At the Hospital

A friend of mine has a baby with various problems and I have accompanied her to the hospital a couple of times. There is no "primary care physician" system here. You don't go to the doctor's office unless you have money to pay for a private visit. Completely out of reach for most people. So, whenever you have the flu, or malaria, or any other medical problem, you head to the hospital. It is not easy to see a doctor, however. I believe there is about one doctor per 50,000 people here. Yeah. Bad.

So anyway, we went down to the central hospital to try to see the neurologist because the baby was diagnosed with some water on the brain. We were extremely lucky to have found this out. The baby was in the hospital several weeks ago with bad diarrhea (a big problem here) and while there a pediatrician happened to be visiting from the capital city, and noticed the size of her head. A CAT scan was done (WOW! We were so amazed that there is a CAT scan here! And it was even working that week!) which showed a small amount of hydrocephaly. So an appointment was made with the neurologist for the following week.

We arrived into the big central waiting room and were directed to one corner. The nurse came out after awhile and called some names, and those people were told to go home and come back another day. Then some more names were called, and people went in. After two hours, I told my friend I had to go and teach a class, and we decided I should ask the nurse if the baby's name would be called soon. She told me that we were waiting in the wrong place. Sigh. So we went to that area and were told the baby's name wasn't on that list either. We were sent down to the appointments area, where we were told to go back to another area and ask someone else. We did, and he told my friend that we were supposed to see the neurosurgeon, not the neurologist, which he had told her the day we made the appointment. She had been confused, apparently. We went down to the neurosurgeon's little corner, and were told that he wasn't there, hadn't been there, and furthermore was away at a conference and wouldn't return for two more weeks. Could we make an appointment? No. Back we went to the appointments area, where we were told we could return on February 6th for our appointment. However, we'd already been told that the doctor wouldn't be done with the conference until February 7th.

SO, I questioned the appointments guy. Are you sure he will be here? Yes, I am sure. Are you going to write the baby's name down in the appointments book? No, it is not necessary. So, we have an appointment but you are not going to write it down? Correct. So, we will come here on February 6th and the doctor will be here and the baby will have an appointment? Yes. What time? Come at 9:00.

Now, we both knew he was lying. But in this culture you are not supposed to call someone on it. I pushed the envelope and asked, "What is your name, sir?" "Geraldo". "So, Senhor Geraldo, I will come here on February 6th at 9:00 with this baby and the neurosurgeon will be here?" "Yes." "But he is not due back until the 7th." "He will be here". Riiiiggghhht.

So my friend and I go outside and talk about it, and agree he is lying. I had to go, but she said she would stay and talk to the head appointments guy. Later, she told me that Senhor Geraldo was very "emotional" about my direct queries. He said he had never met a white person like that! I was VERY pushy, even though I had a smile on my face. Oh well! She spoke to the head appointments guy, who told us to return on February 12th in order to make an appointment. Who knows when the appointment will be!

And why did I have to go with my friend? Two reasons: First, the appearance of a foreign (usually white) face opens doors and gets you better service at the hospital. Why? Because the staff know that the foreigners will complain to the higher-ups and may KNOW the higher-ups. Not necessarily true, but it helps. Second, most local people here have zero medical knowledge and are afraid to ask questions of the doctor. Doctors usually don't explain what is going on with a patient and often will listen to the complaint, write a prescription, and go on to the next patient without even telling the patient what the problem is. Just take the pills! So, I am able to listen, process the information, and ask questions.

We'll be back for yet another exciting visit and will hope that we make some progress soon. Please keep baby Cremilde in your prayers. She is doing well but faces some medical problems that need to be addressed. - Cami