Loren Eisenhauer, a boy of 12 who is here with his family from Kansas City, was fine last Saturday morning, and very suddenly had severe belly pains. I went with his dad, Shawn, to the doctor to help translate.
We arrived at the doctor's office. There was a receptionist but no doctor. She called the doctor, who said she'd arrive in 10 minutes. It was more like 20, and poor Loren was really suffering. After an examination, she said Loren had all the indications of appendicitis. She is a surgeon, and said we needed to take Loren to the hospital. We followed her up the mountain to the hospital in Sololá.
Shawn had a choice of two hospitals nearby. The public hospital was free - but would take at least a day to evaluate Loren and get him into surgery. It also is of a much lower quality of care, since it is free and public. (Loren's mom was confused about where he was treated, and went in the public hospital, and was horrified at what she saw). The other option is the private hospital. He opted for the private hospital, supposed to be 5000Q (about $650 cash, covering surgery, doctor and anesthesiologist and post-op care), though it actually ended up a bit higher than that (5750Q). There are other options - to go to Quetzaltenango (2 hours away) or Guatemala City (about 3 hours away). For large, complex surgery, that's the best choice.
The private hospital looked more like a doctor's office, with a surgical room at the back. In the patient rooms, the chairs were torn up, the curtains between beds were modified sheets. The bathroom was a bit rough. But the people were kind and careful, and he did great in the surgery.
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| Operating room |
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| Just before surgery |
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| After surgery |
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| Shawn with Loren |
Loren is back home, and recovering nicely. I'm sure as a typical boy, he'll enjoy showing off his scar!
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