Walls in Spain: QuironSalud

Living in a foreign country definitely has its challenges, especially when you are sick! I have never been one to frequent the doctor and in fact, I can't remember that last time I had a primary care physician. My husband, however, is the complete opposite and always maintains a primary doctor and religiously has a physical each year. When I got to Barcelona, I decided that since I am living abroad and turned 50 this year, that I should probably go ahead and establish a relationship with a doctor. Luckily, Bucky had already done so, so I went to his doctor. I got basic tests done and determined I was healthy with just a B12 deficiency. So, she and I worked together on that issue.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon and I started not feeling well. I thought it was a tummy issue like indigestion, but when I still felt poorly the next day, I feared it may be diverticulitis. On Sunday evening, I felt better so thought I was on the mend, but the pain was back with a vengeance on Monday. Basically, the left-hand side of my tummy hurt with pain radiated to my back. I have a high threshold for pain so dealt with it for a couple of days, but when I was walking India on Tuesday, it was almost unbearable so I decided that I probably needed to do something about it.

I reached out to my Spanish friend, Rebecca, on Tuesday evening to find out if you can call into the doctor's office for an appointment the day of, and she said to give it a try so I called my doctor's office on Wednesday. Luckily, the gal who answered was able to speak English and she said that they cannot make appointments the day of, and that I should go to the Emergency Room where I can be looked at by an internal medicine physician. I felt silly going to the Emergency Room since I didn't think it was an emergency, but after eight hours in the ER and lots of tests, I learned that is was. I had a renal infarction which is basically a blood clot in my kidney. Thus, the pain.

The doctor said he had to check me in for the night for observation and tests so I called Bucky who immediately came to the hospital and helped get me settled into my room. Quironsalud is a lovely, private hospital that is about a 20-minute bus ride from our apartment. They put me on the 7th floor in a huge room with a separate sitting area and a wonderful view of the Mediterranean. There was an extra bed in my room for family, but we decided it was probably better for Bucky to go home and be with the dog than stay with me. He came back the next morning and our doctor came in to talk to me about my situation. It was then that I learned I would have to stay in the hospital until at least the following Monday. I had to be on blood thinners, painkillers, and anti-biotics and do lots of tests, including a scan of my abdomen, before they would let me go. They said if the scan on Monday showed that the blood clot was smaller, I could go home.

The thought of almost a week in there on my own was pretty rough. Bucky stayed with me as much as he possibly could, but I was confined to my room and we did not have English speaking TV, so we were pretty bored. The food was horrendous so that gave us lots to laugh at and we also played cards and other board games. I ended up finding a few interesting things on Netflix that kept me busy when Bucky wasn't around. The staff was super friendly and I learned A LOT of Spanish while I was there which was a positive. My doctor kept me there until Tuesday and finally let me go Tuesday afternoon. I was SO glad to be out of there, in the fresh air and reunited with India.

Since then, I have been tired and have been trying to take it easy. I just had a follow up with a hematologist today and I will be on blood thinners for the next six months and then see what I need to do. I know what to look for in case of another blood clot, but hopefully, that won't occur. I am thankful for the great care that I was provided at QuironSalud. I appreciate how the doctors were diligent in figuring out what the cause of my pain was and how cautious they were about my care. Even though the stay was long and boring, I feel fortunate to come out feeling good!