Dr Ozzie in Boquete Panama
Posted by Lee on December 27, 2009
This should be a post about a wonderful traditional Christmas in Boquete Panama. The stage was set the ham, the turkey, the rosca, the pears, the fruta dulce and lots of rum punch. I still have all but the turkey on ice.
The Christmas season gave me an early gift, a nasty head cold, but nothing that time and sleep could not cure. Still head cold and all on the evening of the 23rd of December I attended a wonderful cocktail party at a neighbors house. We ate, we drank, we drank and we ate and hours later we discovered we had consumed about two bottles of wine each. It was not a big surprise to discover the morning of the 24th started with what appeared to be a royal hangover. Instead of the ceiling fan over my bed spinning the entire room was spinning. I determined the only course of action was to remain calm and sleep it off.
The obligation of cooking for Christmas eve was mine but midnight was hours away and i felt confident from previous, although infrequent experience the hangover would abate. As the evening approached the dizziness increased and so did the realization this was not a hangover. Dinner was cancelled and I reached back in the tombs of my ancient memory for what it might be that ailed me.
Now I could have gone to see a doctor in Boquete if my head was not spinning and if there was a clinic opened on Christmas Eve. The one clinic I used in Boquete for emergencies closed it’s doors about a month ago. The promised hospital Chiriqui clinic has never been built and in a crisis now you need to get to David or to another clinic or doctor in Boquete.
David was not even a possibility with all things rotating around my head. I knew the problem was with my inner ear, the center of balance. I should acknowledge my lack of a medical degree, I did teach anatomy and physiology, but that was forty years ago. In the legal profession it is said that a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client. I suspect a patient who is his own doctor is one step worse. Still, using the internet in a moment of lucidity, I looked up inner ear infections.
In a few minutes of research I realized there were many serious potential problems but I could only treat one of the possibilities, the most probable; the head cold. I guessed the cold some how infected my inner ears, the cure antibiotics. In pawing around the house I found four 500 mg amoxicillin prescribed for dental work. I took one and fours hours later the earth stopped rotating around me. The dilemma was that four in not enough to do a full course of antibiotics. I needed more and in Panama you need a prescription for opiates and antibiotics. I lacked a prescription and a doctor to write one.
Enter Dr Ozzie pictured below.
Dr. Ozzie is allowed to buy antibiotics for his own use without a prescription. Since he has a difficult time speaking in the pharmacy I helped translate his canine German to my semi intelligible Spanish and he made the drug buy for me.
I am not proposing you self medicate with antibiotics or anything else. Nor do I know if this would work with opiates. But it is a good thing to know in the case of Christmas emergencies that your dog can indeed be your best friend.
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Shhhh
Hi Lee.. I hope you are feeling better? Just an FYI if you ever find yourself with a Medical Crisis next time and Dr Ozzie can’t fix it.. There are a few Dr’s Surgery’s you can visit.
Dr Chen and a nice lady Dr, Dra Acosta. They located opposite Melo and are always open.
Dr Markaw (sp?) located next to the CSS Office office the Police Station.
Spanish is spoken, but you can get by with your limited Spanish and their Limited English. All are lovely Dr’s and are happy to help get to the bottom of whats troubling you.
Get well soon..
Samantha
Lee,
Your post sounds as if you’re still spinning. Not sure how you pulled off getting your dog to prescribe the meds, but if you say so….Just an FYI–If you’ve got labyrinthitis, which is what is sounds like you may have—I had a similar episode after consuming about a half a bottle of wine and getting a head cold years ago—the best thing to do is lie supine with your head & shoulders elevated about 30-40 degrees and move the least amount possible. Meclizine will probably work better for you than any antibiotic. And you don’t need an RX for Meclizine. Ask the pharmacist for dosing instructions, but usually 25 mgs three times a day will do the trick. Dose range is 25 mg to 100 mgs every 6 hours or so, depending on response. It may take 2-3 days to really feel normal again. But you should notice some improvement even after a dose or two. This medicine will make you sleepy. Check with pharmacist re: interaction with any other meds you take–avoid other antihistamines in combination with this.
Hi Lee,
Hope your post is like the one included today in La Prensa, indicating that Facebook and MSN would charge between $100 and $200. My heart started pounding but then they added “If you have read up to this point, let me remind you that today is Dec 28th so you are an “Inocente mariposa!!!” Anyway, I´ll write a separate message on my inner ear experiences of 20 years.
Take care