Abby's Hospital Visit: Mexican Healthcare Differences and Challanges

Good morning everybody. It is a beautiful day here in Arancho in Jalisco, Mexico. And we are heading out to Guadalajara for the doctor to read Abby's MRI report. Abby threw a huge fit. She did not want to go all the way back to Guadalajara. It's a long drive, but my mother-in-law is back you guys. That was the surprise we were picking up from the airport. So she is able to stay home and watch the kids because they did not want to go back either.

So it might be kind of nice, just me, Abby and my husband, and hopefully the drive goes nice and smooth.

Now we were gonna take the bus.

So I'm gonna have my husband, because we're still in the dentro, I'm gonna have him explain to you guys why we didn't take the bus system. It was a little bit more complicated than we thought it was gonna be. It's more like, like the apps that we were trying to

use. So originally we were gonna take, I so originally we were gonna take we were gonna take the bus from Ocotlan to Guadalajara but then I looked up where the bus stops in Guadalajara so it goes from Ocotlan to the bus terminal in Guadalajara but it's like right at the entrance of Guadalajara from there we would have had to take an uber or a taxi to Zapopan which is probably I don't know another hour and a half um we wouldn't have made our we wouldn't have made our appointment and you said the uber app wasn't

working probably so then I tried to reserve a uber last night um for the time we got to Guadalajara and it kept trying to tell me to, it was going to send me a notification on my phone, I never got it. And then, so I couldn't reserve anything.

So it's just kind of hard. Now I am sure the people who grew up in Guadalajara, this is not a problem for them at all, or the people who frequently use the bus system. So I think if we're ever gonna get to know the bus system, we'd have to go with somebody who already knows it. But last time we drove out to Guadalajara for the doctors,

it wasn't funny, but me and my husband were in crazy traffic because people weaving in and out and Even my husband who is a very experienced driver because he grew up driving around LA and places like that It's still very kind of scary right and like stressful

You're like you're in the lane that you're supposed to be in, then somebody passes you on the right-hand side where there is no lane. They're in the dirt.

And so not growing up there, there's a system of how people drive. And so me and my husband at one point were kind of a nervous wreck, and there was an old lady next to us in a car, very old, just weaving through traffic so calm and I told my husband look at this lady

over here and he's like she must have grew up here she's like used to it so I'm hoping we're leaving a little bit early that traffic isn't as bad as it was last time. So we actually had to come back home because what broke in the car?

Yeah, so what was it last week? Yeah. The week before? We had a shock mount break. I think it was broken from before. I think what ended up happening was the shock mount

Sheared off and it was just kind of stuck in place. Well, then we ended up going to Guadalajara Coming back and somehow came loose and on the way back from Guadalajara we heard it start, you know Making all kinds of noises. I thought it was reran at first and Looked under it got it welded, welded both shock mounts again and then I went today and that road to get to that one town is terrible, extremely bad and something must have just broke again so I have my friend right now take it to Topo Atlanta I'm assuming to get it welded

again I would have welded it but I have to go to right now I managed to get another appointment for 130 so we have to go like right now right now yeah

I'm gonna go grab Abby and this was our only other car and it was full of fertilizer right so my husband just had to quickly unload these huge heavy bags. A thousand kilos full of fertilizer. So I'm gonna go grab Abby and we're gonna get going. We're very blessed though that it happened right at the ranch over so we were able to make it home and also that we called the doctors and they said they can give us a little

bit later appointment which is also a blessing. So we're just going to take a deep breath and start over for the morning. And we're also blessed we have a car to drive. That's what's important.

One more time. I agree.

I 100% agree with that.

You and your mouth flowers.

Yeah, but you got the big ones. Yeah, you do.

You get the bougie ones. You and your mouth flowers. Yeah, but you got the big boujee ones.

No I did not.

Yeah, you do. You get the boujee ones.

No I did not. The ones I got you were like normal.

No, no, no, no, no. We're going to go to the beach. I think Puerto Vallarta would be less than three hours from right here. I was in middle school and then normally we'd walk to school, okay?

My mom picked us up this day for whatever and around the middle school there was like a bunch of old subdivisions my mom was driving she asked us she's like yes

and we didn't even get a chance to answer before she hits the bump we went like flying. Oh like a speed like a slow down bus. We went like flying up.

I remember I hit the top of the van.

It is boob.

Can your car fit? Yeah.

All right, you guys, we made it. We're in the parking garage.

I have her MRI.

Abby is so happy today. She threw the biggest fit, you guys.

But you do get to get a frappe.

That's a plus.

What Bella's ghost looks like? guys but you do get to get a frappe that's a plus. Oh my Abby what were you what were we listening to in the car ride? Breaking Dawn. My husband enjoyed it so much.

I'd rather listen to scratching nails on a chalkboard. No it was so good so now we

want to get back in the car because we're waiting for the wedding part. Hon, the drama of it hasn't started yet.

If I wanted drama, I'd watch Jerry Springer.

No, the drama of Twilight hasn't begun yet. You're gonna get into it as soon as that part starts happening.

I did not think 13 people could fit in here.

Where do you see 13 people?

Right there.

Hello?

What?

You pressed the wrong one.

Oh, look at it.

Yeah, that should be right.

Is it not the plaza?

It's saying we're at the lobby.

Oh, wait, but we're in the parking.

We need to get in the other elevator.

Okay, we're going to be're in the parking we need to get in the other elevator

No, I can't I can't get stuck in this elevator there's no escaping

Everybody be watching you get rescued. We got here a little bit early like normal so we're gonna go get a frappe real quick and sit down and I'm gonna show you guys the view.

It's so beautiful.

Yeah I think that's what it is. Oh no their coffee machine machines not working right that was the only thing you wanted pumpkin I'm sure there's an ox or Oh, it's too bright. We almost start shimmering like Edwards. Oh, did you use some of the shimmer makeup?

Yep, almost start shimmering.

So beautiful.

This part of the hospital is actually really beautiful because last time we were here underneath there all the moms were coming down with their newborn babies because they deliver babies here and they get to come down and enjoy that lobby and kind of walk outside with them. It was so cool. I'm actually really curious what birthing rooms look like in Mexico. You guys know I've had four children, and here in Mexico, it's all just a little bit different. So we have still a little bit of time,

but I wanted to come downstairs and just like explore their gift shop. I don't know if it's a gift shop or it's for like babies being born. So beautiful. I also don't know why I'm whispering.

It just seems really quiet down here. Look at how cute they have everything. Can you imagine if you have a baby here? There is not. Yeah, because they pierced their ears in the hospital. Did you know that? So that's also an interesting fact. All the women in the rancho that I know had their children's ears pierced in the hospital like the day they had their baby. So they actually offer earrings here for you to pick from.

They're so pretty. They're not as expensive as I thought they would be. Penelope still

doesn't have her ears pierced.

I don't know if we should do it here.

No, she would cry. Abby, look at the baby bath robes.

You're not even going to stop here. I might.

I didn't know they had this.

Look at the basket so cute

this is so pretty

yeah Yeah, and there's a whole baby gift shop.

They sell earrings so babies can get their ears pierced

this way a little bit

hello how are you gonna know how to read that?

I don't know how to read it but I remember telling it

who we haven't seen the doctor yet

no I mean your mom

your mom told you that all the white stuff was liquid

you guys swear you think you're doctors I'm telling you, all the white stuff was liquid.

You guys swear, you think you're doctors. We're gonna see you pretend like you're doctors. Last week I was Jose Eduardo,

today I'm a real doctor.

What would be a good doctor name? Somebody fancy would be a doctor. What's the fanciest name you can think of?

I feel like you're YouTube family

could tell us what these are.

Kevin?

No, that's not even Mexican.

Kevin?

It's like the tiniest little white line.

All right guys, we got queso media.

Is that how you say it?

Dip it in.

And then they gave us some guac sauce.

Yeah, it's at the bottom of the thing. So good. The mayonnaise. Oh no. I had to put a little bit of spice in it.

Yeah, that sauce is hot. Now you could use three drops.

Wonderful. Alright, time to go up the elevators. When we're done at her appointment, I'm going to go to the very top. Look how high it goes.

I don't think so. You have to.

How you can come here and not go to the very, very top? so I'm going to try to get a better angle. I'm going to try to get a better angle. I'm going to try to get a better angle. I'm going to try to get a better angle. I'm going to try to get a better angle. I'm going to try to get a better angle.

I'm going to try to get a better angle. That one? That one is fine, but that one always hurt more here. So we have to go do another MRI and I'll tell you guys why. Is this the way to Harkin Garage? I don't know. No, I think we need to go down one more, right?

♪♪♪ So ♪ Alright you guys, we are almost back home.

We had to go through a book lawn. Now I'm not going to show you what Abby got, but we went into a flower shop and the lady there was so nice and Abby picked out this flower arrangement that she wanted and then when it was done she made Abby pick out a flower for me and then she would not let Abby leave until she wrote all the nice things about her mom. All the nice things about me. She was so funny and it was such a nice experience and she was treating Abby like kind of like how an aunt would huh Abby? Yeah. She's like your mom does so much

and she doesn't know me. She's like your mom does so much for you you need to make sure you respect and love her and then she made Abby pick the flower, write the note and then hand this to me. So it was such a cool experience to go in there. I have one more stop to make at the pharmacy and then we'll be back home. Did they start taking them now? All right, everybody, we are back home and it has been such a long day. I don't know what it is about traveling because even though we weren't walking around a lot,

I feel exhausted by the time I get home. But let's talk about what the doctor said for Abby. So a couple different things happened at Abby's appointment. Good, not so good, and frustrating. You guys, so frustrating. These are just some of the things I've had to learn here in Mexico and I don't know if it's just Mexico. I don't know if it's in the United States as well, but one of the frustrating things was obviously our car breaking.

Good thing we were close enough to the house that we could come back. And then when we got to the doctor's office, he asked if Abby's knee was feeling a little bit better, which it is feeling a little bit better. The doctor prescribed her medicine, and that medicine's supposed to help build up her cartilage.

It also has a pain medication in it, and it's been helping her a lot. Her pain is a little bit better, that's helping. But then he pulled up the MRI images. Now you know how they have that big white board and they turn the light on

and then they put the scans onto it? Well, that's what he did, and he said that he could see between her knee this light gray area and he said he thinks there is some fluid in her knee but this light gray area he thinks that that has something to do with her pain. Now he said the images weren't clear enough and I didn't this is the frustrating part I didn't, this is the frustrating part, I didn't know that MRI machines were different. I thought they were all the same. I thought I did ask

this doctor this before we left. I said is it gonna matter what MRI we go to and he's like no but it does matter what MRI you go to. Now here in Mexico it's kind of odd because MRIs aren't just at hospitals. There's like little laboratories, little tiendas, like people can privately own an MRI machine. So you just decide where you want to go. So we went to the first MRI machine that popped up on our search in Ocotlan. And then when we went back to him he said that he

needs a clearer image so we need to get another MRI done to check this small gray area. So we say okay we can get a better MRI that's fine but you need to just tell us exactly where we're gonna get a high-quality image MRI. So he gave us a couple places. Now most of you might not know but Abigail, my oldest, when she was little when she was around two years old she started walking on her tiptoes like all

the time. Now at first we thought it was so cute. She was our first daughter, me and Lavel, our first child and the the first grandbaby. And we just thought it was cute. Nobody thought anything was off until she started to get a little bit older. And when it was time for kindergarten, I brought her to a foot specialist. And I had him look at her. And at this time, I had Cristiano.

And this doctor told me, this was in the United States, he said, I think she's faking it. I think she wants your attention. And I said, absolutely not. She's been doing this since she was two years old and she's about to go into kindergarten.

And at the time, this was the only insurance, this was the only doctor our insurance would cover in our area. So he wouldn't do anything about it. He said, nope, she's faking it. So then a couple years later, I called a children's hospital. It's called DeVos. It's in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Just to see if there was any chance I could get an appointment out there for her. And I did. And they said right away that her Achilles tendon was too tight from her walking on her tiptoes. And it didn't matter how much we told her, oh you need to walk flat footed, she wasn't going to be able to do it. So they had to give her casts. And so say she's on her tiptoes like this, the first cast they just put her heel down a little and then she has that cast on.

Then the second cast, the third, and then the very last cast, her foot is completely flat. By the time she got all her casts off, she was walking with flat feet. She did not walk tiptoe until this last year. She's been kinda, I don't know if it's muscle memory or what's going on, but she's been walking

on her tiptoes a little more. So this doctor showed me, he said, look it, I'm going to try to stretch her foot upward. And he could not stretch her foot up, not to where it's supposed to be. And I said, okay, so when we get a new MRI, say that gray area is a tear, because that's what he thinks it is. I said, say it's a tear and you do surgery

or you do physical therapy. He said, yes, those will probably be the actions. I said, okay, say you do that. Will it get better if she still has, if she's still walking on her tiptoes, if that tendon on her Achilles heel is still very tight?

And he said no he's like it would be better for a moment he's like but if she if you if she can't get that stretch into her Achilles tails and go back to walking on her flat feet he's like it's gonna keep hurting her knees so now we have one more appointment we have to go get a very crisp MRI with good images, which we already found the place to do that. Then next week we go back again and that will

be kind of like the final appointment to decide what's next. He did tell me if she needed surgery, and that's only if, he said he doesn't know yet, he could stretch out her Achilles tendon because it's that right leg that she's walking mostly on her tiptoes with at the same time he was doing knee surgery. We don't have to but that's something he wanted us to keep in mind and I feel bad for Abigail because this is something she's always suffered with. It's really hard for her. You would think, oh just walk normal but it's hard for

her. I don't normal, but it's har know why. I don't know wh Um, but we've done everyt knows what's going on. So will know a little bit mo long, frustrating day, bu

the good in it. It's wonderful. We can go to the doctors, a great specialist. It really stinks that we kind of wasted an MRI and we didn't know, but it's part of my learning curve here. So now if we ever have to go get x-rays or anything else done, we're going to know we have to look for a higher quality machine because I thought they were all the same and they're not. So I feel like sometimes it's always this big learning curve for me but also a lot of people in our ranch go to this MRI machine and they don't know that it's not high quality like the doctors can miss some things so in a way it's a blessing. So we'll be able to tell them, hey, there's another one with better images.

Now, that's a lot to take in. I know you guys, because I'm feeling the mental stress. We are having an issue with our stairs. And we're kind of redoing them. And I'm gonna show you guys right now, but where the bottom is, where there's a big square,

we might have to put an extra stair right there. And I'm gonna show you what I mean, because we can't get, what's it called? Like a crane in yet, to lift up all these beams. And what we realized was when we did the stairs where my balcony is so you guys know where my main bedroom is right above me and then

the balcony goes out this way where my two French doors are where we would walk out to the balcony my husband was gonna have a lip right there where we take kind of have to step over well I didn didn't want that, okay? I was like, oh I absolutely do not want a lip. I feel like I'll trip over it just not thinking. And he's like, okay we're just gonna have to make the floor a little a little higher, which is not a big deal except we had already made the stairs so they weren't counting in that we were gonna make our floor a little higher. We think we solved the

problem and I'm gonna show you guys right now. So right here he added just a little bit more of cement to our normal stairs. He's gonna do that all the way down and then right here I have to keep this up here because we don't want the dogs going on the cement but right here they're gonna have to put another step across like this that way we don't have to mess with these steps. And I'm trying my best not to feel too overwhelmed or frustrated.

It just sometimes feels like a lot of things happen at once. And so it's kind of like Abby's thing, then MRI didn't go right, then the stairs aren't right. And then we're trying to figure out how to get the crane in. I know it's gonna work out. And it's so funny because I swear,

sometimes I feel like God preps me because I've been listening to sermons lately about when you're going through rough waters and almost being patient and waiting on Him and knowing He's gonna get you through it. I hold on to that.

But it doesn't mean you don't still get that feeling of like frustration and you're nervous and we're just ready to move into our home. I was just recently thinking when it's time to move in, we're not going to have anything to bring into this house except each other and our clothes, which we don't even have that many of that. We don't even own anything else. And I feel like I'm just ready to make this house a home,

but we will get there. And I am gonna keep you guys updated on the stairs. The next vlog, I'll bring you guys out here as soon as the workers get here and we'll go through some things. But I hope you guys enjoyed today's vlog.

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