Tag: Universal health care

Culture Shock

by midgeguerrera, posted in Any Day in Pontelandolfo

Oh no, has it really been more than a month since I shared my adventures with you? Were you thinking “she must be off doing something magical.” “Maybe she is checking out the new murals in Pompeii.”

Sigh, I am staring blankly out the window clutching my wallet to my chest. We flew back to New Jersey at the end of January and ran smack into the big bad brick wall of culture shock.

cul·ture shock (Definition from Oxford Languages)

  1. the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.

WHAT! WHAT! NOOOOO!

How much???? NO! NOT THAT MUCH! HEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLP!

HOW LONG? Where am I?????

“Jack,” I queried, “Did I become mean looking or just old and nasty? Unless I say good morning first, everyone passing us is ignoring us.” The ever logical Jack replied, ” No one in Ewing knows your name. Most people are just getting on with their lives. Not everything is about you. We aren’t in Pontelandolfo anymore.”

I really miss the cultural and personal connection that comes from a bunch of people knowing my name and hearing “ciao Midge.” Even if everyone in the pharmacy is a stranger they’ll say Buon giorno to each other. Simple welcoming phrases can put on smile on a lonely person’s face and pull me out of my doldrums.

We love to eat out and don’t need an occasion. Just the joy of – what BS – OK, at this point in my life I’d rather be creating and writing than cooking. So we do eat out a lot. Lunch every day In Pontelandolfo, home cooked with love at Bar Elimar or Ponte Simone cost me about $20 for the two of us. Often less. Out to lunch in NJ my hand trembled when I signed the credit card for a cheap two roll lunch with miso soup at a substandard sushi restaurant that cost $50 for two people. Don’t get me started about the cost of bad coffee in a cookie cutter coffee place.

I miss starting my day with a trip to Cafè Style, chatting with the owner and having him make a perfect super hot, low on foam cappuccino.

“Un euro per favore.” Yup, one euro for a perfect coffee. Since the euro and dollar are almost par you can see why I shudder at the $3.50 to $5.00 almost OK tasting cappuccinos to be found near our condo. Stop, asking If I want whipped cream! Ugggg.

And what is this “there is a 3.5% surcharge if you use a credit card?” Talk about declassè. Dear restaurant and store owner, It is the cost of doing business, raise your prices to cover the cost. Or, as the evil kid in my brain thought, are they just doing the surcharge thing to grow their profit margin and the prices already cover the surcharge. Seriously, is this just a New Jersey thing or is it happening everywhere?

I will admit if the amount I’m spending in Pontelandolfo is less than 40 or 50 euro, I pay in cash. They don’t do the up-charge but I am guessing that a fee must be there.

Don’t get me started on medical issues. Knowing the early bird gets the appointment, I started calling the doctors we wanted to see in early December. My thought was we would be able to see the doctors we have loved for years the first week we were back. Not! Calling in early December meant seeing specialists at the end of February. And all of these frustrating gate-keepers! I had a million questions about Jack’s new Italian pacemaker that obviously wouldn’t get answered until we were in the office. Using WhatsApp, I am able to communicate directly with our Italian specialists. Doctors who actually respond themselves within a day. Sigh… We are only here for a few months so I will suck it up.

“Your co-pay maam for the anticoagulant that your exceptional cardiologists in two countries feel is important to keep you from stroking out is only $500 a month.” You laugh! That is true. Being an inquisitive patient advocate, before we left Italy, I had called my New Jersey pharmacy and my medicare part D insurance provider asking what the anticoagulant pills would cost me a month. After laughing out loud and then cursing out loud, I went to my Italian pharmacy and bought retail the three months worth of pills I needed for my stay in NJ for – drum roll please – 96 euros a month or about 100 dollars a month. Other brands that our USA chums were prescribed would still cost me over $200 a month. In Italy, my universal healthcare system knows not taking the drug could kill me, therefore, like Jack’s diabetes medicine, it has no co-pay.

YES I WILL STOP WHINING! There I feel so much better just getting that last whine out of my system. You all, my delightful readers, are like extended family. And as you know, only our family ever sees us whine. (Ha ha ha.) Thank you. Grazie.

All that bitching out of my system, it is important that you know that we reallydo like being back in New Jersey. I get to see people I adore, eat food from lots of different cultures, ramble through our lovely condo building for instantaneous cocktail hours and easily enjoy lots of urban culture.

Speaking of culture – who is ready to visit Pontelandolfo in 2025?

Click here to find about both our Cooking and WRiting Programs.

Thanks for listening. I promise no more whining. Talk again soon.

Ci Vediamo

Midge

Mi Voglio Bene – I Love Myself

by midgeguerrera, posted in Any Day in Pontelandolfo, Practical Matters - Living Abroad

Sitting in the piazza on November 1st, my heart was full and tears slowly slid down my face. Across from my table, parked in Piazza Roma was a portable – fully operational – medical unit. They were here not because there was an earthquake or flood or any other tragedy. They were here to prevent the tragedy of families loosing wives, mothers, sisters and daughters to cancer. Cancers that can be cured or held in remission with adequate warning. This was a portable screening center for female centered cancers. Pap tests, mammograms and colon screening tests were available. The set up was in the piazza all day, from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM. The posters and social media posts all touted “ Campagna di Prevenzione Oncologica Gratuita.” This was a free health project of the Region of Campania. The medical unit was stopping in small towns all over the region. It was so simple for people to access this service. Women only had to call Pontelandolfo’s city hall to make an appointment for Pap tests or mammograms. The colon test kit was available by simply walking up and asking for it.

The sun was shining on the outdoor waiting area. From my seat, sipping my cappuccino I could hear “numero 25 mammografia.”The medical team welcomed people as they ventured near the area. I noticed that men have also gone in to pick up the colon cancer test.

 

The set up was slick. The front had video projections “Mi Voglio Bene” talking about each of the available tests. This campaign urging women to love themselves and get screening is fabulous. Imagine, something like this pulling into small towns all over America! Actually, I would love to imagine it but sadly I don’t know if it would ever happen. I mean, politicians don’t seem to give a tinker about women’s health issues and too many voters don’t understand the validity of universal healthcare.

Ima

I first found out about the testing center on FaceBook – which is the major news vehicle here. Later, the posters in stores, on walls and in the newspapers reminded me to find out what I was eligible for. At first, the snarky Midge giggled at the thought of joining a line of woman, without underpants, waiting for their internal exams and pap smears. Crude of me, I know. Then I started to think about my mom dying of breast cancer because the diagnosis was too late and I stopped giggling. I started appreciating what was happening not only in Pontelandolfo but all over Campania.

The – has to be invented by a mean man- mammogram machine has its own room.

 

When I first got to the piazza at 9:00 AM, there weren’t any people waiting for services. I was one of the first women up the steps. Everyone was warm and friendly. I stoped at the reception desk and jokingly said I knew I was too old for everything but a colon test. Why did they limit mammography to women between the ages of 50 to 69, I asked. Younger women get ultrasounds. Both tests are given if something is found on one. I always wondered why we don’t use ultrasounds more in the USA. Believing on earring on the side of caution, I have been know to tell a tale to get an ultrasound. My breasts are dense and since my mom died of breast cancer, I often come up with some strange complaint to get one.

Then, I asked about the other age restrictions. Just like the USA’s medicare and other insurances, the national health care system restricts tests based on some data or another. For a Pap test the age range is 25 to 64. Every year a I beg for a pap-test. Medicare doesn’t cover them for old ladies either. Don’t old women get utero cancer??? A mammography is available for women between the ages of 50 and 69. I was obviously too old for that too. Though, when I talked about my mother dying of breast cancer, I discovered that they of course make exceptions. The Colon Cancer Screening kit was for folks between 50 and 74. It was the only test I hadn’t aged out of. The receptionist, who was charming and answered all my questions, asked for my health card and phone number. She then, just like at the deli, she gave me a number. I’ve noticed that in Italy, numbers are given out in medical waiting rooms. As part of their privacy laws, the nurses can’t bellow “Guerrera.”

Is it my imagination or is the signage upside down?

My test — – Since I was the only one there, I didn’t really need the number. I was immediately ushered into a private room and asked for my particulars – name, address, phone number, my health insurance card had pulled up my residency and date of birth information. A second nurse came into the room and explained the test. Simple – take sample from – no I will not describe how to take a stool sample. The important thing was after the sample is in the glass holder, I had to take it to the analysis center in Morcone. I wondered why people couldn’t just run home, do what they had to do and bring the sample back to the portable center. Morcone is only five minutes away so it will be no big deal. If I don’t hear anything in ten days, the test was negative. I wish they would tell you either way. I think I’ll ask. 

Sadly, for the three hours I sat at Bar Elimar I didn’t see hordes of women going to the center. November 1st, Festa di Tutti i Santi – All Saints Day, and a national holiday so it should have been easy for people to come. They are constantly coming but there is not a surge or a long line. Gulp, I just remembered women made appointments! Perhaps they are staggered appropriately.

 For fun, when I got home I googled the ranking of the United States on health care issues. Every list I found from the World Health Organization to independent foundations ranked the USA – well not well. Never in the top 20. Just another reason to rethink the system of providing health care for not only women but all Americans.

Ci Vediamo!

Midge

 

My play, “E-mail: 9/12” is available at Next Stage Press

The 9/11 based play is perfect for a Book Club and a History Class.

In March “Cars, Castles, Cows and Chaos” will be available from Read Furiously.

Thank you in advance for buying my play
and in March my book of short Italian stories.