Home › Forums › Costa Rica Living Forum › Please Help – Costa Rica and MS
- This topic has 1 reply, 3 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 7 months ago by Mary Ann.
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May 24, 2006 at 12:00 am #176675Mary AnnMember
New idea to us but long in the back of our minds. Obviously we would need to spend some time there to see if it would really appeal to us but it seems as though Costa Rica has a lot to offer.
My husband and I are planning a return trip to San Jose to explore further the possibility of retirement and making a life change….making a move to Costa Rica in San Jose. We are doing research so that we know what we’re getting ourselves into. We have created a list of places we would like to relocate. At the top of our list is Costa Rica…we would like some inside info about moving to this country. What kind of life style could we expect there? For example, best city, climate, best investment I am confined to a wheelchair and will need accommodations for the two of us. It needs to have an accessible bathroom with a minimum 30 inch door opening. Please let us know.
Tony and Mary Ann West
281-890-3670May 24, 2006 at 1:38 pm #176676AndrewKeymasterThis site will give you over 1,000 articles about living in Costa Rica but, the “best” recommendation for a city, or climate for us may not be the “best” for you.
If wheelchair accessibility is a concern (I am making an assumption here) then you should understand that the further away from the city you are, the more dificult it will be to get around. Most Costa Rican homes are fairly small so a typical Tico home probably may not be suitable but there are thousands of homes that would be but of course that would also depend on your budget.
And I don’t mean to insinuate that the city is easy to get around in a wheelchair either – it is not.
Please use the search facility on the site to try and find the infoirmation that you are looking for and by all means come back to us here in the forum if you can NOT find what you are looking for …
Scott Oliver
Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comMay 24, 2006 at 2:41 pm #176677Mary AnnMemberI understand all of what you say but anywhere I gowe know that we will probably have to build a home that is for suitable for me (wheelchair accessible) The weather there is so much better there for me. What we would like to do is try to find something to rent for at least a year to see if that would be the place we can make work for us then if it is build a home. I know I need where the weather is cooler due to my disease Multiple Sclerosis the heat is terrible for this condition that is why we are doing research.
May 24, 2006 at 3:05 pm #176678AndrewKeymasterThe Fomento Urbano homes are quite spacious and delightful. You can see that article at
It is only about 500 metres to one of the biggest, new shopping malls in the country where A: You will be able to easily get around and B: Get everything you could possible want.
I do NOT know how many single level homes they are building but it would be worthwhile visiting them.
They also have another project close by called Rincon Verde where the highest priced home is $95K
Last time I was there (2-3 weeks ago) it took me exactly 18 minutes to get from their project to the highway in front of the best hopsital in Central America, Hospital CIMA in Escazu.
As for being the perfect temperature for you, I don’t know about that but you can always cool off in the swimming pool…. It can get ‘toasty’ during the day but it’s always pleasantly cool in the evenings.
Best wishes from Scott …
May 24, 2006 at 3:05 pm #176679maravillaMemberSan Jose will be too hot for you if you have MS. There is a couple who built a home near me and the wife is wheelchair-bound with MS as well. They investigated many places in Costa Rica and finally settled on a community outside San Ramon where the temperature rarely gets above 78 in the day or below 60 at night. They built a very open home with plenty of space for the wheelchair. Still she wears one of those ice pack vests. The reason they built a house is that they couldn’t find one that could accomodate a wheelchair.
May 24, 2006 at 3:14 pm #176680AndrewKeymasterGreat feedback – thankyou Maravilla. I was not aware of the heat problems associated with MS
This is an area of Costa Rica real estate development that hardly anybody is considering.
The demand for assisted living type homes in the future will be ENORMOUS and the costs of taking care of your aged loved ones in the US is ENORMOUS but, when you could probably build a home here for US$100K (as Maravilla has done and as I have also done) and hire a full time live in maid for way less than $100 per week … Life can be sweet!
Scott
May 24, 2006 at 3:17 pm #176681Mary AnnMemberThank You so much for the information. What community outside San Ramon. Is there anyway she can email me I would like to know how she has made it around in the country and any other information she could share with me I want to see if I can make this work for us.
May 24, 2006 at 3:27 pm #176682maravillaMemberHola Mary Ann: I don’t have an e-mail address for this couple, but I can probably round one up in a day or so. I’m not sure that the wife is capable of using a keyboard as her hands are somewhat distorted, but her husband would probably respond to you. They found an excellent physicial therapist in San Ramon and a good massage therapist, and they feel that the level of care for her condition is as good if not better than that which they were getting in the States. And at considerably less expense. They built in a development called Angel Valley — they are immediately adjacent to this development http://www.rancholobo.com but their property is not part of this development even though they are just a few hundred yards down the road. There are lots left in Rancho Lobo and it is a great community — some of the residents have major health issues but for the most part we are all pretty active 50+ somethings!
May 24, 2006 at 6:05 pm #176683maravillaMemberI don’t know how current this e-mail addy is, but you can give it a try. sduplantier@netscape.net Their names are Steve and Cathleen Duplantier. I think she’s had MS for nearly 15 years. He is her primary caretaker and they moved to CR to get out of the heat of Louisiana where he was a professor. If that e-mail doesn’t get to them, let me know and I will try another route.
May 24, 2006 at 7:24 pm #176684Mary AnnMemberThank You so much for all your help but the email came back saying it was undeliverable. So I will still need help on having a place to stay for a while til we get ready to build. Maybe even towards the mountains where it is cooler.
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