Housecalls

We accompany Dr. Mendoza on a few house calls. An old man has prostate troubles. The hospital won't see him because he does not have "social security". Without proof of employment or insurance provided by the employer, the hospital will not treat him.


Next we enter the home of a Mixtec Indian woman in a wheel chair. She is 63 years old and only speaks her native language. Her teenage son and husband translate into Spanish for her. The family came from Oaxaca when their land was taken there. Six of her children have gone to America, never heard from again. The cheerful teenage son is doing odd jobs to help them make money for their medical needs. He proudly plays a trumpet for us and shows us crafts he makes out of sunflower seeds. The money will be used to find help for his mother.

The delicate woman's husband pats her head as he tells us her story. Around age 40 she fell about three meters down a mountain. Her pain has increased, and eventually she lost control of her bowels and urine. The last time she walked was about a year ago. Now bed sores have replaced her ability to move, and even feel, her legs. She has an X-ray and even an MRI, but the doctors have all told her they can't help. At the hospital they did not give her any help, just an obtuse diagnosis: "viral disease of the spine".

In Juarez, one must have "social security", like insurance to be treated at the hospitals. By working for a company, one can get this insurance. Some factories even have their own medical facilities for the workers and families. Self-employed Mexicans can use government clinics, which hopefully have a functioning clinic to match the given address. Private and non-profit clinics fill in the gaps for health care. Most specialist doctors operate privately.

In the sparse home of the paralyzed transplant, the doctor tells us that there is only one neurosurgeon in Juarez, and he won't treat if they can't pay. The woman motions to her son to show us their TV. People in masks are dancing. The video was sent from their friends in Oaxaca: it is an Easter celebration. Transplanted from their original home, like so many of their neighbors, they have the video to remind them of their heritage. We are all smiling as they tell us the tradition. The old women begin the dancing, and invite the younger women. Married women dance with their husbands. If young men and women are caught dancing without being married, they are sent to jail. If a married man dances with another woman other than his wife, he is sent to jail. Dr. Mendoza tells the woman she wants her to dance again. Later she brainstorms with me how to get an American neurosurgeon to see her. It seems it should be easier as we walk outside and see the Texas highway 10 just beyond the rubble of Anapra.

Her husband excitedly tells us as we go, "We want an American doctor because the Mexican doctors don't open the door for the poor. The special doctors here: they don't open the door for the poor."