Camping at Marjal Costa Blanca . Get us out of here.

OMG the least of Davids problems is his teeth. His wife has become the bitch from hell. I've had enough if the sympathy rubbish now and I think even he agrees its well past our time to leave. I've also come to the conclusion that private Health care here is not always the best and its very much " hit and miss".
Dave had an abscess on his mouth on Saturday. I took him to a supposed " international' private hospital where the nurse didn't speak a word of english! Only Spanish...I know I'm in Spain but this advertises as International and english speaking. We were with the nurse for less than five minutes and she gave us a prescription. Bill 95 euros. A little on the steep side and we were told we had to ring and make an appointment Monday morning to get the tooth extracted. Easy enough one would think and in fairness the pain killers and anti biotics began to work.
Monday morning I called IMED dentistry." No one speaks english". OK so this isn't going to work. I can just about get by in Spanish but talking about health issues is a different matter on the end of a telephone..Me care! Yes they advertise as english speaking and my own experience with them was good. Yes they would see him yesterday...too good to be true and it was! 'We can't take the tooth out,even though its loose until you stop taking your heart tablets for at least 5 days!" What? Risk having a stroke so that he can have a tooth out?! Has this dentist gone mad?! Now I'm no medic but there's a reason that the Doctor put him on this medication more than five years ago and to suddenly stop taking them?? Its going from bad to worse...I will just get the bloody pliers out myself!
I know I will try IMED again " do you speak english please" reply 'no' ...'can you put me through to someone that does speak english please?" ...'no!" and slams the phone down! What? How much have I spent here and I am going to spend here?! Fuming wasn't the word. I e mailed IMED to complain. I left messages everywhere. Now what?... Retail therapy to improve my foul humour! I went with Lynn shopping and we found the best sticky bun shop called ' Tummies' in LA Marina. A lovely little tea room with home made bread and cakes. I'm sure that they were all calorie free ( not!) Yummy. Not cheap but not OTT Highly recommended!
OK I came back here..battle on. I had heard of a very good Spanish dentist that spoke good english in Catral...off we went. What a difference. Instantly they checked all Dave's medication " no problems. Don't stop taking the heart tablets. We can extract the tooth on Wednesday!" When you sit down and Annalise everything its about private healthcare making more appointments than necessary to charge you or the insurance company more money..95 euros to see the nurse?! The proof of the pudding will be in the eating..
We had nicely got back in the car when my phone rang. An english speaking dentist from IMED! 'Yes the heart tablets are not a problem. We can take the tooth out on Thursday!" Too bloody late and you be had your chances! They had a licence to print money and they blew it! They can speak very good english when it comes to asking for money but not when I need help! We shall see but after having a good experience of IMED I have had one so/so and this horrendous experience.
OK so we are resigned to the fact that we are stuck here until Dave's better but it does feel like a prison now. All the things Marjal promised that they wouldn't do they are found. I'm absolutely cheesed off being woken at 7 am every morning by some motorhomer who just wanted to stay one or two nights. Heaven knows they have enough empty pitches now. Why put them in the middle of people who are staying long term?! It is also very much a security issue. Suddenly we are all having to lock everything away. At the weekends its soooo noise and at times was a bit much to drive down the road......5 Spanish units on this road alone. I don't mind the Spanish but their culture is so very different. I have come to the conclusion that Spanish children must be born deaf because even when a 'mother' is talking to a child-they are shouting! I know I'm loud but at least I come with a volume control! I definitely think its time to move on..we are being driven away! Hopefully Dave will get his tooth out tomorrow or its my right fist! One way or the other we are going! Its also really hot here. 28 yesterday and probably the same if not hotter today and no outdoor pool open! WWW. Bored.com! I even cleaned the car and caravan! This is getting serious. Countdown now to the great escape! Have a good day!

Spring camping at Marjal-what a find!

OK so we have tried the Healthcare system out here privately and using out ethic card. Both are considerably better than the NHS and BUPA. I hadn't seen a dentist for more years than I care to admit so I looked on the internet and found a British Dentist at Benijofar. My teeth were giving the fact sway that I like red wine too much, tea, coffee and everything else that stains your teeth. When I rang up they said "there's a free check up" The cynic in me thought " yep I'm only going to get them cleaned and polished but its a scam. They will find everything wrong ( and there's bound to be loads that needs doing) Oh how the cynic in me was proved wrong! I expected to have my teeth cleaned by a hygienist...oh no the dentist does everything! He was fantastic-thats all I can say. He was a guy who had probably retired from full time dentistry and works part time at Benijofar at Medicare. I have not had such a thorough check up in my life or a clean. He found nothing wrong! He was so caring. He explained absolutely everything and what he was doing and why. I even had an x ray. As I was in the chair I thought 'this is at least 200 euros'. Hey ho. Again the cynic was proved wrong. One and a half hours later ..70 euros please! What?! Are you sure?! From now on its Tim at Medicare for me all the way!
I'm not on commission but I can't praise him enough. I would have no hesitation in recommending him to anyone god forbid you are in pain and need a dentist!
I came back feeling all clean and my hollow promises to the dentist didn't last five minutes. Roger is leaving on Thursday and it would have been rude not to have had a farewell drink with him..oh no...red wine?! ( maybe he has shares in Medicare!) I don't even remember cleaning the bloody things before I got into bed! Oh heck it was windy in the night..( no not that sort of wind!) The eyesore of a fence opposite me has all come down. Its hard to imagine but its even more of an eyesore than it was before and its flapping about all over hitting the very unattractive caravan.
Well I am getting through my sewing jobs ready for our " great escape' It will be a gentle meander up Spain to start the Tour. Hard work and hard fun. Best get my skates on and get myself a haircut and rebuild for the start. I wonder how quickly Medicare could do a total body overhaul and facelift?!