I shall be turning 60 very shortly, and having managed to avoid most of the iniquities of American health costs, we are now relieved to be a part of the excellent French medical system. If I am to pass my MOT and be rated as road-worthy, a bit of a tune-up was called for.
One problem for me was that I had started on a dental programme in America but this went by the board when we packed up and left, and there was some work which simply had to be completed. With no difficulty, I was signed up with our local Dental Surgeon who is just a quick walk up the road and I am once again able to chew my croissants and smile without scaring small children.
The next stop was the Doctor (just up the road as well) who ordered a set of blood tests and signed me up for a course of fifteen physiotherapy sessions with the local physios who are also just a walk up the road. These sessions are proving to be not only helpful for my rather problematic shoulders, but they also good for my French. I now know the names for all sorts of bits of my body, but these are rather tricky to weave into normal conversation, especially if you are choosing bread in the boulangerie!
The biggest undertaking was to have an ugly lump of fat removed from my shoulder and this needed to be done under hospital conditions. Having been put on an operating table in America for an angiogram and allowed to shiver and shudder, it was lovely to be tucked up under a blanket and then to have warm air piped in to keep me cosy. I couldn't follow the conversation between the doctor and the three or four nurses who attended him, but in thirty minutes I was done and dusted. I now have visits from the district nurse who calls in every two days to replace the dressings, and I can say that I am enormously impressed and grateful for a highly efficient health service.
My only slight gripe was that the results of the blood test showed a rather high cholesterol count so the cheese and butter had to go out of the window for a while, but like a good French doctor, she cheerfully informed me that there was no need to give up my two glasses of wine each day, and in fact went so far as to suggest that they were very good for me. She also said that if I got my cholesterol figure down a bit, she would give me the name of an excellent local cheesemaker!
