This offering comes on Christmas day and as it has a happy ending, so it seemed a good "Christmas" story.

First of all it's really about my neighbor and friend who rents my casita and spends the winters here in Mexico, her home is in Ontario, Canada, so when the snows of Fall fly, so does she. This year she arrived in mid October and settled in for her winter stay. She had been having some stomach distress before leaving Canada and her Dr. told her to stay away from citrus for a time which she did, but the distress continued.

One Sunday, November 16th I believe, I saw her around noon and she was in pain and was going back to bed. I told her to call me if she needed anything and I headed back to the house to watch the NASCAR race on TV. The race was over around 6pm and the phone rang and it was my neighbor saying she was having a gall bladder attack and was being taken to a hospital in Guadalajara. Needless to say I was more than startled and didn't even have the presence of mind to ask which one (although at that time she didn't know).

So, here it was, a potential situation, a serious medical problem in Mexico. First of all, being the independent person she is, she hadn't bothered to call me, she just got in her car and headed for a local clinic and when she couldn't find it she went to another friends house and was driven to the clinic, leaving her car there. Next when I asked if I could take her to the hospital she said no, an ambulance would take her. Now, an ambulance ride anywhere isn't something you do for fun and ambulances in Mexico range from completely equipped state-of-the-art to more or less pickups with camper shells and a "nurse" to hold your hand - and naturally you can guess which one she drew.

At this point I was helpless not knowing what was going on which might have been a good thing because the Xray device at the clinic wasn't working, so they put her in the ambulancia and took her to the Red Cross facility in Chapala. Apparently on a parallel time path was a Federally shootout with some bad guys who were also there and it was a pretty bloody scene. The Xray took some time and eventually she was returned to the clinic and then transported to a facility in Guadalajara for a CAT scan. All this took some 3 hours which seemed more like 3 days because she was in intense pain and they wouldn't give her anything to relieve it.

The ride to Guad in the ambulancia was "no joy" and the "nurse" who accompanied her proceeded to tell her own story of having a gall bladder operation and jerked up her shirt to proudly display her scar, a real comfort to my neighbor in this time of pain.

At this point providence took a right turn for a change and the Dr. at the CAT scan facility turned out to be a young man who speaks very good English and recommended she be taken to Angeles del Carmen hospital which is top of the line. Her pain was being caused by a gall stone lodged in the duct and would require a procedure and he felt this would be the best facility.

By Monday morning I was concerned not knowing any more than the call from the night before. When my neighbor called I was relieved to hear she was in good hands. She needed some things which I collected and prepared to take to her. She also asked for me to contact her daughter in Toronto, my only question was "when I tell her will she freak out?" - the answer was "no, she'll be ok" - and she was calm about the situation.

Now, as I've been telling over this past year, a trip to Guad is always a thrill and while I'm proficient at finding Home Depot, WalMart etc. I had no earthly idea where this hospital was so I began the search and eventually discovered it was on the NW side of Guad behind Plaza Mexico, another place I'd never been? - but hey, no pain, no gain, so I launched the Jeep and headed off. Having driven in Guad for a year now I'm used to some of the unusual on/off ramps, flyovers, returno's etc. to get where you're going. This turned out to be a snooze and I hit it dead on the first try, over the top, through a tunnel and there was Plaza Mexico and a left turn took me to a parking spot within a block.

For those who may have concerns about healthcare facilities in Mexico, I can tell you hospitals run the gambit from very minimal to this one which rivals anything I've seen NOB, it's very very nice. I found my friend propped up in her private room smiling as usual and she began to tell the story of the day and night before. My neighbor has a wonderful sense of humor and was telling in flourishing details about meeting the doctors and her anesthesiologist, apparently a gentleman rather short in stature with a large mustache looking much like Pancho Villa without the bandoleers or pistols who, when asked his name, replied with a flourish and trill in his voice, "I am Ramon" (the Spanish have a way of trilling some words that isn't a natural thing to us gringos, you sort of let your tongue flap between the roof of your mouth and the bottom teeth resulting in a "thrrrraaaamon"). We had a great laugh at that one.

While we were talking, an attractive young lady came in with a clipboard and announced she was "Carolina from Public Relations and wanted to know if everything was ok". It turns out everyone in the hospital wears a uniform of some sort to distinguish their duties, and her duty was to check in daily to make sure everything was ok. Of course there were any number of other functions, cleaning, nursing etc., all uniformed and very kind and professional.

They were to do an endoscope procedure through the mouth to force the lodged stone on through the duct. The next day I got a call and my neighbor was all excited, the procedure was successful and they even presented her with pictures of what it looks like inside you? - she was laughing like a fool saying she couldn't wait to get home at Christmas and "get the popcorn, Grandma has some pics to show" - of course we got a get laugh at that one. The stone turned out to be an inch long and a half inch in diameter.

By this time it was Tuesday and they found more stones and an enlarged bladder which was also causing the pancreas distress, so apparently some of this had been coming on for some time and wasn't diagnosed by the Canadian doctor. The Mexican doctor, Dr. Carlos insisted the gall bladder had to be removed because it was too dangerous to release her in that condition. At this point insurance came into the picture because she was in a pretty pricey place and they didn't want to pay for the operation. Discussions began and over the next few days it became apparent they wanted to fly her back to Canada and basically dump her on the Ontario Healthcare System OHIP. Basically at that point she was trapped between a Mexican Dr. who wouldn't release her and a Canadian insurance company who didn't want to cover the operation.

She wasn't at all excited about that prospect as the Canadian system compared to where she was approaches barbaric, she joked about laying on a gurney in a hallway moaning. She said the last thing you want to do is push the call button for a nurse because when Nurse Rachett shows up, she'll slap your hand and tell you NOT TO DO THAT AGAIN ! - ring the call button that is.

I made several more trips into Guad and kept her daughter and other friends informed through telephones, email etc. through about Thursday when by chance she met a Canadian doctor who is apparently working in the hospital and said OHIP would pay for the operation here if it were "urgent" but it takes a lot of paperwork. Friday we started working toward that end when a small miracle happened, the insurance company called and said they would cover the operation, so finally after nearly a week they relented.

The operation was scheduled for Monday before Thanksgiving. Now, I had mine out 4 years ago and it was a snooze, I went in at 5am and came home at noon and went across the street and fixed my neighbors toilet, so nothing like the old days I kept telling her.

I waited for a call that Monday which never came, finally later in the afternoon I called twice and finally she answered and sounded absolutely horrible. About the same time I got a message from her daughter saying "tell me that Mom isn't as bad as she sounds". By this time it was evening and dark and I jumped in the Jeep and drove like Barney Oldfield to Guad. As a general rule I don't venture out at night, and never to Guad, the roads at night often have animals etc. and who needs the grief, but that night I made an exception.

My neighbor had told me on the phone not to come, but I never listen to anything she says anyway and the first thing she said was "I told you not to come" - well, so what?

I went out into the hall to the nurses station and asked them to contact Public Relations at X2612 and within minutes a cute young girl arrived, this was Georgiana and she was the evening girl, no, not a girl of the evening, just a - - - oh, never mind, she was the one to find Dr. Carlos for me to talk with. After a bit Dr. Carlos showed up and assured me all was well and I gave him the daughters number in Toronto who he immediately called and reassured her, so all was well. Her operation was a bit more difficult as the pancreas was still in some distress unlike my experience.

I headed home and actually Guad at night looks better, you don't see the overall conditions and pollution. It was about the time I was headed for the Periferico that the "low gas" alarm bonged and I reached for my money clip only to suddenly realize that in my haste I hadn't picked it up which meant no pesos and no drivers license - oh the thrill of living on the edge. I always have change in the center console for tips etc. and so I pulled into a Pemex and scrounged out $50p and handed it to the attendant (yes, they pump the gas for you here) who looked puzzled, I shrugged and said "it's all I have?" The rest of the trip home was uneventful, but I can now say I've driven in Guad at night.

I went back in Tuesday and she was feeling better and the Dr. thought she would go home maybe Weds, probably Thursday Thanksgiving day.

I had taken her laptop in that day and as I was connecting to the network it died, "muerto". Turns out it's one of a series which is being repaired, as we speak, in Canada, but that's a whole other story. Somewhere in the process I met a third little cutey named Carla from Public Relations and she was most helpful as were the others.

Thursday came and our Thanksgiving consisted of my neighbor being released and I arrived to collect her. Of course she was in great spirits and after a minor glitch or two in getting the final release papers we were assisted by Carla and my neighbor had to say goodbye and thank all the staff. They said she had to pay about $100 pesos ($10) for the telephone to which she said "no problem, I'll pay that if the insurance pays the rest". As we were driving home I asked if she wanted to ride in the back laying down like she arrived so she would recognize things, she declined. As we were zipping toward home through the twists and turns and tunnels she asked how I managed to find the place, I just laughed and told her it was "my job".

A week later she had to return for a followup and before we had to go buy boxes of candy for the nurses, cleaning ladies and the Public Relations cuties. I laughed, she said they were all so nice, but I said they were just doing their jobs, they're paid to be nice - she wasn't impressed with my logic.

All's well and she has made a complete recovery and is now in Canada for Christmas - freezing to death - ha, while Max and I enjoy the sun. In fact, I think today I may head for a town in the mountains to the S of the lake named Mazamitla, never been there and they say it's a pretty place to see and what better thing to do on a Christmas day 2008.