Warning: graphic images of sick tonsils

Sometime in the near future I'll be posting a long, introspective and emotional reflection on my intense experiences at the public hospital. For now, though, I'm not in an introspective enough mood to do it justice. Today I was in the post-surgery unit. The patients were all super friendly, and mostly satisfied with the care they receive. One guy, an artist by profession who has FONASA A -- the most basic coverage that is completely free -- was super quick to say that he absolutely was satisfied with the care he received. Then he thought about it and added, "Well, when I was first admitted there was a shortage of beds so I had to spend a night in a chair. It was pretty cold. But the doctors are very nice."

In other news, my friend Reva has been getting some extra immersion in the public health of Chile. After visiting two doctors and being diagnosed and treated for both bronchitis and tonsilitis (or "amygdalitis" en espanol), she went through 3 weeks of antibiotics, discovered that the private doctors only take cash in this country (wtf?), and she's still left with tonsils that look like this:

Special shout-out to Dr. Gayla Zoghlin for helping us deal with this one via the internet and suggesting that this is, in fact, a serious needs-a-specialist kinda thing. Something about an abscess that might need to be drained (see the purple spot there?). Luckily for me, there are no privacy laws in this country, so while for Reva that means an annoying medical procedure, for me it means an awesome free show. Any bets on what color is going to come out??

And as Reva put it in her own words, "It always warms the heart to make someones blog because of your bacterially infested mouth." I'm so glad you all could share this with us.