January 12, 2015
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| Ricci during our morning walk at Riñcon Hotel garden. |
Before meeting Don Sergio for Monday morning rounds, Ricci and I
went out early for a walk then returned to Bela’s for breakfast. As we were
preparing to head to el museo I
received an email from a friend I have not heard from in 4 years.
Betsy McNair, with MyMexicoTours who I met in 2011 at a fundraiser
for Don Sergio in San Miguel de Allende contacted me. She said she was in San
Cris and is bringing a tour group and had stopped by Don Sergio's house Sunday
evening to arrange a museo tour. Don Sergio, and his wife Elsa, told Betsy
that Elsa's mother had died an hour prior and told Betsy he was hoping I would
continue to take care of the patients while he took care of the necessities of
the situation. Elsa had been her elderly (and frail) mother's caretaker for more than five years. Don
Sergio and Elsa raised their family of 7 children in his suegra’s (mother-in-law) house where they still live not far from the museo.
We arrived at the museo and saw DS had left a note explaining
what happened and he couldn't come with us. Ricci and I were on our own
again, but we had a different driver who did not know exactly where to go. The
streets of the San Cristóbal burbs are not well marked, but we found our way to
the most crucial patients we had been caring for.
Our first patient was the 45 y/o man with severe anemia, liver disease, diabetes and almost blind (most likely diabetic retinopathy) with the grossly ulcerated feet. Daily we ask him how he feels and usually
he says 'más o menos'. Today he said, 'whenever I sit up I get really
dizzy'. Oye! This is no surprise, he is so anemic, not hungry, and for
lack of a better word he looks like Skelator (cachectic is the medical term).
His feet are now retaining water without gravity assistance and they are
becoming infected no matter how well we clean and treat the ulcers. As we did
our job we explained to him why he is dizzy and asked if he can go to the
hospital or see a doctor, but he does not want to go and at this point I'm not
sure what they can do for him anyway.
Our second patient was the 26 year-old with the severely burned
leg. When we arrived it was a surreal scene. As were knocking on the
door a truck with 6 men in the back said he was not at his house but down the
street visiting someone, then said '¡mire!' (look), he was heading toward us. Don Sergio had bought muletas (crutches) for him last week and he
was already mobile and about. Not with the fastest stride but making
progress.
His emotional happiness was soon taken away by the excruciating
pain from the bandage change. The wound is improving and there was no putrid smell. Yesterday we had debrided most of the nonviable skin and clinically it
looked good (relatively speaking). However, only part of his leg, the pre-tibia
region, has a third degree burn (usually painless due to the depth of the burn)
and the rest of the leg has deep second degree burns which is the most painful. At
burn centers patients are medicated prior to bandage changes, sometimes put
completely under general anesthesia. Not here: we are hesitant to give
him tylenol or paracetamol due to not knowing his liver status after 11 years
of heavy drinking, so we give ibuprofen. He had so much pain, that no matter
how much we pause to let the pain pass he was writhing. Twice he fainted
but quickly came to. He allowed us to continue until done. We told him to
rest, sleep, take the ibuprofen every 6 hours and we will return the following
day.
Ten-minutes later an internal shaking took place in my body for
about a minute, a few tears, and then I was over it. This is how it was for medics prior to anesthesia and this is how it is now here in Chiapas. This had to be done in order for the wound to
have the best chance and to reduce pockets of retained bacteria that may cause
infection. Ricci took the following day off from this case; it was just too
much to bear. Experiences like this is what Don Sergio has dealt with for many years.
The evening clinic was busy with patients and to my relief Edith
and Cesar arrived. After telling
them Don Sergio’s suegra se
murío and he would not be coming
they both jumped in. Our patient load was quite heavy and
Cesar took complete control directing the patient flow. He was telling me which
patients to see, telling Ricci and Edith what to do as he took the most
challenging cases. Cesar, el
general, is a natural born leader: clear-headed, able to see what needs to
be done in different areas and execute a plan of efficiency. I loved it,
a 20 year-old medical student was bossing me around.
Christiane, a French woman living in San Cristóbal half the year and who has been an avid supporter of Don Sergio for 26 years came in asked if there was something she could do. We had had 4 visitors earlier wanting tour but I had asked them to return later in the week. So, Christiane agreed to be the museo tour guide on Tuesday night. She speaks French and Spanish so the museo doors would be open for visitors.
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Alfonso has a quiet demeanor, is a hard worker,
and can focus like a laser beam. |
During clinic Alfonso came and calmly got to work. Ricci keep
everyone supplied with what they needed. After things settled down Cesar told
Alfonso to get flowers, Edith for cups, he was going to get coffee and sent
Ricci and I for bread. He told us to meet him back at the museo at 8pm said he will find Iker and we
will go see Don Sergio juntos (together).
At 8 pm Iker and Edith were waiting at the museo doorsteps in the dark. We chatted and
watched sporatic fire works until Alfonso and Cesar arrived. I lead the way
along the narrow sidewalk to Don Sergio home. His son answered the door and from
the back of the central patio of this ancient colonial home comes Don Sergio,
in a stride I have never seen before: a fast and efficient pace. He welcomed us
into the large bare foyer and as we half-circled around him he hugged us all
and recounted what happened.
On Sunday he returned from seeing his father in DF (Mexico City) around 3pm
and all was well in the house. His suegra sat with the family, chatted with him,
ate and was in a good mood. She then went to lie down and a few minutes later
she yelled 'ayudame, ayudame' (help me, help me). They came to her and
saw something was wrong and she became limp and slumped over. Don Sergio tried
to revive her with mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions but she was gone.
Sergio snapped his fingers as if this was as fast as it happened and said, 'gracias
adios, ella no sufre' (thanks to God she did not suffer). He believes she had
brain hemorrhage or stroke.
We remained entranced with this story then he told us of his visit
with his father in DF who remains lucid and mentally alert although he cannot
walk or feel anything from the waist down. Then he burst into tears that he had
the opportunity to spend some time with him. There were no dry eyes in this
group. He hugged us one by one as we left the items we'd brought and told
him not to worry about anything with the clinic and patients. He said he’d
return to work on Wednesday.
The six of us walked in silence toward the Zócolo at which point
we split into our separate ways. Ricci took the next day off and Alfonso and
Iker agreed to come with me to see our crucial two patients.
Friends of Don Sergio coming together at this time remind me of It's a Wonderful Life.
George Bailey who had always treated people fair and kind had his own ‘time of
need’ in which his friends showed up. My timing for this trip was perfect.
Although busy, intense and with a touch of diarrhea and nausea for three days,
with all the help, the wound and burn care did not miss a beat.
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Betsy McNair stopped by Bela's for comida.
We have not seen each other for
4 years. She knows all of Mexico
and advocates supporting Don Sergio`s work.
MyMexicoTours |
