Adventures in Medicine in Guatemala

I've journeyed into the world of medical care in Guatemala!  Let me take you along...

I have been struggling with pain of my sciatic nerve, a sharp pain that may originate in the spinal column, then goes through the fanny and down the back of my right leg, back of knee, to the ankle and even toe.  It started when I was still in Kansas, and may have started when I lifted boxes for the move.  It got debilitating - terrible pain and weakness - over the next few weeks.  So, I sought medical care. 

First I went to a chiropractor in Xela (Quetzaltenango).  It was a small building off a larger street. We rang a doorbell, and after telling the woman what we wanted (a treatment), we were buzzed in.  I went into the treatment room, and asked the man if he was a chiropractor; yes, he is.  After a brief treatment, and collecting payment of maybe $18, he admitted he's not a chiropractor!  He's a physiologist or something.  And, his treatment didn't help. 

Next, I went back to the same chiro office but sought the other chiropractor (this is a family business). This time I got a second chiro, who wanted me to take B12 injections (Oh they LOVE injections here... more about that later!) and put some kind of oil on my hip.  Later, a third visit to a third chiropractor (and family member) also didn't result in improvement of symptoms. 

I then tried another doctor, a Cuban doctor, in Coatepeque. He had absolutely no one in his waiting room, which always makes me suspicious! He asked me a few questions, did one quick exam on the table, and sent me for x-rays.  As I recall, he charged me $15, perhaps more.  

So I left his office, and went to the x-ray place. It was a dark waiting room with empty chairs lined up, theater-style, and a glassed-in receptionist area. I walked in, and on my own say-so (no written doctor's orders), I got x-rays of my spine to look for impingement in the vertebrae.  I changed into a gown for the x-rays, in a cramped bathroom that was between the x-ray room and some other room.  After they were done, I waited outside, and hand-carried the x-rays back to the Cuban doctor that afternoon.  

Coming back, he looked at x-rays, found no impingement in the spine, so suddenly decided that I had probably stripped the myelin from my sciatic nerve.  He told me I needed 12 days of bedrest and daily injections of a medicine that is not available in the US.  Made me a little worried, since many pharmaceutical companies dump bad drugs in Central America, but I went for it.  

So for (most of) the 12 days, I rested, and had daily injections.  Let me tell you about the injections... 

All I had to do was walk up to a farmacia (pharmacy), and tell them I wanted an injection of this medicine.  OK, they say!  No doctor's prescription, just, OK.  A woman prepared the shot, and invited me to the back room to a cot. I laid on a cotton sheet that who-knows-how-many other patients had just lain on, and she delivered the shot.  Thanks, and Q34 (34 quetzales or $4.25).  Over the next days, I went back for my daily shots.  They were doing renovations, and so on later days, I had my shot in a public hallway, right after the 'nurse' asked a construction worker who was tearing something apart to step away.  I then laid down on a (dusty?) sheet and had my shot.  Another time, the cot was placed in a side room, and I had my shot while a mother and her child were sitting on a mattress on the floor, presumably waiting for some kind of treatment.  

(FYI, when I was in Guatemala in January and I had bronchitis, I also went to a farmacia to get antibiotics. The clerk showed me two antibiotics she had, and said, "which one do you want?"!)

The last time I went there, the renovation was done.  I went to the regular room ... and in front of an open window, I again had my shot. I wasn't too concerned - there was no one outside and it was partially blocked by a tree... but I really knew I was in Guatemala that week! 

My hip/sciatica is 90% better.  Was it the injections?  The bedrest?  The walking in service? Who knows.  I'm hoping to have it fully better before too long, injections or not!