberger Roma calls White Coat Hypertension, meaning that my blood pressure shots up when I see doctors.  It went to 200/100 the first time she took it. I was really worried but by in the morning when I took it again with my blood pressure cuff it was down to normal.  Now I am in the process of figuring out the condition of my health. She sent me to Chapala to have a blood test.  She thought the Red Cross in Chapala did blood tests but they don’t.  She said to me after she took my high blood pressure reading, “I don’t want you to think of me just as your doctor. I hope someday you will think of me as your friend and we can work together on your health issues.”

It was a beautiful morning. I didn’t mind that the Red Cross couldn’t be of help to me. I enjoyed the walk.  If you have an emergency, they are helpful but not for check ups or blood tests.  After checking out the Red Cross I had breakfast at the American Legion in Chapala, they are just around the corner from the Red cross. They make the best biscuits in town.

There were only a few of us in the restaurant. My friend Tom was there. I hadn’t seen him for months. He owns a consignment store down the street from the American Legion. If you are trying to sell something or looking to buy something for your home, Tom’s is the place to visit.  The shop address: Morelos 142, Chapala. Telephone: 765 6500.

Tom will also organize and run yard sales for people. He has lived here for many years and he is always friendly and helpful. You can often find him at the American Legion.

I wanted to sit in the park for a while but I had too many things to do. I just took a photo of it before going on to look for a place to get a blood test.

I found a small clinic almost directly across the street from Tom’s Bazaar. No one else was there and I was in and out in about fifteen minutes.  I am having several things checked and the cost was around thirty dollars for all of the tests. The results would have been ready in a few hours but I said I would get them later on in the week. I wanted to visit the Chapala Plaza before going back home.

There are many wonderful doctors and dentists in this area. I just want to say something about Dr. Osterberger Romo.   She got sick and couldn’t make our evening appointment the first time we were to meet at the clinic. She tried to reach me to tell me she wouldn’t be there but I didn’t have my cell phone with me. She felt so badly that I went there and waited for her that she e-mailed me saying that she would come to my house and not charge me for the visit. I said no. I couldn’t ask her to do that for me.

I made another appointment with her and paid and it was worth every peso.  (The visit was less than thirty dollars. Can you imagine a doctor in the States making an offer like that? Or a doctor charging so little for an office visit? ) She didn’t even know me when she made that generous offer.

While I was at the Lake Chapala Society, I finally completed and paid for my post life papers. That is a polite way of saying directives for after you die.  It can become a nightmare down here if you don’t have any papers registered with the Lake Chapala Society. The police get involved and lots of red tape.

The nicest thing a person can do for a loved one is to file these papers to make things easy. No police, no red tape. The doctor you put on the form comes and pronounces you dead. The Lake Chapala Society notifies people you listed on your form and the burial or cremation is done. You don’t have to pay for the burial when you fill in this form. The person you have put down as a contact pays. I figure I would wait and let my son pay. I may not even be in this town when I pass away so why waste seven hundred dollars? The form costs less than thirty dollars to file. It is well worth that amount of money.

I know we all hate to think of things like that. Since I am seeing a doctor now to have my health checked out, I decided to take this extra step and file the papers. I am glad I did because it gives me some peace of mind.   I don’t ever want my son to suffer the nightmare of sorting out my death because I decided to move to Mexico. He can take the cost of the cremation and mailing my ashes back to the States out of his inheritance and he won’t even have to come down here. Or if he decides to come here, he can spread my ashes out on the lake. I saw a funeral like that once. It was beautiful. We were all crying and some of us didn’t even know the man who passed away. They took his ashes out in a boat along with a mariachi, singing songs and playing his guitar all the way as they spread the ashes over the water.

I am going to send my son Tom’s information so he can contact Tom from the States and ask him to sell off my things if I die here. Tom will send him the profit, minus his commission. I trust Tom. He is an honest man. That totally frees up my son from dealing with my after death problems. He won’t even have to make the trip down here if he doesn’t want to do it. Younger people have such busy lives.

Okay, no more talk about death.  Life is here now and it is good. I am grateful for this time here. I see each day as a gift. If I die here I will have no regrets that I missed out on anything.

If you want to know more about the area, we are here to help.  You can contact me in the comments below and either I or one of the Access team members will be glad to help you and answer questions.