So earlier I'd referred to a little surgery I needed. It was minor, nothing important, but the chain of events and the costs are what I want to cover here.
I had something on my skin so I went to the dermatologist. It was near my eye so he sent me to the optometrist - who sent me back to the dermatologist since it was on my skin. The derma guy said don't worry and sent me home. That was a few months ago.
Things changed so I went back. Again he wanted to send me to the optometrist but we'd been down that road and I said no. The dermatologist said it had changed too much and he couldn't manage it himself so had to refer me elsewhere, I said fine. He said it would have to be a cosmetic surgeon and I said "Great! Let's get this done." Then he paused for a bit before writing out instructions. He sent me down the hall and told me to look for the sign that said "Stomatochirgurie". It's a weird looking word. It means, as I understood it, dental surgery. I asked him to explain why he was sending me there and he said - don't worry about the name, it's just a name, a funny name, but they can help you. He never translated it for me but I was aware. I thought maybe they shared surgery space with the cosmetic people or something. I was wrong.
I walked down to the window in the wall and gave them my papers. The nurses had me wait, then pulled me in to see the doctor who poked me in the eye twice, said "no problem!" before the nurses pulled me back out the doorway (and I do quite literally mean pulled). They set up an appointment. The Dr's card indicated he was an oral, jaw and face surgeon. I figured it out - the surgery was on my face. Forget that it was my skin, it was on my face.... the dermatologist's logic was impeccable.
I went back 2 weeks later for the surgery (as already detailed).
When I returned to Homolka for the surgery I checked in at the main area and paid my 30kc. The receptionist sent me on a wild goose chase - I ended up in areas I shouldn't have been and was thoroughly lost so I returned to the stomatochirgurie hoping they'd be able to tell me where to go... turns out that's where I needed to be. They had their own separate reception - the downstairs people sent me in circles as they didn't know where I was supposed to go - so I had to pay another 30kc. I did, quite happily, and then waited.
When it was done, they told me to come back the following day, a Wednesday and that I would need to return again on Friday. I arrived quite early on Wednesday, eager to make sure that I hadn't accidentally ripped out the stitches in my sleep - as it sure felt like I had. When I went to check in they told me to sit down without having taken my payment. I did. I waited, they saw me, I left. No fee for the follow up.
I went back on Friday as instructed, to get the bandage changed, and again make sure I hadn't ripped out the stitches.... again, no fee, no registration, it was part of the initial service.
I had to go back again on Tuesday to get the stitches out. And again, no fee.
All and all I paid twice as much as I should have for a minor surgery and 3 follow-up visits. I could have gotten a refund on my initial payment but I forgot to take my receipt down after the surgery. I would have gladly paid a hundred times what I did for the care I received. Considering that each 30kc payment was just about $1.60 it wasn't a substantial amount. The quality of the care I received was excellent. Definitely not the structure I'm used to, but excellent care. Even if I had a dental surgeon performing cosmetic surgery. I never fully understood why I was in that department. I wondered for a little bit, then I just stopped caring - I knew I could get it fixed if it were bad but had faith that they weren't out to destroy my face and would try to take some care. And they did. The scarring is truly minimal. It's barely noticeable when I look in the mirror and once it heals a bit more the pinkness will go away and I won't even be able to see it.
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