Hospitalization - Turning Tuscan: A Step-by-Step Guide to Going Native - page 174

might pay in the States under similar circumstances. Our dear friend, Giuseppe, who is cur-
rently an emergency room doctor at the Siena hospital explains it this way:
“In Italy we have a different approach to medical care. It's not a business. We approach it
as a human right, like the right to an education. We pay a higher portion of our income to
cover health care, but you know you will be taken care of when you are in need. No one is
ever refused medical care because they can't afford it.”
Giuseppe's daughter attends the same school as our daughters, and the girls are all friends
as are their parents. We're very happy to have a friend who doesn't mind putting on his
doctor hat when we have a question. We try diligently to avoid taking advantage of the re-
lationship. When we need flu shots, or someone in the family has the usual aches and pains
of winter colds, we use the general practitioners at the local biweekly clinic and wait our
turn along with everyone else.
But when something comes up that causes us serious concern, we're really happy to have
a doctor in the “extended family” to whom we can turn for a quick assessment and for
suggestions as to what to do next. Recently, I had experienced an extended bout of tired-
ness and intermittent low-grade fever that just didn't seem to be going away no matter
how much I rested, or how much Vitamin C, Echinacea and Gan Mao Ling I consumed. I
called Giuseppe and described my symptoms, and he suggested that I come in to see him
in Pronto Soccorso the next day.
Pam and Siena were on their way to Paris for a week of mother/daughter bonding. Pam was
also going there to do some final research for a private client who had asked us to put to-
gether a tour of Paris, the Amalfi Coast and Tuscany for his extended family. I had planned
to wait until they were well on their way to Paris before checking out my symptoms. After
hugs and kisses and wishes of Bon Voyage, I got in the car and drove to Pronto Soccorso
at Siena hospital. (No, I never park in the emergency room parking lot, now that I know
better.)
Giuseppe listened to my chest, listened to my heart, asked a few questions. He called a
colleague and twenty minutes later I was upstairs on the Cardiology floor of the hospital
having an echocardiogram.
“At first glance, it looks like you have a bacterial infection in one of your heart valves. We
will need to do additional tests to confirm this, but at this point it seems very probable. You
will need to stay here, and it will probably be for a while.”
“How long?”