Posted for Lynn Bernfield
Posted Thursday, January 14, 2010 11:37 PM

Anyone is welcome to post anything they wish on this BOARD.  I was sent this BLOG by Lynn Bernfield and she writes about her life in Costa Rica!  You may add your experiences if any of what Lynn is writing about hits a nerve and you wish to add to the BLOG!

 

This is my blog. Until now I have had no interest in writing a blog and am not sure why the idea of writing it on the Jamaica web site appealed to me but it did, so here it is. I have no plans for topic, or even a schedule I just plan to write what occurs to me when it occurs. I would be glad to get responses, if any one reads this and wishes to respond.
 
I’m in San Jose Costa Rica where Medical Tourism rivals every other kind. About a year and a half ago, my friend Diane told me that she was going to CR to have a tooth implant. When she told me what she was paying for it – I was shocked, I’ve had 2 implants in Florida (where I live) and they were 4 or 5 times more than that. Diane and her husband came home with glowing stories of the expertise, the care and the price. Then my friends the Simons, who don’t know Diane and her husband, went off to CR – same story, Then my friend Henry, then Betty’s husband. All told the same story and no two had the same dentist. Dentists in CR apparently are like Love-bugs in FL – they are all over.
 
          So when I needed an implant I decided to try it. Ironically my friend Jay who is himself a dentist had been told by his close friend the same story of a lot of complicated dental work, done expertly, for a fraction of the price he would have paid in North Carolina – where he lives – and he got a vacation in the bargain.. Coincidentally Jay’s girlfriend Jackie also need a great deal of dental work and we decided to go together.
 
So here I am at the Hotel Sabana, where every other guest is here for dental or cosmetic surgery. It’s actually very funny. My own experience – I only needed one implant – has so far been great – no pain. But others, especially those getting some kind of cosmetic surgery have been in a lot of pain. Those of us who are here for some kind of medical procedure seem to bond and turn into little families whose members change as some leave and others arrive. We meet for breakfast – part of the package, share information on tourist attractions, “don’t take the butterfly trip…” and restaurants, join each other for dinner and commiserate on the length of the wait at the dentist office and weather the cosmetic surgeon did what was wanted.. Someone suggested it was a little like summer camp where you bond and then never see each other again. I never went to summer camp so I can’t comment.
 
I’m supposed to get the crown for my implant today and leave tomorrow bright and early. Hopefully, all will be well. I had hoped for more of a vacation, swim etc. but the weather here is chilly and I’m going back to FL where it’s literally freezing, so resting in the sun will have to wait, but the good thing about living in FL is that no matter what I know I don’t have to wait too long.
 
There’s lots of work waiting for me when I get home. I host a pre-recorded internet radio show once a week and due to the death of my hard drive I’m behind.
 
Perhaps I will write again when I get home. Writing like this just what occurs to me and knowing I’m going to send it out into no where is actually fun.