First Hand Experience of A Spanish Hospital

Elaine has been in a lot of discomfort lately with ascites, it causes her abdomen to swell and is very uncomfortable and painful for her.

Yesterday we went to the oncologist in Almeria and he in turn sent us to the Mediterraneo hospital in Almeria, they carried out various blood tests and xrays and told us to return today so they could drain away the fluid. She had it done back in Macclesfield hospital mid January and they drained off nearly 7 litres of fluid!

We had to go to a private hospital as Elaine has got terminal cancer she cannot get health insurance.

We were met by a translator at the reception area and she helps you through all the different stages of the treatment, she was a lovely girl and went well above and beyond her duty of care. 

It was a very long day, we were at the hospital for nearly ten hours, this time they drained off 4.25 litres, but the relief was almost instant. The Oncologist has got her on oral chemo therapy so hopefully it will slow down the return of the ascites. 

It was a very different experience from being treated by the NHS, the actual treatment side is first class, but the waiting around and filling out forms etc takes forever. Out of the ten hours at the hospital, the actual drainage took about 1.25 hours, the post op observation in a ward was about 2 hours, and the rest was waiting, waiting and waiting.

The cost was quite high but nowhere near as much as I thought it would be.

All in all we have no real complaints but in my opinion nothing beats the good old NHS.