Just going to a doctor or hospital here is different from what is normal practice in America. Here a doctor has his hours posted and it is a first come, first serve basis. Then if the doctor is late, has an operation or even needs to do hospital rounds, you just wait. If you need lab tests, you go to the lab, wait for the results and bring them back to the doctor.

If you are admitted to the hospital, you need to have watchers available. A watcher is a friend or family member that will take shifts staying with you in the hospital room. If your doctor prescribes a medicine, the watcher will take money and go to the pharmacy in the hospital to have it filled. If the hospital is out of the drug, your watcher will have to go to a pharmacy that has that drug in stock.

When it is time to be released, if the doctor is not on duty and is unavailable to come in, you will need to stay an additional day until the doctor can sign your release. Another doctor is not allowed to sign your release, unless arraignments were made to sign your release.

An expat I knew had a heart attack and went to Davao Doctors Hospital. Davao Doctors hospital is supposed to have the best cardiac care unit in Davao. A day hours after his surgery, I am not sure how long actually, he died. I do not know the complete story.

Some think about moving to the Philippines and live in the Provinces. They like the fact it is more rural and quiet and a lot cheaper to live there. The problem moving to a remote area is services such as landline phone, internet, shopping and medical. Even the urban areas in the Provinces can have less in availability and services.

I have a friend who spends the weekdays in Davao and the weekends with his wife and child in the Provinces. The area he lives is next to Kidapawan, which is more like a small city. A week ago, he felt pain in his lower abdomen. He went Saturday morning to the doctor and the doctor prescribed some medicine. The next morning his pain became sever and went to the hospital. He was suffering from Diverticulitis and it looks like it became infected and burst. His blood pressure was extremely low and the needed to operate. As I was told, because of the low blood pressure, they were afraid of using anesthesia so they operated on his intestines while he was conscious.  The hospital needed some medicine that was only available in Davao and before it arrived, my friend passed away.

Since most of the expats that move to the Philippines are in their retirement ages, we need to realize that as we get older, more medical problems can develop. Will your problem be able to be cared for correctly here? What happens if it cannot? These are things to consider, especially if you are not living in a more developed city.

Guava Tree

Since living here in the Philippines I have heard of  uses of herbal remedies. In America we always joke about “Jewish penicillin” which is chicken soup. There are treatments and foods, applications and more to help relieve and help the body cure its self.

There was one that worked well for me. About a year ago I had a bad case of diarrhea. I had never had such a problem before and thought it might be something I ate. For 2 days I could not eat and it I even drank water I was sitting on the toilet letting the water escape. I took some Imodium, which usually helped.

A friend sent me a text to say hi, and I told him of my problem. He told me his mother-in-law makes a guava leaf tea that works for him. We drove over and “Mama” had a bottle ready for me. We stayed there a while and I consumed a few cups of this brew. I was told you cannot add sugar or anything to it, and not being a tea drinker was afraid it would taste terrible, but it tasted ok. By that evening my appetite was returning and I was not living in the CR anymore. By the next day I was back to my old self.

Tawa Tawa Tree

There is many other home and herbal remedies here in the Philippines just as there are all over the world. Another I have heard of is the use of a tea made from the roots of the Tawa Tawa tree to increase blood platelets in Dengue fever cases. Hospitals cannot administer this to patients but I have heard of the doctor telling the patients family to bring it for the patient to drink.

I am thinking, with the help of my readers, to put articles of home or herbal remedies and how to cure ailments they have used and found successful with the recipe to share to all to read. As most of us have heard, there are a lot of researchers in the Rain forests, and other medical research labs testing home remedies. Many prescription drugs are based on herbal counterpart.

Of course, you should consult your doctor before using any herbal supplement or home cure before trying. Sometimes you can get an allergic reaction or can cause problems with medications your taking or a problem with an existing medical condition.

There are sites with information about herbal uses and how they help. Also about the research being done. Know the ways of curing ailments from The Amen Clinics Dr Daniel G Amen, a specialist in brain SPECT imaging. Find out more about Dr. Amen here.

I hope we will come up with some interesting remedies.

I am writing this from memory, so I ask for forgiveness of any errors.

We were greeted by Colonel Mario Verner Monsanto (Ret.), a retired military officer. In 1997 he was asked by the Mayor of Davao City to set up a disaster relief organization that became 911 Davao.

Davao is only one of the 2 functional 911 in the country.

The first thing that I noticed was the facility was very modern with modern desks and cubicles. We were escorted into the conference room where Mario gave us a presentation about the history and functions of the 911 center and their areas of responsibilities.

The Central 911 team is composed of the following:

> Urban Search and Rescue Services – USAR
> Fire Auxiliary Services – FAS
> Emergency Medical Services – EMS
> K9 Unit
> Police

They have a call center there where all calls come in. At that point they will dispatch any resource that is needed to help out the caller in distress.

Something else that is not available in most US cities, you can dial 911 from any landline or cell phone, no matter what cell service you are using. Also if the caller runs out of load (minutes as in US) they will call them back.

They have 10 Ambulances that will go out for any life threatening condition. Asking if someone has a problem that is not life threatening I was told that they will dispatch a police care to assist the person in need.

They support security at the airport with their K9 unit.

Not like in the US where the professional Fire Department Paramedic Service charges for responces, here in Davao there is no charge.

The majority of calls are for the police and disturbances, It is nice to see all the areas are available.

Something about Davao City that amazed me was the size. Davao City covers an area that in America would be called a county. There is downtown but there are rural areas that takes an hour or so to drive to that is still part of Davao City.

We asked about their support in other areas. They will go to other cities or provinces to assist but that order must come from the Mayor. A few years ago there were floods and most of a town in Leyte, in the Eastern Visayas region was covered with a major mudslide, they sent some rescue personnel to assist.

They would like to have a HazMat unit but the equipment and training is too expensive and difficult to get.

With the wonderful work they do, I hope one day some organization in the US or Europe or Asia will offer to train and donate the equipment to make Davao 911 as fully functional as their counterparts in other parts of our world.

I command and thank the City of Davao, Mayor Dutarte, Colonel Mario Verner Monsanto (Ret.) and all his personnel for all their good work and I hope and pray they will continue and grow as time goes on.

Because of the location it was decided Elena would need a hysterectomy. She was admitted last Thursday evening into San Pedro Hospital.

Now I do not know about all hospitals in the Philippines but I have heard from other circumstances a lot of hospitals work this way. They figure out the cost of the room stay and the operation costs and that must be paid before checking in.

Elena also had to go to the Red Cross office and purchase 2 units of blood and bring them to the hospital when admitted.

During the stay, if there are any medications needed, the patient gets the prescription and someone staying with her has to go to the hospital pharmacy and pay for the medication.

There is also a tradition in the Philippines of having 24 hour a day family or friend coverage in the room with the patient. They are called “Watchers”. Watchers stay in the room, run to pharmacy, help the patient, call for a nurse if needed and keep the patient company. As shits change they also bring food from home to feed the watchers, visitors and even the patient.

The first night, the evening before the operation, Elena was in a ward. There are about 6 beds in the room with curtains to give privacy. When I saw the beds, I was reminded of old World War II movies where you see the hospitals. It was the type where the 2 ends have hooks and the spring platform attaches to the ends. Some wards have Air conditioners and some do not. Prices vary do to this choice.

The next day, after the operation, Elena was moved to a private room. This room was better. There was a wall air conditioner, a small TV on the wall. The bed was bigger and the head could be raised. Not remotely but with a crank at the foot of the bed. The bathroom was nice and clean. I had looked at meals. They are probably fine for the Filipino palate but it looked unappetizing to me.

The nursing staff was plentiful since it is a teaching hospital. They would come in and take vitals often and were available if needed.

There is very little parking near the hospital but there is a mall across the street with a multi-level parking so I would park at the mall. I had to remember to move my car before the mall closed with is 8PM Sunday -Thursday and 9PM on Saturday and Sunday.

Elena was supposed to be released on Sunday but her doctor never came to visit and sign the discharge forms so Elena had to stay until Monday.
Elena is doing well and not in much discomfort. At times she gets dizzy so it is good we still have the walker from her mother. Elena uses the walker as a safety as she moves around the house.

I am so thankful for our nieces for staying round the clock at the hospital and one would come home with me to open the gate to park the car at home. This is because we are on a main thoroughfare with no shoulder. With all the traffic I need someone to open the gates and stop traffic. Most main roads do not have shoulders to park on.

Also I am thankful for my new bosses. They let me leave when necessary and not have to work a full day on Saturday.

Elena’s cell phone has also been busy throughout this ordeal and still with text messages from friends seeing how Elena is doing.

Elena has the sweet personality to make friends with most people she meets and most are so caring too.

Now we are just watching the recovery times and I know soon Elena will be back to her same self.