Upsetting News...

Day 32:

WARNING: This post may contain content that is upsetting to some readers. Read at your own risk. (CHRIS this means you!)

I am so glad I live in Canada where we have government-funded healthcare and options in terms of obtaining financial help for beyond that point. I think we sometimes take this for granted, until stories like the following give us an awakening.

Yesterday when I was at home Reina (the housekeeper here) came into my room flustered and obviously upset. She asked me if I was alright and I threw the question back at her.

She had just found out that her son, who lives in Nicaragua, was in the hospital. She was pretty flustered so I didn’t catch the exact cause or timing, but apparently he had suffered a deep gash under his right arm and was in pretty rough shape.

The family member who had called had left her a number to call back, but Reina didn’t have any money on her for a phone card.

Reina is an absolutely sweet women in her sixties, a fact I was surprised to learn because her energy level and appearance are those of a woman at least 10 years younger. She moved here with her husband over ten years ago, but a lot of her children either elected to stay in Nicaragua or have returned there since. Like a lot of people financial reasons have made it hard for them to return and visit as often as they’d like, so she is pretty excited about our trip at the end of October.

I, of course, helped her with the money for the phone card. And after a number of failed attempts she got through to a family member. I left her alone to finish her call and simply made myself available if she wanted to talk afterwards. But the doctors were still assessing the situation, and all she knew was that he was still in emergency.

This morning, at breakfast, Reina gave Mari and I an update on the situation.

Her son was awake and she had been able to talk to him, but that was where the good news ended. Apparently the major tendon running under his arm and down his side had been severed and he had lost sensation and mobility of his right hand and fingers. Moreover, I gather that he had not gone to the hospital as quickly as he should have, or the care was not sufficient, because he now has gangrene going up his right arm and the doctor was presenting amputation as the only option. But they were uncertain if the cut would be made halfway up the bicep or at the shoulder.

Reina said her son didn’t want to go through with the operation, he would not be himself without the arm and wanted a second opinion, but the doctor was telling him it was limited. Reina was frustrated for her son and felt that there may be another option. I didn’t want to dash her hopes but I think that that much gangrene is difficult to fight.

She went on to explain about how they would have to find a way to pay off the surgeon after the operation, because they had no where near the $500 they needed to pay for the operation now.

This made me think of how much money that must be in Nicoraugwa, where the per capita income is about $475. It made me glad for the fact that in Canada life threatening or necessary medical treatment is covered. How hard it must be to not only worry about the emotional and life-changing effects of such a situation, but to at the same time worry about the very real financial obstacles as well.

There is also the cost of Reina returning to Nicoraugwa, she was going to have the money for the end of October, but at this time is short. Unfortunately, although both Mari and I want to help, we aren’t able to do so before the week after next, because neither of our cheques kick in earlier. This was another fact that hit me hard, thinking about credit cards and how a $181 flight would not be an insurmountable obstacle in Canada for a mother who wanted to see her hospitalized child.

It really hit me, because although I have had people state that being poor was not the same in Canada as it was here. And I knew and agreed with that, but also would state that we too have our problems and limitations and it is not a Never Never Land with gold paved streets and money growing on trees.

Right now, for the first time, looking through Reina’s eyes I can see that Never Never Land and how far away the medical advancements must seem. She will fly out to see him next week, but the surgery is scheduled for today, and although he has other family with him, and although Mari and I keep trying to reassure Reina of this fact, we know it is not the same as having your mother there.

Prosthetics are another concern, definitely something they would want to consider, her son is only 26 years old.

There is a 5 year waiting list (not too different than in Canada, prosthetics aren’t easy to come by in Canada either and it will take atleast a year for the wound to heal sufficiently), but then there is the cost, which has to be covered by the family. No government grants, special funds, or organizations like CCAC to come to their aid.

Twenty-six years old, loosing your right arm with the prospect of a prosthetic being only a distant dream . . . I can’t even think about what he must be going through, it is too horrible.

I am sorry if this post is unpleasant to read, but I just felt the story needed to be shared.