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EP 73: Rebecca and Aimee BOTH see doctors in a foreign country - Big Milestone!

• Rebecca West

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Where Aimee Gets Supplements and American Products in the EU

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Welcome to Bon Jola, a podcast about two women, Amy and Rebecca, who each move from the United States to Europe to become expats. Amy to Spain and Rebecca to France. We're here to share the highs, the lows, and the logistics of this adventure. Encourage you to follow your own, move abroad dreams, and remind you that you're not alone when the going gets tough. Enjoy.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Ola, Rebecca.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

banjo, Amy.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

You are chomping at the bit to share some exciting medical news? Yeah.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

I am, I am not so much medical news, but in our last episode, you and I made a commitment to each other

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Oh my dear. That's right.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

fry and make doctor's appointments and we both did it and I'm so proud of us and that's what I'm excited to talk about.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

I had Shane come with me to make the appointment because I was just like, I just can't. So I was like, will, you come with me.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

That's legit. Damien and I have done that so many times. All right. Well, um, let's start with you. Okay. So you said, Shane, let's go to the doctor together, or how did it, how did you begin?

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

I was on my way like pretty much immediately after we recorded last time. I, Got ready and I was like, do it now while you have the momentum. And Shane came home for lunch, like, right, right as I was getting ready and he was like, will you come with me? It just really helped to have the emotional support to make the appointment. So, we went down to the clinic and I was able to successfully communicate the situation. It was basically like, oh, we don't have, you know, we don't have appointments for, you know, several weeks and, and then when I was like, well, if I pay cash, she's like, oh, I can get you in at four 30 today. I

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

What.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

I know that is so shady. So I was like, okay, I'll pay cash then if I can get in to see the doctor today. That would be great.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Do you know if it changed the price or anything?

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Well, if I used my insurance, it would be free. It'd be nothing.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Oh, but we don't know if that would be the same money that they would get, but this is obviously, or I guess it's not obvious, but it feels like it's off the books money.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

It totally does. And not only that, not only that, but she was like, we don't accept cards, so it's old cash. Bring cash. And I was like, whoa.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Protect the somewhat by not mentioning the.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

For sure, for sure. I mean, it's a well-established clinic, so I don't know. I don't know. Um, so we set the appointment for four 30. No, it was six 30. That's right. It was 6:30 PM and, I, you know, went and got cash, came home for a bit, and then it was time to go back. I came in and, it was a, like a 45 minute wait. You know, it felt super urgent care and the waiting room, there was no water, there were no magazines. There was a tv, but it only showed advertisements for different, you know, modalities within the clinic. And, you just basically got a spring or anything that you might want to wait, which of course I didn't know. And so I just sat

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

had wifi?

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

I don't know if they had wifi, but my, yeah, my cell service wasn't working very well in the building, so that's why. Still for a time, which is always good. You know, I always remind myself these moments are rare. Appreciate it and be present and there's no need to be on your phone all the time anyway. So I just kind of looked around and looked at the different people that were there and obsessively checked the monitor to see when my number would be called. So it's like part DMV and part. Urgent care.'cause you go in, you get a slip with, with a number on it, and you sit down and you know, they have the list of numbers on this, on one of the TV screens saying you know, who's in what order. So when I was finally called in, I sat in and spoke with the doctor and was able to, I think, able to effectively communicate what I needed. I brought the medication that I had from the states and she told me that neither of them are in Spain. One she could find a substitute for and the other I would not be able to get.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Okay, wait, clarification question. So that means the whole appointment was in fact in Spanish?

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yes.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Yes. Wow. Okay. And you wanted to find out if Spain carries two drugs and she said one, no. One. You could sub.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yes, exactly, and, and so it was totally worth the 80 euro, which honestly, I feel super expensive for Spain to pay 80 euro to see a doctor. I didn't expect it to be that much, but totally worth

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

It wasn't just to see a doctor. It was to see a doctor the same day. Who knows if that's a fluctuating price point.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

true, true. Who knows? Um. So I was able to get the information that I needed because, you know, I was leaving for the states in a few days and wanted to be able to refill my meds here, you know, at US prices, if they were completely unavailable in Spain. And she did, you know, she, because I've been untreated for so long, she did an exam, and did really one of the most thorough exams that I've had. As a patient, and then ordered like an f ton of labs for me, the cool thing was that, so this is for a thyroid condition. The cool thing is that she didn't just do what we do in the states, which is check thyroid levels. She ordered tests for vitamin and mineral status because there are like zinc and selenium impact how your. Thyroid functions. So she, she ordered those, she did what looks to be the equivalent of, you know, A CBC and a CMP. So my cholesterol, my blood sugar, all that stuff. And, loads of, loads of labs to be done. And she's, she's also testing me for celiac disease, which. You know, some people have suggested that, that's a possibility for me, but I'm like, ah, you know, all it means is to avoid wheat. And I do that anyway. But she, she's like, okay, I'm gonna test you for celiac disease. You need to eat wheat for a week and then come in and take your labs. Oh,

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

gonna be a fun week.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Um, it had me super nervous actually.'cause it's because of what happened, you know, when I was eating wheat in Europe when we first arrived. So, so yeah, my flight would've been more than a week out because I had just enough time to do that, that test. So, I ate the wheat. We went out, I ate wheat. I was looking for wheat. I bought a loaf of bread. And, uh, it was a little nerve wracking, um, because I didn't want to travel feeling like utter shit

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Of course.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

and in pain. And fortunately it wasn't. It was really probably the last day that I started to feel like the symptoms coming on. The ones that bother me the most anyway. Some of them are pretty immediate. so the morning that I was going to do the labs was the day before I left, and, uh, because she's doing blood sugar, I went first thing in the morning, so I would be fasted and I go into the clinic, that has like, because it has a lab attached to it. And gave her the slip that the doctor had given me. And she said, do you have insurance? Or she said, no, this doctor does not accept your insurance. Um, your insurance doesn't. Yeah, your, or rather, your insurance does not accept this doctor. She's not on the insurance plan. These labs are going to cost you 330 euro. And I was like, holy smoke. So look, it's flashbacks to being in the US right. And. And then the, the administrator behind the behind the desk said, if you can't afford to pay, you can take this slip down down the street to where there is where your insurance office is and talk to them about it and see if they'll make an exception. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. But you can go and ask if you want and if they accept it. In true Spanish style, they'll stamp it.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

And again. Okay, so we're talking about in person. You're like in your town of Gerona, you're walking to your insurance place, you're talking to humans with pieces of paper and old school stamps.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

A hundred percent Yes.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Wow.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

like the clin, the, the insurance company opens in 10 minutes. And I was like, and at first I was gonna be like, no, just forget it. I wanna get these labs done. I'm fasted. I don't wanna be starving. And then I was like, no, no, wait. Let's give it a shot. Let's see what happens. And. You'll have more information just about the system if you do this. So I was like, okay, let me go and try, because I was worried I was gonna come back. It was gonna be like 8 30, 9 o'clock and there would be scads of people waiting to get labs done and you know, I'd be there till 10, you know, a typical kind of us experience, right? So I walk over to the insurance company and wait for them to open and they let me in right away. The lady looks at, looks at the labs and she's like, oh yeah, your, your doctor. Your, you paid cash for this appointment. And I was like, yes. And she's like, well, once you pay cash, then you pay cash. You don't, like, you have to use the insurance card to establish care with the doctor and then the labs would be covered under insurance. But your doctor is not part of our, not under our, you know, insurance. So she's like, listen, I'm going to make an exception just this once. Here is a booklet with all of our physicians and all of our providers in Gerona. Take this with you, but I, we can't do this again. And I was like, thank you, because. In what planet does that happen? Evidently, in Europe. Evidently in Europe where insurance companies are not like sharks looking to make you homeless, uh, they will make an exception every now and then. So I got the, uh, coveted stamp on my paperwork and then walked back the three minutes to the labs and sat down. Was able to get in and get my labs drawn within like five minutes. So the whole process from walking into the lab, the first time to leaving, having my labs completed, authorized, et cetera, took less than an hour.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Are you kidding me?

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

No. Isn't that crazy?

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Yeah. And, and then, and then it cost you nothing.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Nothing. Nothing. Insurance is gonna cover it. She probably like, she took my card, she looked me up in the system and was probably like, you've been here two years and you guys have paid two years of insurance and hardly ever used it, so, okay. Would be my guess, you know?'cause we've paid far more into the system than we have used. Um, and they're not like pathological.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

honey.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

insert money. Yeah. Insert whatever, negative description you would want to use for an insurance company. Um, so I was really very pleased, very pleased with all of that. And then, you know, when I finished the labs. They said, you know, the results will be available in a week. And then they gave me a piece of paper with a website that I could look, look for the lab results and then, you know, make an appointment with my doctor for follow up, but, which I completely forgot to do. Uh, so I'll do that when I get back. And since she's not in the insurance system, we'll have to pay cash anyway. So I imagine it won't matter in the 10 days that I'm in Europe before we travel again, I can. You know, just pay cash in under the table and get in immediately.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

So, so going forward, would you have to choose a new doctor or are the labs separate from the doctor? Like

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

So the labs aren't separate for the doctor. Right? So moving forward, any labs that she would order, I would need to pay in cash. If I continued to see her, I would need to pay in cash or I could transfer my care to someone under the ESUs Insurance system. Um. I like this lady. You know, my first impression was she's super competent. She's thorough. I don't know if that's just standard of care in Spain to be super competent and thorough, but I was, I was impressed. Now, I will say also that with regards to my medical treatment, I've never actually seen an endocrinologist in the us. Because I could get everything that I needed with regards to my thyroid care from a naturopath in the state that I lived in. So I didn't see any need to, you know, wait months, pay extra for what I anticipated to be less quality care from an endocrinologist, um, which is, you know, a judgment on my part. But. Based on what I hear from others, it, it tracks. but I was, yeah, I was pleased with the care and you know, I'll definitely go back to her for the follow-up and then decide whether I wanna continue on with her or not.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Of course. Purpose of all of this was that both of us were getting in our own way, just not wanting to make the appointments in the first place. And I am so proud of you for walking to the insurance agent because that's exactly the kind of thing that we're reticent to do because we're like, oh, I'd

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

like, you want me to have an insurance conversation in Spanish? Now what? And

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

and all of those conversations were in Spanish.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

All, it was all in Spanish. There was no, no English. I didn't even try to speak English. Um, and, and the, uh, at the insurance company, they had the plastic, the thick plastic divider from the COVID times in front of her desk, which makes it so much harder. I swear, I feel so bad for anybody who was language learning or hard of hearing. During the pandemic because those plastic sheets make it impossible to understand what they're saying and a mask.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

the mask just obliterates your ability to,

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

I rely so much on lip reading when I am trying to understand what people are saying. I am always looking at their mouths. It is The difference that it makes, which is also why I never answer my phone if it's a Spanish phone number. I never check my voicemail. I never make phone calls. I will walk wherever I need to in town, or take a bus or take a cab to do it in person rather than deal with a bloody phone call because it's just gobbledygook in my ears.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

At this point I will take a phone call, but I won't make a phone call. And like, so yesterday I had to go downstairs, uh, to pick up a food order and the system calls us, it's the Uber Eats system, and it was a hot mess, you know?'cause there's just like, first there's a lag and then he's like, I'm like, Bonjour. And he is like bon. And we're over top of each other. And then he tries to say something, and I know what he is trying to say, but I can't really understand him. So then I was just like, um, obvious what I just said there. Uh, and he is like, okay. And that's, that was up, but.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

what's toot? Sweet.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Right away.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Ah, okay.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

I'll, I'm gonna arrive right away with how that came out.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Ah.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Yeah. I'm impressed that you were able to conduct those conversations in Spanish because I don't think I could do an insurance conversation at this point.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

It was really, I don't know what I said or how I got that. Message delivered. I don't remember that now. I blocked it from my memory and, uh, yeah, yeah, it was, it was a very good experience. Overall though, I'm quite pleased. And so effectively then what I did is I came home, emailed my naturopath in Seattle and was like, Hey, here's the deal. Can I get meds?'cause I'm going back to the states. She put in an order, which I have to have transferred from Seattle to Alaska and then pick it up in Alaska. And, I am basically going to take my, take the medication that I'm accustomed to taking that I know works for me. See what the endocrinologist in Spain has for me and maybe, you know, try the swap that I can get in Spain. And see how that works for me, but stay on what I cannot get from Spain because that made such a big difference when I started taking it. I'm not gonna give it up.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

I'm finding the same process in in kind of all my personal care too. As you run outta one product, you're like, okay, I will change just my sunscreen and see if I can figure that out. And then I will run out of the next thing. And it's nice because it allows you to isolate. You know, side effects from medication or skin, feeling weird or breaking out or something from a new product you can do just one at a time. Um, and also just not have the emotional trauma of having to figure out every new foreign thing all at the same time.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Exactly. Yeah. It is. It is an arduous process though,

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

It is it.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

and we don't realize how many, how many things we just take for granted are there. And expect them to be there. And then you get dropped into a foreign country, and all of those, all, you know, your favorite shampoo, your perfume, your, you know, the, the spaghetti sauce that your kid can't live without, right? And it's all like, poof, gone. And you have to figure it all out over again.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

And it's the micro decisions, like I remember standing in front of the aisles of detergents and household cleansers going, I don't know any of you, you know, d uh, drain, dec, cloggers. We've had to buy all of these things, but I don't know any brands. I will say, I did find Mr. Your prop, which is Mr. Clean, and I was like, hello, you. You're coming home with me.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Oh my God, that's hilarious.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

logos work.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Logos work. So true.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

I love that there's something that we have in common with our stories in that the system worked very hard for me too. I also had people in my journey.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

tell me. Tell me.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

So the first thing I did was, because I knew I was just about to take a surprise trip to the United States, I said, I am going to try again to have my naturopathic doctor send my prescription to a place where I can pick it up.'cause I tried to do that before moving and there was a snafu and I just said, I'll defer this. And so I did that and she did send the prescription to a Walmart in Rhode Island. So I said, okay, at least I know that I can get my prescription. I don't know what it'll cost, but that's waiting for me. That, of course, lit the extra fire under me for our commitment'cause I wanted to know what it would cost and be like here in France before I left.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yeah.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

So I had one week to figure it out. F So from the French side, first of all could not be easier. So I've been told for a long time about this website. It's dr lieb.com or FR or something, and it's literally just a directory. You type in what kind of. Care person you're looking for and it gives you a list. And the only thing that I wasn't sure about was that there were several different sectors, like sector one, two, and three doctors. I was like, I have no idea what that means. So I went to our friend Chad, GPT, and I said, what does this mean?

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

That was my first thought. It was. Did you ask chat? GPT?

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

I sure did. So here's what it said. How did she, oh, first of all, I wanted to make sure it was a teleconsult.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Mm.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

so it was saying how I did that. And So you're looking for, or I wanted a video consultation and that's called a teleconsultation. You can ask for it to speak English, parlay, and then you can sort, or you can choose by sector. So Sector one is government regulated pricing. A basic consult costs 25 euros. There's no surprise fees. Sector two, the doctors can set their own fees, but usually with a reasonable markup, you often pay 30 to 70 euros. Um, and then sector three are private doctors. They are not regulated by the French social security system. Prices are often quote, much higher, 80 euros and up, and it's not common for Teleconsults. and you should avoid, they said, Chad, GPT, said you should avoid this unless you have private insurance. So that was new information. So I looked at that and I went, well, this is a pretty easy ask. I don't see why I would need to pay up. So I chose. Sector one doctor who spoke English offered Teleconsults and was a female, was the other thing I wanted.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yeah.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

So I set it up for the next night. It was a, it was like a 9:00 PM appointment, so that was also really interesting that it was totally outta normal hours. I got onto Zoom at my appointed time. She shows up. Maybe from her home. It was a generic looking room behind her super casual, like, like a personal trainer coming off the floor and being like, okay, what do you need? And I am pretty sure she started out like by the, the consult going something like deis, which is the most casual way you could say, tell me

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yeah.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

yes.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Dme. Yeah.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

And and then she was like. I was a little flustered, so I'm sure some English came out and she's like, do you wanna do this in English or French? And I said, please, English. And she had good English, broken English, but very comprehensible. I told her what I needed. She said, why do you, you know, need it? What have you, how have you used this in the past? I told her, I mean, we're talking, this is like three minutes maybe. She goes, okay, I'll send you a prescription. And then she's about to hang up and I'm like, um, I dunno what happens next. And so she pauses and she goes, okay, well the prescription is in the system. Um, you can send it to whatever pharmacy you want and go pick it up, in the Doctor Lib system. And, um, because I don't have insurance. She said that she'll charge me, but it, that was a miscommunication. I had already put my credit card information in when I set the appointment, and so it automatically charged. I didn't actually have to do anything else. There was no invoicing or anything,

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Eight.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

and then, and then she hung up. I mean, it was so, matter of fact, oh, oh no. I almost forgot to tell you the best part. At some point being myself, I said I was, I'm so nervous, I've never seen a French doctor before. And she goes, oh, you should. We're very funny. And I'm like, not

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

me guess. That was the funniest thing she said in the entire visit.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

a hundred percent. It was so out of the blue, it was the. The one thing I probably would never have expected her to say that. It made it hilarious. And then I'm like, so it's true, but I still, I still have my doubts.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yeah. Yeah. That's kind of like a German saying, oh, we're actually quite witty.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Yeah, right. Was it sarcasm? I'll never know, but it was. So easy. It was over. And then I literally went into the system, clicked two buttons, had it sent to the pharmacy next to my house. The next day I walked in, I said, I think you have a prescription. They said, yes. Um, they asked about insurance. I said, I'm paying out of pocket. And for 30 pills, it was 23 euros, and for the appointment it was 25 euros. So I was determined once we got to the US to compare, pricing. And then I had the most amazing experience. So we go to the Walmart in Rhode Island and I walk up to the desk and I say, I would like to pick up this prescription, but I need to know what it costs. And she said, it's$444 for a year. And I'm like a.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Oh, but you only got 30 days for

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Yeah, so I had to do some math and I'll tell you the math in a sec. So I was like, okay, that's, that's reasonable for a year's worth of prescription. I'm like, okay, but, but she's like, but let me see what I can do.'cause she knew I was paying out of pocket.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yeah.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

So for anybody listening, who is in America, if you don't know about this'cause I did not, there is a website called goodrx.com.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

yep. GoodRx is awesome.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

She got the bill down from$444 to 160.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Whoa.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Yeah, so I ended up, if, if I'm doing apples to apples, if I paid for the same number of pills in France, it would've been the equivalent of$320. should have been$444, but she got it down to$160. So I guess the US scores a point on this one. I had incredible customer service, which of course was coming from a lady who was, I'm sure terribly underpaid. So my heart was hurting the whole time'cause she was working so hard for me

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

there's a huge.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

that much money.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

And there's a huge shortage of pharmacists right now as well. I mean, like everywhere else in the healthcare industry, they've just kind of fled, especially in the larger cities because of reasons.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

All the reasons. Well, she, and I don't remember her name. I wish I could shout her out and, and I said to her, I am so grateful for what you're doing for me. And she just shrugged it off. She just took it as this is my job and. It was remarkable. So that's my story. I had an incredible good experience with figuring out how to make a French doctor's appointment. Won't be scared of it next time. And there are some actual appointments that I need to make, so that's good. But decided to fill the whole prescription in the US'cause you can't beat that deal.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Indeed, indeed. And now you have 13 months of medication. S

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

And it's actually not something I have to take daily, even though that's what the script is for. So this could easily last me a couple of years. That's awesome. Um, did make a mistake of not bringing back some more liquid NyQuil and DayQuil did bring a cold back, so we're super annoyed about that.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yeah.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

But other than that, life's peachy.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Awesome.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

So what are we afraid of next? What should we commit to the next thing?

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Gosh, I've tackled the dentist. I've tackled basic, well, I've tackled the most impressing healthcare issue for me, depending on who you listen to. I could be scheduled for a colonoscopy.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Oh.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

But I'm not too eager to jump into that because some countries still say you can wait till 50 and, uh, there's no, you know, family history of anything that warrants concern there. Um, think of taxes.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Taxes,

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yep.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

um, I mean, I haven't exactly renewed my visa. I guess I should touch on that for a second.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

that's probably a good idea. What is the visa status? Oh, first off, when, when did your visa expire?

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

So my visa started in February, end of February of 2024, so it of course expired February of 2025. We are speaking right now in almost July of 2025.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

And so you've been in this no Woman's Land of ambiguity for almost five months.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Yes, but not anxiety producing ambiguity until about 10 days ago. Because the way it works is you submit your paperwork, they approve it, or they reject it. If they reject it, they give you an attestation that says you're in the system, you're good to stay till a certain date. Well, the last piece of paper I had, let me stay till like the. 10th of June or something. I don't remember what the exact date was, but it was not late enough for me to get home from my recent surprise trip to the United States.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Right. Did your husband think about this before he booked those tickets?

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

no, because he's already got his approval. It's not even on a radar. And I'm trying to like, you know, embrace ambiguity and let go of control. So I'm like, it'll be fine. But I tell you what, it, it was not fine. I was so cranky leading up to this trip. I didn't wanna go. I mean, especially with everything happening in the world right now, and I'm just, I don't wanna put myself in a situation where I can't get back to France.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yeah.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

And I am there on the second day and I'm crying, and I'm like, what if I can't get back into France? And he's like, would you just write the lawyer and ask? And so I did. And I said, I'm, I'm, I, I, I literally wrote, I fear I've made a grave error. I went all on it

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

I didn't know there was such a flare for the dramatic in you, Rebecca,

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

a hundred percent. I am a musical theater soul on the inside, and it's just waiting to get let out. Um, lawyer gets right back to me to calm me down, um, and prepares a little travel package for me. He said it should be fine, and he says he'll write to the prefecture and so he does. So, and by the way, a human can do all of this on their own. I have chosen to pay for assistance. I wanna clarify that. You don't have to have a lawyer do all this for you, but it's nice.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Well now let us know what is a pre fixture.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Oh, prefecture. Uh, what does that mean? Like the city? I have to go to the city to get a permit. You have to go to the prefecture to, uh, in this case find out your visa status

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Got it.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

each, um, it's not the neighborhoods of Paris. Paris itself is a prefecture.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Okay.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

inside the ring of Paris, I have a certain department. If I live outside the ring in a different. Area of France or in a suburb, I would have a different prefecture.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

So it's almost like a municipality.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Yeah, yeah. That sounds right. Mm-hmm. So they wrote back with a, basically a forum email that said, uh, you know, leave us alone. You're in the system. When things change, we will let you know. But it was nice

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

That's the French humor coming out.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

right. And so I'm like, okay, at least I know that I haven't been lost. I haven't been forgotten about. I haven't been rejected. But the very next day I got another email with a new attestation. So I don't know if that's coincidence or if we nudged the system, but now, and before I left the United States, I already had this attestation that says I'm allowed to stay until September sometime. So that's where I'm at. I have no reason to assume that I won't get approved, that this is just par for the course. Um, but it is very calming to have that piece of paper.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Now, when you were crossing back into, when you were in customs, getting back into France, did they ask to see that? Did you just offer it immediately? How did that process go?

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

No, ironically, getting back into France. Felt like just going on a vacation to France. There was, there were no questions. It was, they looked at my passport, they looked at my face, they stamped the passport. I was through

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

They didn't even like see the visa that was attached to the passport.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Nothing at all. The harder step was actually leaving the country, which is part of why I was feeling all the heart pounding. So going wait. I can't remember if it was on the French side or the US side, but whatever. We are standing at the custom agent. Damien goes first and they asked him quite a few questions probably because he had actually been here quite a while. I don't know.'cause he was first in line and he was separate from me at the window. But I heard them asking him questions. I heard his, his answers of like, oh yeah, I'm here. Um, I'm a student. What are you studying? And they're very French during this part of the time, like stern. And then he says, oh, I'm here studying cuisine. And Patisserie. And not only does his customs gal stop everything, light up like a little firely and go, oh, really? Agent next to her helping some other person going through customs also goes, you are, they were

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Oh my God.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

fangirling him. I mean, the,

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Oh my God.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

love their food and they love their chefs,

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Oh my God.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

so they stamp them and pass them through. And then I walk up to the lady and I go. I'm with him, he's my husband, and they go, really? And I go, we Jay, which means I'm very lucky. And they go, we, and they stamped me, sent me through. So, so I told him, I said, when we're going back to France, you must go first. And it didn't end up mattering, but that was our experience with customs.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

That is the most hilarious thing I have heard in a long time.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

So.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

There is a, that's like a secret tip for anybody wanting to get through customs.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Be a chef, be a French chef.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yes. Be a French chef if you're trying to get into France.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Yeah, but I'm learning. I think the thing I would like to wrap up on is a note from the Camino. As we learned from the Camino, there was that saying that the Camino provides.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yeah.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

When we were there and the weather was that bubble of perfection and neither of us got a blister and it was just, I mean, utter perfection. And I was like, you know what? I was so worried about which shoes to wear. I was so worried about the weather. I was so worried about things that I could never control, all of which went beautifully. And then the same thing just happened on this trip. Not only all the medical stuff we're talking about and customs, but I was really nervous about this trip being a very. Um, extroverted, energetic, exhausting trip, and it turned out for reasons that nobody expected to be the opposite of that. And I feel despite the cold I brought back recharged and refreshed and restored. So I'm hoping that this continues the chapter of Rebecca trusting that things will simply work themselves out instead of trying to control them so much.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yeah. Wonderful.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Any takeaways from you?

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yes, I will say that successfully achieving a medical appointment and a conversation with an insurance agent feels better than any glass of wine. It was. I just felt, I felt so accomplished. I felt so good. It was really, um, it was really fantastic and yeah, I'm super happy about that.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

I'm so proud of both of us!

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Yay. May balloons surround us in celebration

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

and bubbles of joy and

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

bubbles of joy.

Bonjhola Aimee audioRebeccaWest,Busi42139874033:

Well, listeners, I hope that this gives you some hope and some encouragement for whatever hard things you may be tackling. And of course, if you're a fellow, know that you are not alone in putting things off that you shouldn't be putting off. We are right there with you.

Bonjhola Rebecca audioAimee32139874033:

Until next time, folks, as to Luego.

Speaker:

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Banla. If you did, the best thing you can do is share it with another person, brave enough to move abroad. See you next time.