Home » Ecuador » Travel to South America (part I)

Dear friends, <br /><br />I planned to go on my next trip, to South America on Oct 5 2002. I had an airline reservation for Quito, Ecuador. I planned to go around the entire S. American continent in four months. It was supposed to be a great trip. The most challenging part was to cross the enormous Amazon basin from Brasilia (the capitol of Brasilia) to Manaus, a city on the Amazon river, see attachment. There are no functioning roads there. A plan of my trip was already written, edited and prepared to be sent to you. But. But something happened which interrupted my plans. I always wanted to share my experiences with you in hopes that my experience will be useful to you. These who read my notes from my previous trips may remember the priceless advise on how to eat glass, ride Mediterranean ships without tickets and how to iron clothes without an iron. Now, I will share with you another experience which may be even more useful.

Travel to South America (part I)

Alex Mumzhiu
2006-03-22 14:00:17

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But let me to start chronologically. On August 22 2002 I went to my physician for a routine physical exam. I did not have it for awhile because I did not have insurance. Now I have Medicare. A receptionist told me that the exam is not covered by insurance unless you have some complaints. So, I decided to complain about pain in my stomach. I really have it, but it was not strong and not often. If it were not for this monetary compensation issue, I would probably have not complained about it at all. A couple weeks later my doctor called me and told me that my cholesterol level is higher than normal. We attended several parties with good food, which is always high on cholesterol, before the blood test. I knew that settled life is dangerous for my health. In my trips my health came back to normal. So it was nothing to worry about. See also: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62930-2002Oct8.html

When we finished conversation, I reminded the doctor about my stomach pain and he sent me for a CAT Scan of the abdomen. I should thank my doctor for his generosity. I knew some people who also wanted to have some procedures, like X-Ray or CAT Scan to be done, but doctors refused, afraid of being condemned for prescribing unnecessary procedures. When these procedures were eventually done, it was too late. My last supervisor died this way. After the CAT Scan my doctor called me again and told that I have a stone in my right kidney and something else, hopefully nothing serious in the left one. He advised me to see a urologist. The urologist, whom he recommended was busy till the end of November, but my trip to S. America was supposed to start in less then two weeks. So I found in the Yellow Pages a doctor who has an appointment for the next day (Sept 24) and went to him to clarify what is in my kidneys as soon as possible before departure to S. America. He said, "the kidney stones are no big deal, let me brake it with shock waves and in ...