Barcelona Marathon Results / Surgery / Switzerland - Updates

Order of topics:
1) Barcelona Marathon race review
2) Surgery…..
3) Going to Switzerland!

1) The Barcelona Marathon was awesome!  I managed to pull out an 8:37min/mile pace.  Check out the Strava data here: http://app.strava.com/activities/44768736

 Showing some love for Sports Basement at the 2013 Barcelona Marathon starting line!!!

I also filmed the finish line run.  From my face you can see both relief in being finished and concern for the hospital visit I knew I had coming later that day…..  http://youtu.be/dTqSeZEu02w

Done and DONE!!!  Cool new medal to add to the collection!  

Thanks to Nathan Sports for the awesome water bottle!

The epic finish area!  A palace turned museum.

Views along the race course

2) Surgery came several hours after the marathon.  "For what!?", you might ask.  I was 'lucky' enough to have the sudden development of a pilonidal cyst five days before the marathon and knowing that the only way to rid myself of this painful issue was surgery I elected to wait until after the marathon.  I can't miss my races!  I took antibiotics and pain meds in the days leading up to the race and the morning of the race.  This was certainly the most painful marathon I have ever run due to the cyst.  Post race I had a nice lunch with my biggest fans and cheerleaders, a.k.a. my parents, and finally made it back to the apartment to begin the search for a public hospital.

Seeing as I don't have international medical insurance and I'm not covered under Spain's national medical plan that is paid into by citizens via taxes providing them with free, yes FREE, medical care whenever they need it I had to pay something.  This was the scariest part because I was at their mercy and they could have charged me 5,000 euros and I would have paid it.  I could barely walk without pain especially after the marathon.  So I asked my fellow IE Business School graduate, Jaime, living here in Barcelona for a recommendation.  He offered the Hospital Clinic which turned out to be great and had an ER admittance area.

I went to the Hospital Clinic located in downtown Barcelona and was immediately brought in.  First a quick check in and sharing of my information and the procedure I needed, a visit to the nurse to discuss medical history and finally to the waiting area where I was also told about the cost.  As the "murse", male-nurse, handed me a form that explained everything and quoted the cost I cringed thinking of the number of zeros I would see…  "223 Euros".  WHAT!?  223 Euros was all I had to pay!?  Needless to say I was smiling ear to ear and said, "Dale.  Esta bien!" (Okay.  That's good!).

I waited around 45mins for the doctor and was brought in, put in a medical gown and waited just another 15mins before getting into what is the most uncomfortable surgery I've experienced to date.  The doctor was fantastic, Jorge, and took care of the procedure quickly and explained everything as he went along preparing me for what was to happen next.  Fantastic care and a great experience overall.  I've already provided them with a great Yelp review for other foreigners in need of medical care while in Barcelona.  Read it here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/hospital-cl%C3%ADnic-barcelona#query:hospital%20clinic

So that sums up my first international surgery experience.

3) Now I'm headed to Switzerland to visit a good friend for a few days.  This also gives me time to heal up and tend to the incision area before beginning my run across Spain along the Camino de Santiago.  I will now begin the journey on March 25th instead of March 20th.  More updates to come!