Moctezuma’s Revenge and Doctora Monica.

It was bound to happen sooner or later, but on Friday about 1 a.m., I was awakened and for the next several hours had recurring bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. At about 9 we went to see our doctor at Maskaris Clinic. Dr. Garcia was not in that day, but his fill-in doctor was Doctora Monica. She has the looks to be a movie starlet. Unlike many doctors north of the border, she was not wearing a formless white lab coat, but slacks and tight sweaters. Of course, good looks are not what is important when one goes to the doctor. However, it does help to take one’s mind off what is ailing you, if only marginally. Fortunately, she seemed to know what she was doing as a doctor also. She got me on an IV immediately as I was dehydrated. Then, after a test to discern what organism was my problem (shigella - a fairly common bacterium, especially in 3rd world countries but about 14,000 cases in the USA each year according to CDC), she started me on antibiotics. Because my nausea did not respond to gravol, etc., she decided that I should stay overnight (the clinic has 2 hospital beds) on IVs. Because they do not ordinarily have a nurse on duty 24 hours, they brought in a nurse, Susie, just to look after me.

Susie, whose regular job is in the Municipal Clinic in Chapala, has been taking English classes at the LCS and was eager to practice; she was also encouraging me to practice Spanish. We had an interesting conversation that went back and forth in English and Spanish. Dra. Monica was there all night (over 24 hours on a shift). She was able to get some sleep in another room, but a man came in complaining of stomach pains so that she was working with him until 2 or 3 in the morning. Susie, who had been sleeping on the 2nd bed, got a matress and slept/rested on the floor beside my bed. If I so much as turned over, she was up to see if I wanted or needed anything. Both she and Dra. Monica kept a close eye on me. Just before noon on Saturday with the nausea finally at bay, Monica said that I could go home. However, I ate little that day and only a bit more on Sunday. When I weighed myself on Monday morning, I was down about 6 lbs.

On Sunday morning at 1 a.m., Barbara suffered the same combination of effects that I had had. I don’t know if I had a more severe case or Barbara is just made of tougher stuff than me, but by noon she was able to begin small sips of water. It had taken me over 24 hours, almost 3 liters of IV and numerous injections to reach the same stage. By last night she was able to eat some shredded wheat. However, today she found that she is down 5 lbs. She had been taking off a few pounds since January, but still had 3 lbs. to go to her target. She is now well below that target, but it is a hard way to lose weight.

On Friday, I had originally had an appointment to go to Guadalajara to see a specialist for an electomiography test regarding my pinched nerve. That was then changed to Monday; at the time we expected that Barb would be able to go and do most of the driving. However, as noted, she was still wiped out. I went in by myself and got stopped by a cop (paying 350 pesos). The test was successful in confirming exactly where the problem is (e.g., eliminating any carpal tunnel involvement). It will now have to be pursued further, although the specialist assured me that while it required treatment, it was not serious. Again, the personnel and the equipment are very up to date and top notch. As with most doctors here, he spoke excellent, idiomatic English. I noticed that most of the specialist textbooks on his shelves were in English.

Altogether then, we seem to be recovering well and our impressions of health care here continue to be that it is as good as what we could receive at home and that specialist care is available more quickly than it would be in Canada. The appointment with the specialist was made while I was in Dr. Garcia’s office for within 2 days. The cost too, although more than the virtually free care that we Canadians get, is still, especially for Americans, surprisingly inexpensive. My visit to the specialist (wirh his fancy equipment) cost 2,000 pesos, or about Can. $180 at current exchange rates. Of course, for working class Mexicans that would probably be close to a week’s wages.