One of my nannies is sick. Her glands, she tells me, are as big as the pots on her stove. After three days of the feeling horrible, the other nannies told her it was time to go and get an injection. A large part of the social system health care system is rooted in those injections. Everyone gets an injection. Swollen glands? Get a shot. Bad knee? Another shot. Headache? Stomach ache? Go to a clinic; wait in line; and have a needle stuck in the backside. You’re done. The funny thing is, in a few hours or maybe a day, people feel better. What are in those shots? I have no idea. And every time I ask the afflicted individual, they don’t know either.

The nanny finally hauled herself up a steep 1/2 mile hill and trudged to the clinic to get her injection. I talked to her last night over the phone, and she still sounded like she had little bags of sour cream lodged in her throat. This nanny hates to take pills. But there she is, loaded with pastillas and more injections. We’re hoping she’ll be back tomorrow.

I myself have become incredibly proficient with a needle. When my now-deceased mother-in-law moved in with us (oh what a book this will be!), a full-time nurse was out of the question when she fell and broke her hip six months after arriving. So, the doctor showed me how to shoot Gladys in the stomach. It takes a good pinch of the skin, and after a few days, she said she couldn’t even feel it when I shot her up.

In Costa Rica, you can go to a pharmacy and get just about any drug you want if you can pronounce the name. Of course you can’t get morphine or valium without a prescription, but more or less, most drugs you want are behind the thousands of pharmacies around almost every corner in every town. There’s a lot of benefit in this. For example, I asked the vet for an anti-venom in case of snake bites or toad poisoning for my dogs. I kept it on hand. And wouldn’t you know it? One night I went out to the patio where my dogs were hanging out and one of them was foaming at the mouth. The first sign of poisoning. My hands were shaking as I read the instructions and measured out that tiny little millimeter tube. I got a hold of the dogs back leg muscle and with one swift move (you’ve got to be swift with a foaming dog at hand), I had the medicine in and out. Since she was young, she survived. If I had taken her to the vet, she would have died.

I’ve gotten some clues as to what’s in those shots. One night at the emergency room, Addison got a shot of steroids because he wasn’t breathing. I could not believe the difference. In one day, he turned around 100%. I can see why people clammer to the clinics for those shots because people do feel better, for awhile. I think the clinics understand that when they have an individual in their hands, there’s a good chance the person won’t be able to afford or be willing to take the pills once they walk out the door. At least with a shot of steroids, quartisone, antibiotics, and even vitamin B, they’ve injected a chance the patient will at least have one good dose of the medicine.

It’s not something to take lightly.* Too many shots of a good thing can become a bad thing. Steroids will quit working after awhile. Anyone who’s done research about them will know that. But who’s got Internet in the campo? I’m not scared of a needle and actually prefer to treat as much as I can at home. And Costa Ricans do often avoid the pills. Many still believe in teas to relieve nervousness, and over the years, I’ve learned a lot about boiling certain kinds of leaves for stomach aches. This hole health thing is a guessing game. Overall the doctors really care about their patients here. It seems they have remained closer to the idea that they’re job is to help people and serve as a conduit for healing. I just received a phone number for a doctor that will make house calls in the middle of the night. Imagine that. What a shot of medicine that is!

*Now I do not keep a stash of drugs on hand. The only thing I have right now is an old dried up needle of tooth whitener. I don’t keep anything on hand unless I’ve seen it done by a professional first.