Spanglish at the doctor's office

Yesterday I had my annual check-up with a UroGynegologist. I made sure that the doctor spoke English before I made the appointment. They assured me that he spoke English and Spanish. I arrived and was greeted by a lovely secretary who had a million questions for me about my past health. All the questions were in Spanish. I made it through the interrogation somehow and she was extremely patient. I just kept thinking, let's get the doctor in here so can we can do this in English.

The doctor was wonderful! I could tell that he wasn't tracking with me as I spoke English. So I asked him if I should slow down and he said yes. We tried to dialogue for a few minutes and then I said, "Would it be easier for you if we spoke in Spanish?" He was delighted to go back to his mother tongue. So....we did the entire (and it was about 30 minutes) appointment in Spanish because my Spanish is better than his English. Boy, that made me feel good. When I was trying, originally, to speak in English to him, I was having a hard time because my mind would translate it into Spanish and my tongue was having to say it in English. So it became easier for me just to converse only in Spanish. It was a great experience for me to have this opportunity. I left feeling very please at how much I understood and expressed. And I didn't think that they were frustrated at all with my inability to communicate perfectly. The doctor and his secretary even gave me hugs when I left. :)