Marcos is wearing the white pointed hat.

Our lead man Marcos, most likely has gallstones, he was previously tested and diagnosed, they gave him some tums or milk of magnesia and sent him home. Neither of those “medications” are appropriate for gallstones. Today Phil took Marcos to the caja because his pain is so severe. The caja is the government clinic that accepts his insurance. They sent him to several other places, including the hospital to have more testing done. Costa Ricans are big on paper work, testing and rubber stamps. Marcos had already been tested, which is how we know he has gallstones. The hospital set Marcos up with an appointment to be tested all over again, on May 20th, 2010. Can you believe it, May of 2010. Marcos said, “I’ll be dead by then.” Phil told him that was their plan, they could save money by only seeing those who survive.

Lucky for Marcos, he has me, or unlucky for Marcos depending on who is drinking my concoction. Today we start my all natural gallstone elimination treatment, I read it in a book. It will end by tomorrow morning and he will either be cured, or not. I don’t offer guarantees, you don’t need to wait until May of 2010, and I don’t charge. Often, I even have success. I don’t however diagnose, you need to know what ails you, and I have my limitations as I have no credentials whatsoever, other than I can read, and I have books. Does that count? No, I didn’t think so. But, when you live on the end of the road to nowhere, and the hospital gives you an appointment a year from now, I am, what you get.

Update 6-21-09:

It took until 11:30pm for Marcos to finish drinking the gallstone elimination concoction. He feels much better this morning.

I have given orders; no more fried food, margarine, fat, coffee, sugar. Chamomile or other herbal tea such as fresh ginger or mint will replace the coffee He can eat unlimited fresh fruit, lots of bananas and papaya, poached fish, and I sent over some hard boiled eggs for today’s protein but he could eat rice and beans if they leave out the oil or grease. Costa Ricans are big on oil, grease and margarine. They believe margarine is good for you. 75% of his diet should now be raw vegetables and salads with lemon juice and olive oil for dressing. This is going to be a difficult adjustment for both him and his wife. Zennia will need to learn another way to prepare their meals in a more healthy way that will benefit the entire family.

A spoonful of olive oil and a spoonful of lemon juice first thing in the morning, as a preventative measure should keep Marcos gallstone free. In 6 weeks, he will repeat last night’s treatment to make sure all of the stone have been eliminated.


Update, 6-25-09:

Marcos is taking one big spoonful of both olive oil and fresh lemon juice every morning on an empty stomach. He misses his coffee. I believe he is still eating fried foods, as he brought over a plate of fried fish because he was feeling so much better. It is hard to change cooking and eating habits. He still has occasional discomfort, probably still has some stones, but he is not in pain. We will do the second treatment as planned and I will continue to try and teach them healthier eating choices. This is difficult because they are resistant to change for many reasons.

The blog has had no new additions as of late, not because nothing is happening but because I did not want to give a Dear Diary, blow by blow description of the ongoing events in our lives. I have written possible entries but I did not like what they said or where my head was. Sometimes I need a mental adjustment and the frisbees of life were flying faster than I was able to comfortably process them.

My husband Felipe is still recovering from his accident about 3 months ago. He may be unplugged from his wound vac today at the hospital, lets hope.. The vacuum is no longer sucking up vast amounts of fluid, only a very small dribble at this point.

What treatment has worked? I am sure the tree bark tea (try saying that fast 3 times) prescribed by the BriBri medicine man has helped, because within a few days the lymphatic fluid slowed down and is now almost finished. Felipe started hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy last week and continues that treatment through this week. It is making him smarter while repairing cells. They say it increases your IQ by 50%. His skin on that leg is still abnormally hard to the touch. I would say he still has edema from the knee down. He wears a compressions sock and that will continue. I do not know why the skin remains hard, nor how to cure this problem. Will time make a difference? I need to get more tree bark and continue with the tea as it was the factor that changed our course. Felipe is scheduled to see the medicine man again on the 3rd I believe. What will be prescribed next?

I did try dry brush lymphatic massage on my husband (the instructions of which I downloaded off the internet) perhaps that helped, he said it felt good and was enjoyable. I wrote to some friends that between the dry brush lymphatic massage, the tree bark tea, medicine man, hyperbaric oxygen chamber and wound vac machine, the only thing missing was a cloud of medicinal marijuana smoke and chanting monks. We are still open to suggestions and cures for the final act of this play.