After months of waiting, I was
finally able to make an appointment to see the doctor here in Italy for my
yearly exam. Now that we have health insurance (and we should FINALLY have
residency this week) I was able to make an appointment.
To make the appointment I had to
call the hospital, they then transferred me to gynecology... well it ended up
being oncology so I had to call back. When I called back they gave me a
different number to call, so I called that. The person on that phone gave me
the number of the appointment service in Milan... and so on. Long story short:
About six calls and 45 minutes later, I finally had an appointment. Phew! I was
glad that was over with!!
Then came the appointment, which was
on Monday morning. I went to the hospital and it was surprisingly easy to
determine where to go. I had to take a number and wait until it was called,
then pay the co-pay. It felt like I was waiting at the DNV to renew my driver’s
license, and it was packed with people. Then, I had to go and wait in the
hallway by the gynecology room until they were ready for me. What is
interesting is that there is one doctor and one nurse, and only one room for gynecology.
Josh's doctor here speaks English, so I was thinking I wouldn't need to bring
anyone to translate- wrong. The doctor and nurse I saw didn't speak a word of
English. Somehow I got through the appointment, but I didn't fully understand
everything. Note to self: Next time... bring a translator.
Now, I have to return to the hospital in 20 days to get the
results. This is strange to me. Italy seems to be in the dark ages when it
comes to technology and paperwork. My doctor in MN emails the results directly
to me through an automated system. They also drop the results in the mail. Talk
about convenient! But in Italy everything is done on paper, by hand. Everything
is more complicated.
Wow that is crazy!
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