Spectrum of Extremes

January 4, 1015

Small liquiteria en Real de Guadalupe.

Twenty-fifteen begins by coming to San Cristobal to help Don Sergio once again.  It has been five months since I was last here and it seems he never misses a beat and feels like I never left. There are a few changes and for they're for the best.

The help Don Sergio is receiving from 3 local jovenes (youngsters) continues: Alfonso, 17, is in preparatory school prepping for medical school; Cesar, 20, started medical school last semester; and a young woman, Edith, who wants to learn and become a physician. Los jovenes are so mature, motivated and clever. They love working with Don Sergio and look up to him. In return, Don Sergio appreciates the help and teaches them all the wound care he knows.

Cesar is doing well in his studies and can only work with Don Sergio on Saturday night and on Sundays. He was so happy to tell me of all the things he is learning and how hard he is studying. Alfonso, quiet and shy, and a hard worker, is dedicated and has been coming almost every night. Our new gal, comes when she can and is like Alfonso: shy and quiet. The three of them are pure gems.

They have the best beet, carrot and papaya liquados!

Our friend Iker also continues to come help but not for long as he plans to start a journey on his biciceta heading south through Central and South America. There is no doubt this rare bird will help many along the way as he can.  A free life he has and his physical needs are minimal and he has so much love and caring to share.

The day after my arrival, Don Sergio and I made our usual house calls to those too incapacitated to come to the museo. I was surprised at how there was one serious case after another. Two of our 8 house-call patients appear to have terminal cancer. One with a severe foot ulcer in which Don Sergio had to amputate one of his toes and is trying to save the rest of the forefoot, is so thin that his ribs poke out and the signs of anemia are obvious. The other has a myosarcoma (cancer in the muscle) in the right upper thigh that is the size of a cantaloupe. Both don't eat much and are miserable with nausea and fatigue.  There is really nothing that can be done at this point, but to make them comfortable.

I only bought one....and a couple of dark kakao bars.

Our other patients are blind from diabetes, frail with age or have another serious maladies in which they can barely walk.  The age range is 45 - 70. They have gone to the hospital or have seen a doctor but they are not comfortable with the system and they have hope that Don Sergio can cure them.  Regardless of how terminal their illness Don Sergio continues to care for them as if they will live forever.

How is it that we can have such beautiful and free lives and then there are those that suffer intensely for many years of their lives...slowly dying?  We all know what it feels like to have a belly ache and these terminal patients are constantly nauseous, have no energy, and can barely walk from one side of a room to the other.

The spectrum of our lives seems extreme: those of us doing what we want with our freedom and good health (always in a beautiful growth phase), and those that suffer beyond what we would ever want anyone to endure. We all see these differences and it makes us so grateful to be who we are and privileged to help.

Panaderia Frances - I had no resistance.

Posted by Patricia Ferrer.