NewsLady Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 Ladies, take you best friend to lunch and a mammogram! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Anytime in October, you can take your best friend to lunch and a mammogram in David. Hospital Chiriqui is offering mammograms for $30. Call 774-0128, ext. 1100 to schedule. Hospital Mae Lewis is offering mammograms for $35. Call 775-4616, ask for radiografía. Both facilities provide mammograms if you have breast implants for a slightly higher fee. Boquete Health and Hospice is promoting prevention and health especially at our health fair on October 22, 2017. We hope to see you there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyS Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 (edited) There is only one good mammography machine in David. It is the newer digital mammography machine at Hosp. Chiriqui. You have to ask them to use that one. The older machines (one at Hosp. Chiriqui and the one at Mae Lewis) give greatly inferior images compared to the digital machine. I haven't heard that Mae Lewis has a digital machine. If anybody knows, please let us know. You don't need to schedule an appointment at either hospital. You can just walk in. Edited September 8, 2017 by JudyS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palo Alto Jo Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 1 hour ago, JudyS said: There is only one good mammography machine in David. It is the newer digital mammography machine at Hosp. Chiriqui. You have to ask them to use that one. The older machines (one at Hosp. Chiriqui and the one at Mae Lewis) give greatly inferior images compared to the digital machine. I haven't heard that Mae Lewis has a digital machine. If anybody knows, please let us know. You don't need to schedule an appointment at either hospital. You can just walk in. Is it possible to get the mammogram images on DVD or other format? For regular X-rays I usually send them to my U.S. physician for a second opinion. Does the fee include radiologist's report, which I assume is in Spanish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penny Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 I just had a mammogram at Mae Lewis. Happy to report they don't squeeze you like a wringer washer as in the old days. I got a film and report but my experience is that most x-rays can be transferred to DVD if you bring the blank DVD and are willing to wait a while longer. It does take a day or two to get the written report. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarieElaine Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 I took advantage of this offer two years ago. While they generally only take one Xray (in my experience) they took two for me since I have had a biopsy in the past. As per Penny, they don't squeeze the s--t out of you with their equipment. You would never get a mammogram this cheap in the States. A good deal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyS Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 On 9/8/2017 at 10:33 AM, Palo Alto Jo said: Is it possible to get the mammogram images on DVD or other format? For regular X-rays I usually send them to my U.S. physician for a second opinion. Does the fee include radiologist's report, which I assume is in Spanish? The digital mammogram is put on a DVD, which they give to you along with a written report by the radiologist. The report is in Spanish, but it is not hard to make out what it says. Many medical terms are similar in English and Spanish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyS Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 On 9/8/2017 at 12:11 PM, MarieElaine said: I took advantage of this offer two years ago. While they generally only take one Xray (in my experience) they took two for me since I have had a biopsy in the past. As per Penny, they don't squeeze the s--t out of you with their equipment. You would never get a mammogram this cheap in the States. A good deal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palo Alto Jo Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Got a bit more info for folks looking for inspection stickers or calibration checks on equipment here in Panama. As i said in earlier posts, equipment in the U.S. is NEVER calibrated or checked by anyone , other than the operator. The U.S. government makes you show results, they dont fix or check your machines. The little stickers you see here with old dates are simply checks for electrical shortages. Required in the U.S. by local city ordinances. They have zero to do with whether the equipment is reporting out good results. Just that last checked, it will not start a fire. That's it. The good news is, I have found there ARE labs in Boquete and elsewhere that use "ISO" controls. These are International standards. Meaning they run blind samples and prove their equipment reports results that match the rest of the universe. That was a big eye opener to me, a former lab director. I now plan to see if the credentials are posted in the lobbies of the participating clinics, so anyone knows if the lab they are using is comparable to the best labs in the world. In the meantime, keep double-checking the label on your specimens, because that is the biggest flaw in the system here, specimen ID. On 9/1/2017 at 12:43 PM, JudyS said: Thank you for the excellent information Jo. One other thing to look at, if you can see the equipment, is if there is a calibration sticker on it. Check the dates. I once looked at one on a mammography machine a few years ago. It did have a sticker, but it was dated 1996 and don On 9/16/2017 at 11:25 AM, JudyS said: e in Miami. They obviously got the machine used from Miami, but I wonder if they ever calibrated it themselves. I have always wondered what kind of quality control, if any, they do here on their equipment. On 9/15/2017 at 3:31 PM, Bonnie said: The polyclinica does have hand sanitizers. That doesn't help with the toilet situation, though. I'm not sure about the antibiotics. Every time I walk into a doctor's office they foist them on me. But this probably doesn't happen in the public clinics, I would think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pederhaney Posted September 18, 2017 Share Posted September 18, 2017 19 hours ago, Palo Alto Jo said: The good news is, I have found there ARE labs in Boquete and elsewhere that use "ISO" controls. These are International standards. Meaning they run blind samples and prove their equipment reports results that match the rest of the universe. It would be extremely helpful if you would provide the names of those labs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyS Posted September 18, 2017 Share Posted September 18, 2017 Is Inmunotek in the Don Vidal bldg one of those ISO certified labs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palo Alto Jo Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 For reasons unique in Panama , I think it's unwise for me to post which labs use ISO controls. However, it's a question that any lab should answer if you ask. Also, the local doctors know which labs use the ISO controls, and will point you to a specific lab if you ask. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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