Don Chano

Fany's father in law who lives out in the country fell off a horse on Friday. He's in his 70's and not in the best of health to begin with. He wasn't supposed to be out taking care of the cows, but you know those people who refuse to slow down? That's Don Chano. I think working gives him a purpose.

His wife had quite a scare when a man known for trafficking narcotics came to her door. He told Doña Paola that he found Don Chano on the road but Don Chano refused to get in the car with him. Don Chano just asked the man to go to his house and send his son to get him.

Santos went and found his father, lying over his horse, unable to move. The horse had been spooked by a donkey and tossed Don Chano onto a pile of big rocks. He managed to pull himself onto the horse and get out to the road, but he couldn't go any further.

Santos (Fany's husband) has two vehicles. Each one is always on the verge of dying or dead. This week his big work truck is functioning. Santos didn't think his dad should ride in the work truck for over an hour to get to the city. The road is bumpy, and worse in that truck. It would be a rough ride for his father in that condition.

Fany asked if I could drive and pick up Don Chano to take him to the hospital. I said sure, although I knew it was a bad idea for my ankle. I mean, we couldn't let the man die there.

We tried to find other vehicles but nobody in the little village had a car. I said if he were that bad off, he probably shouldn't wait over an hour for me to get there and pick him up. So Santos headed for the hospital with his father in the big, bumpy truck.

Don Chano was in such pain and Santos was so nervous that he ended up driving to the nearest clinic and taking an ambulance the rest of the way. Santos thought his father was going to die on the car ride!

X rays showed no broken bones so they did an MRI which showed no organ damage. Fany told me they gave him an antibiotic (for bruised rib cage!) and pain medicine. I asked why in the world they would give an antibiotic for bruised ribs. She didn't know.

Santos brought his father home late Friday night. Since then poor Don Chano has been here, with Santos and Fany, in Laura's bed. He needs help to go to the bathroom. It has to be so hard for a man who needs to be working all of the time to sit in a pink bedroom for four days!

He really wanted to go back home and be with his wife. He was worried about her being home alone. He thought people might come and steal the stuff they keep outside the house if they realize there is no man there. But he can't sit up or move around on his own. His wife certainly can't lift him. So he had to stay here.

He asked for some remedies that country people use. Fany kind of laughed about it, but he was in so much pain she gave in. Yesterday Fany gave him a leaf wrap on his ribs where it hurt most. He told Fany he hasn't slept for days, but the leaf wrap helped.

Sunday Fany had him agreeing to get a second opinion, but by Monday he changed his mind. Today Fany called Santos and asked him to please come home from work. His father was pale and hurting. They went to a new health building a block away. I didn't even realize the place is open. Last I knew they were still putting up the walls, but I guess I haven't walked down there in over a month because of my own medical problems.

Fany said it is a really great medical center. It has an emergency room and specialists. And clean bathrooms with soft toilet paper. She told me about the soft toilet paper three times. Toilet paper in Honduras is thin and NOT soft. A place with clean bathrooms and soft toilet paper must be good.

The doctors said he didn't need the antibiotic. Shocker! Instead they gave him an IV of pain meds. They said the pain medicine he was given Friday is nowhere near strong enough. By the time he got home Don Chano was feeling great! He sat down for dinner at the dining room table for the first time. After dinner he relaxed in the living room, watching tv.

They gave him free pain meds to get through tonight and tomorrow with a prescription for more. They also gave him a medication that Fany said is usually really expensive, for free to protect his stomach and something else free to help him sleep. Fany was impressed with that place.

I told Fany to make sure he gets his meds before the eight hours passes so he doesn't have to suffer anymore. She is going to set an alarm so he gets his meds on time. She said her back is really sore from hauling Don Chano in and out of bed. She didn't know if she could do it much longer. But if he gets his meds tomorrow, he may be able to move around and he can home soon.

We both feel horrible that he had to suffer unnecessarily for so long. I don't understand why the doctors here give antibiotics for everything, even bruised ribs.