Sunday, October 31, 2010

Drama In The Barrio Oct 2010

Culture Clash

Today's post will have no pictures.

No video. No graphic description.

It's just too sad.

One of my neighbors, a family around the corner from me,

has a small rag-tag band of horses.

Every morning the chico (young man) rides one and leads the others

the 3 short blocks to their milpa (corn field)

where the horses can munch the dry grasses and corn husks.

And every evening he does the same in reverse to secure

them overnight close to the house.

Bringing up the rear, and a block or 2 behind,

is a young colt of about 6 months.

He cannot keep up. He hobbles on 3 legs.

His right front leg is broken.

He shrieks for his mother who is a member of the band

the young man is trotting off with and she shrieks back.

I cannot stand to watch it and flee behind my walls,

plugging my ears, when I hear them approach.

Once, I shouted to the chico as they passed. . .

¡Oye, joven, que necesita veterinario!

(Hey, young man, you need the vet!)

He said. . .Ehhhhhhhh. . .without pausing.

(Colloquial affirmative response.)

I said. . .¡Está sufriendo!

(It's suffering!)

Ehhhhhhh.

Ok, what can be the problem, I thought.

Must be the family doesn't have enough money

to pay the vet to put the colt down.

No problem! I'll offer to pay. How much could it cost?

BAD IDEA!

I would then be the 'go to' gringa for everyone's

pathetic dying pet or livestock.

Bad idea.

So, I asked around the neighborhood for a solution.

Pobrecito (poor thing), my neighbors all cried.

Maybe I'll take up a collection and hire the vet anonymously.

That might work.

While chewing on that idea,

and not wanting to waste time,

I asked around a little more for the right way to handle this.

I stopped at Guillermo's carneceria in the mercado,

and told him the sad story.

Guillermo said he knew the family and would stop

and have a chat with them asap.

Don't worry, Guillermo said, I'm an animal lover too,

I'll take care of it!

Whew.

I returned to Guillermo's carneceria and asked

what he found out.

Did you have a chat with the family with the little colt?

Si. I told them they needed to put the horse down.

What did they say?

No.

WHAT? WHY?

They said it's not big enough yet.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Searching For Cancer Oct 2010

A Mexican Medical Experience

It's been a month since my Celiac Disease diagnosis

and the only thing left to do now

is to stick to a gluten-free diet

and search for cancer from Celiac damage.

The morning of the dreaded colonoscopy

we met my doctor, Juan Pablo Loza Méndez,

at his office in Chapala at 7:30AM.

Dr. Juan Pablo Loza Méndez

Calle Guerrero #141

Chapala
Cel 333 141 3364

He drove us to the hospital in Guadalajara

for the procedure, where he would also assist.

Hospital Dr. Ángel Leaño is the teaching hospital

for the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara A.C. (UAG),

the premier medical school in Guadalajara.

It was impressive.

I was taken into the procedure room

and the first thing I saw when I walked in was this painting.

Although I am a spiritual person,

and not particularly a religious person,

I have to say I found this painting

very moving.

Maybe the fact that they were going to stick

instruments a loooong way up into my body

had something to do with it.

They prepared to sedate me and the

Chief of Staff of Gastroenterology came in and introduced himself.

He was a kind, confident, warm, and intelligent looking

man and I liked him instantly.

His name is Dr. J Martín García González

He explained everything he was going to do

and asked a lot of appropriate questions.

The nurse started the IV, put on a relaxing DVD of waves and beaches,

loaded a blank DVD into their recorder,

and pushed the sedation.

Goodnight!

I awoke to Dr. Juan Pablo and the nurse saying

"No cancer!!!" "No cancer!!!" "No cancer!!!"

OMG

After that we went to Dr. García's handsome office

for the results and a consultation.

He gave me a bound booklet of the results with photos

and a DVD of the procedure.

The rest of the story is:

Procedure/Dr./Hospital - $5000 pesos (about $400US)

Dr. Juan Pablo's services - $1000 pesos (about $80US)

NOT FINDING CANCER - PRICELESS!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

For My SF Bay Area Friends Oct 2010

Sunday, October 10, 2010

We Have A Diagnosis! Oct 2010

Twenty three days gluten-free

and I am a new person!

Well, I should say, I am back to my old person.

Something was very wrong!

There were hints, there were clues,

there were multiple bad symptoms,

all missed by the many docs I'd seen

with their useless treatment plans over the last few months.

Not one of them actually worked me up,

they only prescribed medications for the symptoms.

Until. . .

Finally, I found the right doctor

and my life and health changed for the better.

Since Celiac Disease is one of the least understood

and most under-diagnosed illnesses around today,

I'll use this blog post to educate my readers

in the event there is someone out there reading this

who says. . .that could be me!

Here is a little information from the

National Foundation for Celiac Awareness.

Celiac Disease Facts & Figures

Here are some of the most staggering facts about celiac disease and the gluten-free marketplace. Each statement highlights the need for education and awareness amongst the medical and culinary communities as well as the general public.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food.
One in 133 Americans have celiac disease.
Three million Americans across all races, ages and genders suffer from celiac.
95% of celiacs are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with other conditions.
10 years is the average time a person waits to be correctly diagnosed.
17% of celiac patients have an immediate family member who also has celiac.
Celiac disease can lead to a number of other disorders including infertility, reduced bone density, neurological disorders, some cancers, and other autoimmune diseases.
$5,000-$12,000 is the average cost of misdiagnosis per person/per year of celiac, not including lost work time.
There are NO pharmaceutical cures for celiac disease.
A 100% gluten-free diet is the only existing treatment for celiac today.
A positive attitude, 100% of the time, helps celiacs create a gluten-free lifestyle for themselves and their affected family members.
500,000 new celiac diagnoses are expected to occur in the next 5 years thanks to efforts to raise public awareness of celiac disease.
The gluten-free marketplace is expected to reach $1.7 billion by 2010 thanks to new vendors manufacturing better tasting and more affordable products.