Spring Break 2024 we brought our 3 girls ages 11, 10, and 8 to Club Med in Cancun. We arrived a day later than scheduled due to a huge snow storm, then after a delayed flight, we arrived around 9:30 at night. We checked in, got a snack, and went straight to bed excited for the following day. When we woke up, we put on our bathing suits and headed to breakfast with plans to relax in the ocean all day. But as we walked only a few steps outside our room, my 11 year old lost her flip flop which was caught on the metal grate we were walking over. She quickly kicked her foot forward to get it back inside her shoe but the shoe stayed attached to the grate so her foot flung quickly forward against the sharp metal grate slicing it wide open. She immediately let out a scream knowing what just happened. We were all stunned to see blood spurt out everywhere. and I mean everywhere. It was clear that the cut was extremely deep and right away Mike and I looked at each other knowing that we were in a really bad situation. Not even knowing the layout of the resort yet, we went into the closest building we could find and asked for a first aid kit. They had nothing and weren’t really sure how to help us. I got a roll of paper towels from them and bunched it up handing it to my husband to apply pressure to help stop the bleeding.
From where we were sitting, we noticed that there was a man laying on the ground about across the walkway from us. His eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving. There were people gathered around him and they were using beach towels to give him some shade from the sun. We found out later he was an employee who fell from a bicycle hitting his head. After he was loaded into the ambulance the nurse who worked at the resort came over to us seeing we were in trouble and accessed the cut. She took one look at it and then looked at me and shook her head. “Stitches?” I said to her. She nodded.
She said she would call her friend who was a doctor at a private hospital and she had the office call us a cab. She said it was about 30 minutes away and they would be expecting us. We waited about 10 minutes for the cab to arrive and started our panicked drive. We kept the girls calm and talked about how modern Cancun was as we passed the resorts and went right into the city. Our driver showed us where his hospital would be should he need one, which was a public one that’s free to him and other Mexican citizens. We were heading to a private hospital where we would pay as people visiting the country. “It’s much nicer” he said.
We pulled up to the drop off area at the hotel. There were people there to greet us and one person at the front area who pointed us to another area down a hall to check in. We were one of 3 parties in the waiting area. I filled out forms which included just our basic information and where we were staying. We waited only a short time then we were called back. Only my daughter and 1 parent could go back so Mike waited with our other 2 girls as she and I went back to the dimly lit room. The nurses station in the middle was filled with people sitting and scrolling on their phones also in near darkness. Nobody was wearing scrubs or badges or anything to identify them as medical staff. It looked like a common area in a college campus. All young people, all in jeans, shorts, and tee shirts.
2 women came in, one identified herself as a doctor and said the other girl was new and in training. Neither had badges on and the doctor was in her 20’s while the trainee looked about 19. They looked at my daughter’s foot and wanted to clean it first. They came back into the room with packaged gauze, a half open saline bottle and a refillable glass bottle with green fluid that looked and smelled like green dish soap. She began to open the gauze and grabbed the bottle. They wondered where would be best to do this knowing it would make a slight mess and she was sitting on a cloth sheet, not the paper we’re used to seeing on medical tables. They pulled up a hazardous waste open trash can under her foot and rested her foot against it. I told her to scoot back so her foot didn’t touch it. Then the assistant who was very clearly not trained in anything medical, started to open the gauze and put the saline on it without gloves. My heart sank. The doctor’s english was about 60% while the assistant didn’t know any english. I asked her to please put gloves on which were on the counter. They very clearly didn’t like the suggestion. The assistant added the green soap onto the soaked gauze and she started to clean the wound. They said there was a lot of sand in it and she did a very thorough job of making sure there wasn’t anything left in the wound which had stopped bleeding but was still sliced open. She agreed she would definitely need stitches and they both left the room.
The assistant returned and said we were free to go. With my phone not working, I was left to use my rusty Spanish to ask about stitches and the antibiotic the doctor also recommended. It was such a deep slice that I knew leaving it open over the course of the next few days would be a really bad idea leading to an infection and definitely not healing well. I asked if I could just make sure I was clear with the doctor but the assistant said she wouldn’t be returning. I asked if we would be receiving the prescription and she said no. I then asked if I could take a few waterproof bandages and some dermabond with me and she was very unsure. She left and returned with 2 small vials of dermabond and 3 waterproof bandages and the ‘prescription’ from the doctor which was a handwritten list of things to do. Clean daily, apply a cleaning spray and cream that we didn’t receive, wash after beach or pool. We were free to go. My heart sank. We were out of options and I’m not sure why or what happened, but I just wanted to get out of there. I washed up and used the glue to try and close the wound as best I could and applied the bandage over it so she could walk out of the hospital while keeping the wound closed.
We walked back through the dark hallway, past the row of people still on their phones, our doctor included, through the doors into the waiting area to check out. Mike and the girls had a cab waiting for us and I approached the window to pay. She told me in pesos first which had me very confused but I knew it was high. 16,479.24. I asked for the number in dollars and she told me it was $984.22. I was stunned. I asked what made it so high, she said the Dermabond and bandaid were the bulk of the charge which made up $10,930 of the $16,000.
The nurse back at the resort was surprised that we didn’t receive stitches and told us it was best not to get her foot in the ocean or pool. I made sure the dermabond was applied in layers, then the waterproof bandage, then we got saran wrap from the kitchen so she could hang in the ocean in a floatie which ended up being a lot of fun and fine with her. The cut was painful and hard to walk on especially with how much walking we did, but she was a trooper and didn’t complain.
While the cut took a very long time to heal, it eventually did and without infection. Which I brought with us saved the day since it was exactly what we needed.
What I Packed With Us
Neosporin. Both the resort and hospital did not have this so I was really happy we did. We ended up using this on my other two girls for just random cuts and scrapes that kids get as well.
Alcohol cleansing wipes. Used all of these as well for cuts and scrapes and for my oldest’s wound.
Iodine. I have an THIS spray that I use on most cuts and scrapes before bandaging.
Bandaids. These were also on short supply, even in the infirmary when I asked for one.I’d get waterproof ones as well just in case.
Antibiotics. It was actually the same one the doctor at the hospital recommended then didn’t fill. It was originally prescribed for my same daughter for a skin infection she had last summer that cleared up quickly. We just had a few extra and thankfully this is what we ended up using.
I also brought an antibiotic that would be for Mike or myself should we have needed it. I remember reading THIS report last year when it came out about how Mexican pharmacies are selling fentinol-laced prescriptions so I knew that going to a pharmacy wouldn’t be an option for any of us.
Rescue inhaler. My girls use a rescue inhaler sometimes when they’re sick. I didn’t want to chance not being without it and thankfully we didn’t need it.
Rescue meds for my youngest. She has a steroid that she uses a few times a year when she gets croup. Last time was at Christmas when she woke in the night gasping for air. I didn’t want to be in that situation there so I brought it with us.
Zofran. Just for if anyone had any vomiting. Again, luckily we didn’t need it.
Dramamine. We always travel with this, but it was nice to have on hand.
Motrin. We used this just once for when one of my girls had a headache.
Advil. Just in case for us but never used it.
It sounds like a lot, but I was so thankful we had it all on hand. It only took up a medium sized cosmetics bag and a pill organizer (LOVE this one) so it wasn’t any trouble to pack and gave me a huge peace of mind.
I know this was very minor, but it was scary and eye-opening for sure. After it happened I had a hard time sleeping just wondering what would happen if we really had an actual emergency. I just wanted to pass along this info so you understand what could happen at a hospital. Again, there could be so many scenarios for different doctors but this was just our overall experience.
I also posted about our trip and how wonderful Club Med was and I would recommend it to friends curious about travel to Mexico with or without kids. Just pack smart and keep all scenarios in mind.
