Family and Health Care

Most Latin Americans consider family as core to their existence. In Chimbote, Peru, people rarely travel or leave the city they were born in. The locals marvel at the missionary commitment of two years and consider it a tremendous sacrifice. They frequently ask us if we miss our families.

Households are often a mix of relatives; aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and grandparents. They care for family members that are aged to the point where one in the U.S. would normally find in a nursing home. I am sure having such a large household makes this possible. It is very touching to see families shoulder this burden with such love and grace. However, there is also an unspoken obligation that family care is of the highest priority. One of the daughters of a patient in hospice stopped two hours short of finishing her teaching license to care for her mother. It is unfortunate, all of her work will have to be repeated because they do not allow for any breaks in their education.

Family is extremely important in the hospital. Patient rights are virtually non-existent. You need family to pay if you present yourself to the emergency room. They will not treat you if you have not paid or at least not appropriately which includes acute care. Heart attack? Stroke? Allergic reaction? Can't breathe? You better have someone running to the cashier for you. One of the Sisters shared with me her experience when she helped a Peruvian to the hospital that was in a traffic accident. His vehicle was smashed and he was bloody. After sometime the man was seen by a doctor who, knowing he could not pay, just asked at a distance, "can you stand up?" and was going to discharge him with prescriptions, choosing not to tend to the lacerations or road burn. In this instance, the family arrived in the nick of time to demand x-rays and wound care.

Hospital care is minimal at best. They do not treat the entire patient. We have been to hospitals to do dressing changes – the nursing care inside the hospital will not do this! We are currently dealing with a family whose mother is at home, just had a stroke, paralysis on the left side, has a pacemaker and minimal urine output measured by Foley catheter. Two weeks out and they have not been seen by a cardiologist, physical therapist or urologist. Visits to the hospital are frequently unprofitable and aggravating even with appointments. This family has been twice but has not had their needs met. I don't see how you could live without family in Latin America. You need them to survive financially and physically. Life is too harsh without them.

On a personal note, we are currently without water in the house which is a concern. Just like patient rights, the city does not care if you are without, it is up to you to fend for yourself. The house has been without water before but not for more than 24 hours so we are worried. Water in the house is stored in a large reservoir and is filled by the city through city pipes twice a day; morning/ night. We are praying the water comes tonight but if it is related to the construction nearby it might be for a longer period of time. This comes on the heels of a fundraiser we had at the house where we lent out our kitchen to a rock group from the parish. The kitchen is full of dirty pots and pans that we have not been able to clean, so cross your fingers on the water. Drinking, cooking, cleaning; water is essential. The African missions have to deal with water issues all the time so I guess we are getting a taste of that this weekend.

One other note that will make you cringe, we just set out mouse traps. The night before the fundraiser one of the girls confirmed her suspicion of mice. It is spring. Considering our kitchen is a graveyard of dirty plates and trash - let’s just say, life is a little uncomfortable at the moment.