You’re probably already aware that basic healthcare in Colombia is just as good as in North America, but far less costly and onerous. I had two major medical needs on this trip: a mandatory Colonoscopy, and repair or replacement of my Dental Bridge.

Colonoscopy

In my first week in Barranquilla, I employed the services of a local bilingual “guide”, who helped me find a bilingual gastroenterologist. After 3 days, she responded with a few options. Since this “guide” was not compatible with my needs, I went ahead and made the appointment myself.

It turned out that the recommended gastroenterologist wasn’t even bilingual! However, based on the response I got from them via WhatsApp, I was willing to continue. His name is Dr. Fabian Lora at the Clinica IberoAmerica. I went by myself to the initial consultation, where I paid the reasonable consultation fee via a simple money transfer via Bancolombia, seemingly the most widely-used bank in Colombia. I had to wait about 20 minutes for the doctor to finish with his previous appointment in a different office, and arrive to see me. Even though we had to manage with my Basic Spanish, his Very Basic English, and a translator app, Dr. Lora was attentive, thorough, patient, and had a great bedside manner. I never felt rushed through the consultation.

Fortunately, by the time of my appointment, I had made a new bilingual friend – an American English teacher (for sake of privacy, let’s call her “Nita”) – who was more available, responsive, and overall more compatible with my needs. Her fee was reasonable, and we had a deal to meet at the clinic after work on the day off the appointment. She did just that, helped me sign in for my procedure, and assisted with all necessary communication during surgery prep.

I tried paying for the procedure on the spot via bank transfer, but there was no cellular signal. The intake staff and doctor said I should just do it after my procedure, when I go outside or get home. Amazing. Obviously this would NEVER happen in the good ol’ Money Bags dUSA. In the States, the healthcare  and insurance companies are all about, “Fuck You, Pay Me”. Waiting to see the doctor? “Fuck You, Pay Me!”. Doctor comes but doesn’t even DO anything? “Fuck You, Pay Me!!”. It’s unsustainable, and eventually something or someone is gonna “break” in the dUSA.

Anyway… back to Colombia… “Nita” waited for me while my procedure was being performed. I got the results – a report with images – almost right away, via email AND WhatsApp. The doctor chatted briefly with me, with a little more translation. He gave me a “thumbs up” – pun intended 😅 – and discharged me. Afterwards, “Nita” escorted me back to my apartment in a taxi, made sure I had all the medication and comforts I needed to recover, I paid her, and she was on her way home while I went to sleep 🤟🏾

Costs and Overall Impression

The Initial Consultation fee was 250,000 pesos (about $66 at the time), and the procedure itself was 952,000 pesos ($253). Literally a fraction of what I would have paid in the USA. In fact, before my trip to Colombia, I couldn’t even find any medical center in Pennsylvania who could fuckin’ tell me a cash price and stick to it 😒

A week later, doctor Lora emailed me to check up. Months later when I was back in the dUSA, I emailed the doctor a small question about the fees, and he responded within a few hours. You simply do NOT get that type of personal response in the dUSA.

Also – about my helpful assistant “Nita” –  if you’re lucky enough to discover a caring, honest, reliable, bilingual friend in Colombia, hang onto them for dear life. DEAR LIFE, I tell you 🥰

Dental Bridge

A local dentist in Drexel Hill, where I lived, gave me an unstable metal bridge, which ended up cracking within 3 months. This was after spending over $1,500, not including the fees he charged for each and every visit. I was done throwing my hard-earned money away in the dUSA, so I just managed my misaligned, wobbly dental bridge until I got to Colombia.

My first AirBnB host Beatriz has a sister named Sol, living on the same property, on the upper floor from my unit. Sol+Beatriz and I, were already becoming friends, mainly due to random Language Learning hangouts in their backyard. Sol also just happened to be an orthodontist at Tu Dent dental clinic! After having spent a month with them and seeing how sweet and honest they were (at least to me), I decided to engage the services of her dental office. I am glad I did.

At my initial visit, we used Google Translate, because I had a lot of questions about what was going on. After she pulled out the completely broken bridge, we agreed that I needed a new bridge. Using Basic Spanish and Basic English, we discussed what was going on. She gave me the prices, we agreed on the tentative steps, she took my dental impressions. We set an appointment for the next visit.

Oh the next visit, someone else worked on me. Turns out that the 2 teeth adjacent to my empty space, cannot support a bridge normally, so they had to do some drilling and scaffolding to install “posts” to better support the future Zirconium bridge. This is something that my dentists here in the USA didn’t, and could not do, even with all the money I paid them. Anyway… there was no charge for the visit.
I had to visit again, for some other “maintenance”.. The temporary bridge had started to become loose, so Sol re-cemented it. She also examined; the posts to make sure they were still good. Again, no charge for the visit.

On the day of the permanent bridge delivery, I was running a bit frazzled due to preparing for my trip to Cartagena that same afternoon. Also, the permanent bridge was late as well. However I hung out with Sol and her staff, and practiced my A1/A2 spoken Spanish, much to their mild amusement and Sol’s encouragement. Eventually the permanent bridge arrived and Sol installed it, with the same patience and good bedside manner as she’d shown in the past..

I didn’t have enough funds at that moment to pay for the final delivery – I needed a few more days to get enough of the necessary funds from the USA. I paid for the final delivery via Bancolombia bank transfer, albeit a few days later. She didn’t have to chase me down or worry, after all, she knew where I lived 😂

Costs and Overall Impression

The Initial Consultation fee was 50,000 pesos (about $13 at the time), the temporary bridge was 120,000 pesos ($32), installing the support posts AND having one inspection were at no additional charge, and the final delivery of the Highest-End Permanent Zirconium bridge was 3,600,000 pesos ($960). Combined, everything was less than a THIRD of what I would have paid in ol’ Money Bags dUSA.

As of this posting, the bridge itself has survived semi-tough goat meat, crunchy plantain chips, nuts, and other foods I had temporarily stopped eating since early 2022. Let me put it this way: I intend to happily go back to Sol the Orthodontist in Barranquilla, to get more work done, on the other side of my mouth.

If you ever go to Tu Dent Dental Clinic, tell them Chinedu sent you!