It's been a while since I've blogged. We've been caring for our friend Kenny who had a double knee replacement. The total cost for his two new knees, four day hospital stay, meds, and physician fee.......$8600! That's right, his wonderful doctor even told him if he pays directly to the manufacturer for his knees, he can save $450! When was the last time your doctor or hospital offered you the opportunity to save some money?! If Ken had the procedure in Hawaii, it would have cost $66,000. To say his insurance provider was happy with his decision to have it done in Cuenca is an understatement.
The procedure was done at a new, clean modern hospital called Mt. Sinai. It appears to be a part of Humana. Kenny's room was very large with a comfortable futon and.....monogrammed sheets. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. Kenny's doctor agreed to allow the staff, after administering meds, to leave the empty bottles with Kenny so he could research them on line and compare them to their English equivalent. The surgeon had done 150 knee replacements prior to Kenny's. He provided excellent post operative care. Physicians here do most of the hands on after care. Not only did he personally dress Kenny's knees post op, he also put on and changed his thigh high compression hose.
Kenny was on the operating table for 6.5 hours. To his surprise, he was given spinal anesthesia instead of general. He was awake and alert post op, and feeling great. His recovery was much more rapid in the absence of general anesthesia.
Two days prior to surgery, they allowed Kenny to donate a pint of his blood in the event he might need it. I was surprised they allowed that so close to surgery. Interestingly, because there are so many clinics and hospitals in Cuenca, blood is only allowed to be stored at the Red Cross. We had to give the surgeon our phone number in the event he needed us to pick up the blood and bring it to the hospital. Approximately 3 hours in to surgery, and immediately after we walked out of the gym, we got the call. We hurried to the Red Cross, I signed the register after giving them Kenny's blood donation receipt, and walked out with a little black plastic bag holding his blood. We took a cab to the hospital, found a nurse, and she gave the blood to the surgeon in the OR! Quite an interesting experience. The rationale for not storing blood at medical facilities is because there are so many, the amount of blood stored would be insufficient at each site for their needs. Only the few designated trauma sites in Cuenca have some excess on hand. I was very pleased to learn that, as that was a concern of mine.
Post operatively, Kenny is doing well. We had to go to a medical supply pharmacy and buy him a walker and bring it to his room so he could begin therapy. No huge hospital mark up here. As a matter of fact, before leaving the hospital, Kenny received a very detailed itemized bill. The average cost of one pill, ten cents. Lunch, two dollars and fifty cents.
Kenny is now rehabing at home with a physical therapist that sees him about 5 times per week. Her hourly cost? Fifteen dollars.
Ken and I were very impressed with our first close up look at medical care in Cuenca.
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