Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Mexico. We don't have a big turkey dinner or get days off from school or work. But it's one of my favorite holidays, and one I celebrated every year when I lived in the USA. I think that giving thanks is a good thing, something people should do more often, and this year I have a lot to be thankful for.

Last Sunday, November the 23rd to be exact, started like any other Sunday since I've been in Mexico, I got up early to catch up with laundry and house keeping, the kids and I had a late breakfast, we played with the dogs outside, the hours rolled in while we worked around the house and it got to late to make it to church so we just skipped it. After lunch, the kids went upstairs to watch tv while I worked on my planning for the coming week.

I was sitting at the dining room table, right across from the window that looks into the patio, a big window that lets in enough outside light, perfect for filing papers, planning class, and catching up on grading and tests, I could hear the kids playing upstairs, all of a sudden I hear a noise and as I look up and out the window, I saw the screen from the upstairs window make it's way to the ground, then, right then, right that second, my life came to a stop, time froze for an instant, only to start again like a slow motion film, it was the longest yet fastest second of my life, right after the window's screen hit the ground, I heard a yell and I saw my 5 year old boy, my baby, my life, flying, falling to the ground. I screamed, I stood up and ran outside, still screaming, with a voice I had never heard before, like a wounded animal. I don't know how long it took for his little body to hit the hard tile floor, I don't know how long it took me to run outside, it must have been minutes, but to me it felt like an eternity. When I came outside he was already in all fours trying to get up, he was crying and I could see he was badly hurt, I felt like fainting, but probably mother's instinct and adrenaline prevented me from passing out, I picked him up and ran outside, screaming, yelling for help, my 7 year old daughter tagging behind me.

The neighbors, who had heard the horryfing screaming, were already coming out of their houses to see what had happened, one of them immidiately started calling for an ambulance, I ran with my son in my arms to my mom's house, she lives about half a block away from me, another set of neighbors took me and my son in their car to the ER of a private hospital (Hospital del Nino), my mother took my daughter and called my sister so they could meet us at the hospital, my dad was out of town, so my sister need to give my mom a ride.


Eli hadn't lost consciousness at all, he was crying, but it was a little faint cry, on our ride to the hospital, about 5 minutes from the house, I kept looking him in the eye begging him not to fall asleep. When we got there, I put him on one of the stretchers and a doctor came to check him and asked what had happened, they kept talking to him, asking him if he knew where he was and if he knew who I was, he answered to all the questions, but he was in a lot of pain, and I could see he was starting to drift away, so I kept touching his hand, afraid to touch anything else, in case his bones were broken, and telling him he would be OK, but the worst thing was, I really didn't know if he was gonna be OK.

My mom, my sister and little Paloma got there a few minutes after us, and it was on the next hour when I wished I had never come back to this country, to a country that claims itself free and of high family values, and no discrimination and so on. This private hospital we were at, is subsidized by the government, is not as expensive as real private hospital, but it's not free either, it's a pediatrics specialized hospital, and that's the reason I brought my child there. Obviously my son needed X rays, to look for fractures, he needed an IV, to give him a medicine that would prevent a seizure in case of skull fracture and brain bleeding, well, I didn't have cash, of course I didn't, I don't even know how I had shoes on, I don't remember putting on my shoes, I don't remeber if I had them on before I ran out of the house, because I'm usually barefeet in the house, so of course I had no money, and the doctors couldn't do anything, they couldn't take care of my baby, because services have to be paid for before they do them. Are these people crazy? When was I supposed to stop by an ATM, before or after I picked him up from the ground? So we asked them to transfer him to hospital that's under the Social Security, which I have right to since I'm employed and I pay taxes, so it's free when you are employed, well, he needed and ambulance ride to get there, which of course, I had to pay for in cash!! Since I had no money and I wasn't about to leave my child there to go figure out a way to get 1ooo pesos, they said I could call the Red Cross for an ambulance, but the Red Cross policy is to call the hospital from where the service is being requested to get info about the patient, to make a long story short, the hospital told the Red Cross that the child wasn't in grave danger and we didn't need an ambulance, this without Xrays to rule out a fractured spine.

The hospital wouldn't release my son without first taking off the IV with the medicine to prevent seizures, and while my mom argued with the doctors, I took the IV from the little hook and grabbed my boy and ran out the door. My mom and daughter ran after me and jumped in the car with us and we took him to Seguro 1., where thank God, he was seen by a doctor and sent to Xrays right away. I still can't believe the other hospital would deny us service because we couldn't pay in cash at the moment, I offered them a credit card, but of course, they don't take credit, I told them I would get someone to go get cash for me, but that had to go through the administrators office first, of course to me, all this felt like a waste of precious minutes, minutes that could make the difference in my child's life. What kind of country is this? That's all I could think off, and I wished I was back in Virginia, where I knew they wouldn't have asked for cash right away, even if I had to spend the rest of my life writing montly checks to the hosptial, he would've been taken care off right away. The Social Security hospital where we were at is really not what you think a hospital should be like, and although the doctors are great, and well prepared and experienced, the hosptial itself is terrible, there were roaches crawling all over the floor, there's no single rooms, all the "salas", sections are over crowed, only one relative per patient can be there, and all you get is a little chair to sit on, that's if there's any chairs available, there's no soap in the bathroom, no toilet paper, the equipment is old, anyhow, I really wished I was back in American soil, even if Ihave to put up with the eternal questions of "How you got here? Do you all speak Mexican?" I could hear those questions again and again and not get tired of them as long as my children are getting proper medical care.

Miracoulosly, after a two day stay in the hospital, a CAT scan and a whole collection of X rays, my son came home with nothing but a couple bruises, all the doctors and nurses that took care of him in the hospital kept calling him "miracle boy", because they couldn't explain how after a fall like that, 5 meters down onto hard concrete, he was even alive, they couldn't explain either how none of his bones were broken or how come he was awake the whole time, except for night time, he pretty much kept his regular bedtime even in the hospital.

So this years Thanksgiving was very special to me and my family, and eventhough I didn't get out of work till 9 that night, and eventhough we didn't have a nice turkey dinner, I was very grateful, I'm thankful that my baby boy is OK, and that little Paloma was such a good sport and stayed at her aunt's house for a couple days without complaining, and that eventhough she was scared, she knew mommy couldn't be with her and she had to be strong, I'm thankful for my parents, because they were there for me the whole time, they helped out in everyway they could, and I'm grateful I have such great sisters, and a brother, who took care of my daughter, and brought Eli doughnuts when he got out of the hospital. I'm also thankful for my coworkers, who covered for me the day I had to miss and kept asking how my son was doing, and I thanful for all my friends here and in Virginia who sent get well wishes and prayers for us, for my relatives that stopped by the hospital to lend a hand, and the ones who called to check on us.
I'm grateful too, for the doctors that took care of him, eventhough the hospital is falling apart.

Hopefully soon enough I'll get a visa, so I can go back to the USA and be able to work and live there like any other American, and when I'm there, I'll celebrate Thanksgiving the American way again.