When I first came to Belize I used to drive this old Guatemalan Dr. -- from village to village -- to do his "rounds". He was excellent at diagnosing tropical diseases -- using stethoscope, thermometer, "sounding", visual inspection of throat, eyes etc. He was 70 yrs old at this time -- and I truly believe "Practice makes perfect". He carried medicine for Malaria -- antibiotics -- worm medicine -- treatments for ameba -- medicine for controlling blood sugar levels -- insulin for emergencies -- etc. We also carried "drip". And of course -- his complete surgical "kit". I once held the light for him while he extracted a gall-bladder -- the patient on a table in a stick house. He charged $50 BZ for that service (Rec'd $5.00 cash -- the rest in monthly payments there after) He did lots of surgical work -- and I never saw a post surgery infection! (We did follow ups weekly) Anyway -- to the point -- he had a "miracle" drug that he kept injecting everyone with. As Richard points out -- every Doc has to give injections! This miracle drug was a vitamin B-12 complex injection. A great placebo --- with some real benefits -- as most people living in the tropics are low in Vitamin B-12. But modern American medicine with all its restrictions, codes and rules - -reached Belize. And this style medicine no longer exists. Now we have a cash cow of a social medicine "system" -- But this was how things worked -- in the past --- here in Belize -- and worked very well! One last note of interest -- I cured his wife of deadly leukemia a few years later. This about 8 years back now -- she still comes visit -- and is in excellent health. There is real medicine -- where the cure is the objective. Then there is modern American medicine -- where getting rich is the objective. It is strange and unfortunate that one can't work with the other. Or -- the more we pay for medicine -- the poorer the results. Peter
Maintained by Ray Auxillou, Silvia Pinzon, MLS, and Marty Casado. Please email with suggestions or additions for this Electronic Library of Belize. |