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| Mailbox in front of a house down the road from us. |
We’re still busy with my medical appointments and tests. Our reader’s input encouraged us to make doctor appointments for each of us. We decided to do one of us at a time since mine is a bit more comprehensive than Tom’s.
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| A sign in front of the house that is currently for sale. |
Once my appointments are completed, we’ll get to work on his. The clinic, Apple Tree Medical is located a short distance down the road near the Smithfield shopping center, less than 10 minutes from our home.
The young, highly competent Dr. Natasha Cress was thorough and took a tremendous amount of time with me answering many questions, pleased that I’d brought along a comprehensive list on an app on my phone.
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| Statue of a horse, a cart, and a man in front of the house. |
Why would we be any less detail orientated when it comes to our health than we are when preparing a post or planning a new location? The same detailed procedures and doctor will be used for Tom’s upcoming appointments.
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| Interesting vegetation growing in the yard. Notice Fred Flintstone on the left in the photo. Wait, more is coming. |
This morning at 8 am, we headed back to the clinic for my blood tests on an empty stomach. With one remaining appointment for me with the doctor on Monday at 3 pm, we’ll be back here with the costs. I can’t wait to share how much less expensive medical care is here in Australia as compared to the US.
In Australia, they have their own form of Medicare, which provides insurance for all citizens generally without a co-pay. When charging us for appointments and tests they’ve only charged us what their Medicare would have paid making it very affordable.
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| Fairly large statues of Barney Rubble and Fred Flintstone. Brings back memories! |
With our medical insurance only covering “major medical” (hospitalization), we’re responsible for paying for outpatient tests and appointments at the time of service. Once everything is completed, we’ll both have peace of mind and be ready to continue on in the more remote locations awaiting us in the months to come.
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| Even Dino from the Flintstones was there. This statue is most likely as tall as an adult human. |
Of course, after not having medical exams or tests for three years, we have a little concern that everything will be fine. However, if feeling well is an indicator all should be fine. We never take good health for granted, knowing that it all can change in a moment, feeling well or not.
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| A different house on the same side of the street with pretty landscaping. |
As we all are well aware, once we reach a certain age the likelihood of issues only escalates no matter how hard we may try to maintain a good level of health through lifestyle; exercise, low or well-managed stress, good sleep, healthy foods, and good relationships, all of which are vital to our well being.
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| Horses and a peacock in the front yard. |
Continuing on, we’re still working on the Cairns Tropical Zoo stories and will upload them in the next several days. In the interim, we continue to drive and visit some of the many points of interest in this magical place.
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| A peacock with another bird we couldn’t identify. Could it be some type of turkey? |
On a whim, we drove down the road from our house and discovered these sights in the neighbor’s yard. One can never know what fun little treasures lurk only a short distance away. Enjoy our goofy photos!
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| The mailman coming down the road. It appears most letter mail is delivered on a motorcycle. |
It’s cloudy and rainy today. Most likely we’ll stay put handling some accounting, laundry, cooking, and completing the future posts. Whatever we chose to do each day, in or out, we find ourselves cherishing every moment of this life we’ve been given.
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| Another horse in the front yard of the second house. Even on cloudy and rainy days such as this, we easily find ways to entertain ourselves from the car. |
Have a wild and wonderful Wednesday on that side of the International Dateline and a terrific Thursday on this side of the world!
Photo from one year ago today, July 9, 2014:
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| This is our second house in Fiji on the main island that we booked one year ago today. Our first location in Fiji in on the smaller island, Vanua Levu. For details on this booking, please click here. |