A Slow Road

Yesterday was another busy day. The first concern was to get Jhonny a 'catagoria'. This is a type of social assistance and we have been working on this since he arrived at the hospital but every day the lady says "Tomorrow." Finally, after a bit of persistance we finally received the correct papers and Jhonny now receives a lower rate on the lab work, the surgeries and his bed. Erselia was a bit perplexed when the lady told her that all ladies that wore polleras (the native skirt) could not read. The assumption is that if you wear native dress and live in the campo, you are automatically poor.

By the time that was all done and the medications purchased it was too late to bring the tumor to its new home.

At noon we were informed that Jhonny needed another tamography and, thanks to the teachers, we had a 3 p.m. appointment. Of course, that is Bolivian time so it was after 4 before we left since they had problems finding an oxygen bottle for the ambulance. We were thankful that for some reason the ride was free. While we were there the doctors asked if they could get a chest x-ray at the same time. The original price - $42US -- the final price 78 bolivianos or a little over $10.

This morning we finally were able to talk to the surgeon who informed us that the tumor was half the size of Jhonny's brain and that was the reason that recovery was taking so long. He says that Jhonny will be in 'a delicate state' for two or three more days and we won't know much until then.

I was very happy that the doctor talked to us since we were all feeling low. Since Sunday four children have died -- one ten year old and three babies. Erselia expressed this morning that it seems that only dead children came out of that ward. This morning was especially hard since the mother is single and was alone when she was told her baby died. It was a very hard couple of hours until her friends came. There is no type of grief counselling and the staff just walk passed looking straight ahead. It is the other people with children in intensive care that end up helping and supporting.

Every day I am thankful for the health care system we have. You have no idea what it is like to have to pay for every little thing before something can be done. But on the other hand, the public system is not always the cheapest. I brought the tumor to its new home today -- a private lab that will have the results quicker than the public system. The price was 100 bolivianos cheaper at the private lab -- you just never know!