OS again

[artme]

Probably should have put this in the Travel Forum, but decided agin that.

We are in Santiago, Chile, at the moment as Ana and I are on the way to Brasil again - her mother is gravely ill and in intensive care in hospital.

We have been island hopping to get here due to Ana;s clotting problem.

When I get the photos downloaded from the camera I wil post some pics from the Kauri Museum in NZ, the views in Tahiti, and the beautiful Pacific around Easter Island.

[wheelinround]

Sorry to hear f Ana's mum Arthur.

Guess the lathe buy is now on hold.

[Christos]

My thoughts go towards Ana mum.

[artme]

Thanks fellas.

Yedda is 86 and has had agood life. Just dropped her bundle a bit after Guilherme (husband) died. Shame really, she had a lot to live for and was a very talented lady.

[wolften]

Prayers and thoughts are with your family.

[artme]

Well, finally in Brasil after what was- for us - an eventful trip.
Haven´been able to download photos yet as we are still on the move and packing and unpacking every couple of days or so.

We went to see Yedda yesterday and things don´t look good, but at least she is in a stable condition. Today Yedda is to be moved back home where her health insurance fund will provide 24hr. homecare and monitoring. This is a less expensive option for the fund but certainly better for the family.

Just wonder how long it will be before we see this approach from Australian funds.

The health "system" here is a tangled mess from what I can see.

For instance there is a hughe number of hospitals in Campos for a popuation of about 700 000 people. Each hospital tends to specialize and each has its own ambulance fleet; each health fund has its own fleet also.

Because of the specialization aspect a hospital will not be able to carry out some procedures, so patients are bundled into ambulances and sent all over the city alçng its rotten bumpy roads.This happened with Yedda.

To make matters even more ridiculous the health fund didn´t have an ambulance of its own in Campos. Now, rather than hire another ambulance from the many in the city, a vehicle was sent 290kms north from Rio to do the job!!!


There is no thought given to an organization like Qld. X-ray, for example, setting up a unit in a hospital and working from there.


Seems like we live in paradise!!