Mexico Free Clinic

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A VISIT TO THE

MEXICO FREE CLINIC

October 1999
by Dr. Bruce Marx, ND, CE My wife called it a "vacation", I initially thought of it more as a "working vacation", yet indeed, it was not a vacation at all. It was darn "Hard Work"!
I guess I should apologize for not being more "visible" in the photographs, but unfortunately, due to the complexity of the camera I took down, no one else knew how to operate it, so wherever you see a "pic", I dropped what I was doing and ended up 'behind' the camera!

I arrived at the clinic on Sunday afternoon. Once the welcomes and greetings were out of the way we were ready for a quick bite, a shower and a dive between the covers for a much needed rest. So much for that thought!

Man over matter - the "blade" wins!

About that time a young man came to the clinic with his wrist wrapped in a 'dirty/nasty' kerchief, dripping blood all over the place. Of course there was no place else open on Sunday, so as a last resort he ended up on our doorstep. He had been cutting/chopping grass and weeds in a coconut grove up the coast, and had slashed one of his wrists with his machete.

***     Before proceeding, I will briefly provide a little insight as to the 'conditions' in this area. Rio Marabasco is a couple of kilometers inland from the Pacific coast and about 50 miles north of Manzanillo. It is on the Marabasco River which is the border between the states of Jalisco and Colima. The weather is "very hot" and "very humid" (tropical). If you could imagine the conditions in a "petri dish" when incubating colonies of bacteria, you could imagine what it is like "there". It is a "hot-bed" for any foul pathogen looking for ideal conditions to proliferate. Many of the people live in conditions which would make the typical "gringos'" skin crawl. Hygiene is poor (they can only get as clean as the water they use - but they try) and nutrition is lacking in several areas (their diet is limited to "affordable" foods - often lacking in essentials like animal proteins, etc.). Therefore, they are very susceptible to infections of every kind. ***     So we have this young fella, with a severe laceration to his wrist (pic #1). You can visualize the "potential" problems! The treatment was very "complex" (humor)! First we washed the dirt and dried blood from the area around the wound with "colloidal silver". Once the area was semi-clean we flushed and irrigated the open wound profusely with "colloidal silver". We used lidocaine injections to anesthetize the area, re-rinsed with "colloidal silver", closed the wound with four sutures (pic #2), rinsed the closed wound with "colloidal silver", and applied a light gauze dressing saturated with "colloidal silver" (pic #3).
    If the local pharmacy had not been open (to purchase the sutures) we would have resorted to a "needle and thread", or fabricating "butterfly" closures from tape. There happened to be some lidocaine available at the clinic, but beyond these modern tools, this was pretty close to "jungle medicine". When we had done what we could, we sent the young fella home with instructions to return in three days.
    In only three days there was "complete closure" (pic #4) and more importantly - NO INFECTION (pic #4)! A "colloidal silver" rinse is applied by Dr. Esperanza Maxwell (Permanent resident of the clinic - pic #5).
    After another three days, the sutures are removed from a perfectly healed wound, in the process of "scarring" over - pic #6).

Cut wrist-full closure-no infection-3 days

Dr. Esperanza examing wrist-everybody is amazed!

The greatest concern was (is always) INFECTION! And I know that this young fella did not do as instructed ("remain home keeping the wound clean"). With an average income of $25 per week (and they work real HARD to earn that!), this '"whipper" has some serious obligations, and I'll bet he was swinging his machete the day after the sutures, just to feed his family! What is really AMAZING is that in about six days, considering the conditions, and without any problems with infection, the wound was all but totally healed! I doubt if ten years from now this young fella will even be able to see enough of a "scar" to tell his kids "war stories"!!

A little "LOVE" story!

    One other very interesting scenario which we encountered, about the third day (Wednesday) of the first week, was a baby girl with a severe case of "conjunctivitis" (pink eye). Her Mama brought her in and she was screaming in pain! We had her "Mama" hold her and we immediately forced her eyelids open enough to get a few drops of "colloidal silver" into her eyes (pic #1). The poor thing was not only in terrible pain, but now terrified of what she could "feel" (couldn't see) happening to her. After we applied the "colloidal silver" we gave her several minutes to calm down and get over the ordeal.
    After about 15 minutes the crying had stopped and she could open her eyes enough to see where she was and what was going on (pic #2). At this point, it was as if she knew what had made the "hurt" go away. She let us flush her eyes one last time with "colloidal silver", and we told "Mama" to bring her back in three days.
    When she returned, she was the happiest, most "cuddly", sweetest little thing you might ever hope to see (a little leery of the camera though)! As you can see (pic #3), there was virtually no sign of the ordeal of a couple days previous. And, believe it or not, she "remembered" me!

If you are looking for someplace to "fall in LOVE" (or someone to fall in LOVE with!), this is it - and there are thousands like her!

An "end" with no "beginning"!

    There was only one other trauma "colloidal silver" case which was available for photographing while I was there. I hesitated to use this pic since there is no "before" (Getting busy doctors to stop and take pictures when they are seeing this many patients per day is impossible).
    One afternoon a woman showed up at the clinic with this young boy. I was told that I needed to get my camera and take a picture of a boys arm. At first I didn't see anything to photograph at all, and I didn't even understand why a picture of a "normal" arm was important. Then I was told me who the young boy was!!! During the August session (less than 2 months before) the boy had suffered severe third degree burns to one arm after grabbing the handle of a skillet full of boiling grease. I was informed by phone (but no photos were forthcoming).
   I was told that the burn was very nasty, covering nearly all of the child's left arm, severely infected, and extremely painful. The treatment was an immediate profuse "flush" with "colloidal silver", followed by repeated "wettings" for several minutes. This had also alleviated most of the pain. A loose gauze (wet with "colloidal silver") was applied to the burn area. That was about all that could be done at that time. The mother was given "colloidal silver", instructed to wet the gauze frequently with "colloidal silver" for two days and return to the clinic. The examination showed no indication of infection and the burn was already granulating. The gauze was left off and she was instructed to "wet" the burn area with "colloidal silver" several times a day for a week, and return to the clinic. At this examination, healing was progressing amazingly well, and infection was nonexistent. The same treatment was continued (for just how long I do not know).
    With all the years I have been working with "colloidal silver", even I was AMAZED! Without a picture it is difficult to visualize the "before", but if you are familiar with the appearance of infected third degree burns (over a large area) you will appreciate the significance of "this" picture. To achieve this result, under "these conditions", is amazing, to say the least! Considering it had been less than two months, this is "miraculous"!

There is virtually NO SIGN OF SCARING!! AMAZING!

Not the "End"!

This is about the extent of the "before / after" pictures that became available while I was there. There are "hot" times and "cool" times. Guess it is the "luck of the draw" that I arrived during a "cool" time (for pictures). There is never any really "cool" time though. It just so happened that the "visual" problems were minimal while the "internal" problems proliferated. In reality, virtually everyone visiting the clinic had some type of ear, nose, throat, sinus, respiratory, vaginal, prostate, or other "internal" infection! The "colloidal silver" was flowing like water from a "ground spring".

Tonsilitis-CS-complete relief and went to school next day

This young boy had a pretty good case of "tonsillitis" and infected throat

The "Breath of Life"!

One of the things I introduced during this session was the use of the "nebulizer" to treat upper respiratory problems such as severe colds, flu, emphysema, and TB (among others). Once the obvious benefits of this mode of applying "colloidal silver" were understood, the two nebulizers were used extensively. The results were "impressive", to say the least.

    For example, the old fellow on the right (pic #3 - Jorge - "George") had severe emphysema. He had difficulty walking ten feet without stopping to catch his breath. His condition had improved "slightly" over the previous couple of months by taking colloidal silver orally, but he still had very limited chest expansion, poor oxygen absorption, and he had a very "dry" cough with no phlegm.
    The first day of clinic I put him on the nebulizer for twenty minutes and administering about five cc's of colloidal silver. The next day he returned to tell us that he had been unable to sleep because he was coughing up so much phlegm that he thought he would drown. I gave him another twenty minute treatment. Two days later he returned for a third treatment, feeling much better, able to walk without stopping for breath, and demonstrated a vastly increased lung capacity (with deep breaths). George stopped by for another treatment the day before we left. He was ecstatic! He had not felt that good in over twenty years!
    They have no "OSHA" in Mexico. People who make cement breath "lime dust", road workers and laborers breath "dirt-dust", farmers and ranchers breath "heavy smoke" when burn-clearing their groves, and on it goes! Emphysema is very prevalent in this environment. The created pollution affects the young as well as the old (depends on which way the breeze is blowing). As you can see above (all emphysema cases), nobody is immune to this condition!
    It is not so much the irritants (we have them here - pollution). The tropical conditions accelerate the "hyper-bacterial" infections in the irritated tissues. The tropics are definitely beautiful, but they have a disadvantage - the climate itself! I have seen this same common denominator at work in Columbia, Brazil, Equador, Borneo, Philippines, Marshall Islands, Indonesia, Malaysia, and numerous other locations around the globe. When the temperature is right, the humidity very high, and the hygiene leaves something to be desired, bacteria (and the resultant infectious diseases) proliferate at a "mind boggling" rate.

A note on "nebulizers".

    The longer I use the nebulizer to administer "colloidal silver", the more impressed I am. It is the ideal way to get CS in direct contact with affected areas in the respiratory tract. Results are rapid and spectacular for all types of respiratory problems.
    But there is something else! I am beginning to realize that this may be the optimum (non-intrusive) method of administering "colloidal silver"!! Period!! Stop to think about it! Where is the bodys "thinnest" tissue barrier to the circulatory system? The lungs!! I am finding that (next to IV - which has many drawbacks) "colloidal silver" can be introduced into the system many times faster using the nebulizer. There are some areas in which I feel this might not be the best "continuing" application, such as problems in the upper GI tract, but this will require further investigation. Overall, I am discovering that results are faster (and even appear 'amplified') using the nebulizer for administration of "colloidal silver".
WARNING: DO NOT USE THE NEBULIZER TO ADMINISTER "LOW QUALITY - LOW BIO-AVAILABILITY" COLLOIDAL SILVER!
REASON: If the particle size is too large to 'penetrate' into the tissues, whatever is NOT absorbed remains on the surface, eventually causing build-ups and accumulation. Use the Nebulizer ONLY to administer a very highly bio-available CS - 80% and up!
    Remember, most LVDC CS is only 10-30% bio-available!

Treatments.

    You must understand that, although it is responsible the majority of "direct" results, "CS" is not the only treatment utilized at the clinic! Over 2/3 of the patients also receive various "herbal medications" and other treatments (chiropractic, acupuncture, acupressure, and massage therapies), for their maladies. By the end of the first week, we were running out of several of the herbs we had brought (only limited quantities are allowed in by "Customs"), causing us to run out of many of our "primary" herbal treatments. We had to resort to "secondaries", which were less effective, but better than nothing!
    If only we had what we needed, we could improve our treatment protocols beyond the "jungle medicine" we must currently practice (a lot of this is due to "politics"). Could we do some real good, or what??
    On the other side of the coin, what better "education" could a "naturopathic doctor" want? Learning to work with only what is available - that is the REAL test! Try getting THAT kind of education "up North"! Granted, up here we never seem to be without anything. But isn't knowing what works second and third best a valuable resource? I think so!
    I also think most attending doctors were more than impressed with the versatile knowledge they gained at the clinic. They saw that although they hope they will never HAVE to do without up here, there are still ways to get the job done (and do good), even in the hardest of times! Every experience has a purpose!

The "Finality" of it all!

There are times when I have my doubts as to our ability to "help" some people. Remember, most Mexican people do not have the money to 'run' to the doctor at the slightest indication that something might be wrong (like we do). Often, what would send a "Norte Americano" seeking medical attention, is only something that the Mexicans "know" is not right, but since it is not debilitating (yet), they just "live with it". Eventually it becomes so evident (bothersome, painful, visible) that they finally realize they MUST SEE SOMEONE!
The problem is that by then, the situation is generally out of control, and often unrecoverable. Even though "allopathic doctors" (government) are usually there for free, patients can seldom afford the 'prescriptions' needed after the visit. The government doctors (most) TRY to help , but their prescription (and advice) is frequently ignored because of the extreme limitation if funds available to the typical Mexican to buy the prescriptions.

WARNING - THE FOLLOWING 3 PICTURES ARE VERY GRAPHIC!!!!!

    Next I will show you a couple of "pics" which demonstrate this phenomenon. Picture #1 is a breast cancer case - a woman in her mid 40's, who let it go too long. She had been given "chemo" about four times previous, but the treatments were extremely painful and made her so ill that she could not attend her last appointment. Because she didn't show up, she was relegated to the "next available opening"?
    In terrible pain, she came to us (pic #1). The only thing I could see to do was to flush the tumor and keep wet with colloidal silver. We applied a "wet" bandage with a plastic outer liner (cut from an herb bag) so it would stay wet and she could pour the "colloidal silver" in at the top. We gave her plenty of "colloidal silver" to keep it wet, and to take internally Will it work? There is only so much you can "expect" from anything, and this could be pushing colloidal silver beyond it's limitations (?). If we can save this woman, I will add another item to my list of "miracles". Only time will tell.
    Pictures #2 and #3 are of an elderly lady with diabetes. She has an ulcerated area on the top arch of one foot (pic #2), and the entire appendage (from several inches above the ankle downward) is suffering from lack if circulation. Again, we profusely applied colloidal silver to the ulcerated area (which will stop any complicating infection - as long as she continues to apply it). We applied a "wet" gauze to cover the area (pic #3). As in the previous situation, she was given plenty of "colloidal silver" to wet the bandage and take internally. With the damage that has already been done by the lack of circulation, I am not expecting any remarkable results (yet I pray for another miracle - this is really a "sweet" lady).

Will colloidal silver work under these circumstances? To some degree - YES (to curb infection). But will it solve the problems (advanced cancer - advanced diabetes)? We always hope for the best, but "I" believe GOD is in control of 'these' situations. Please (along with me), say a "prayer" for these two ladies (and all the others like them)! Whatever happens, we did our best, and the rest is GODS WILL!

Every day (good or bad) has an 'end'!

    The days were long and hard, starting at about 8 AM. By 9 AM the clinic and waiting room were usually full. The only 'slack' during the day was between 2 and 4 PM (siesta) when the patient load would occasionally thin out a little. By about 4 PM the activity level was back up, lasting till 7-8 PM. The average daily "patient count" averaged over 100.
    My 'hat' is especially off to Dr. Esperanza Maxwell (one of the "resident" doctors at the clinic - see pic #5 of the "machete cut")!! She is an exceptional and caring doctor. Depending on the group of doctors attending the session, she was often the only person around who spoke Spanish! She did double - triple - even quadruple duty, taking care of her own patients, while breaking away to "translate" for every other doctor in the clinic. Watching her work was like watching a "whirlwind" weave its way around the room!
    I think this "Lady" would cause Einstein to consider changing the theory of relativity from E= MC2 to E=MC3! She is married to Dr. Kurt Maxwell, supervises the general operation of the clinic, the housekeeping people, the cook, she is the (self-appointed) "housemother" to everybody in attendance, and raises two beautiful children in the midst of it all! Somehow, after all this, she manages to maintain one of the most wonderful dispositions and amiable personalities I have encountered in years! Everything about the clinic was a "pleasure", but meeting and working with Dr. Esperanza was the rarest pleasure of all!

Dr. Esperanza translating for Drs. George and Betty

Dr. Esperanza Maxwell (R) in "Translation Mode" for other doctors!

Bye!
I hope you have enjoyed sharing my visit to the clinic (second hand - sorry). I wish everyone could experience all this, just once, first hand. One day (soon I hope) I will be returning to the clinic. Meanwhile, if I get any feedback or pics I will be posting them for all to see.

Stay well and do no harm!
Dr. Bruce Marx

!! BAD NEWS HEADLINE !!
MEXICO FREE CLINIC CLOSED!
It seems that the local "DOCTORS" didn't like our clinic very much! When we were there, the patient count at the clinic averaged over 100-150 per day, with many coming from as far away as Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta. While the clinic was open, "local doctors" patient counts would drop to "0"! Apparently, they (the doctors) had some connections in the Mexican Immigration Department. So one day, Immigration Officials showed up at the clinic, claiming that the American Doctors all had "Tourist Visas", and were not permitted to "work" in Mexico! They threatened to "Deport" everyone -
UNLESS (of course) THEY WERE PAID A "HUGE" BRIBE (called Mordida)!!!
It was argued that since everyone there had paid their own money to come, learn, and help, and no one was "working" for any kind of compensation, it was NOT WORK, but "Public Service". This made no difference to the "Officials".
NO MORDIDA - NO STAY! We were also WARNED not to try making an "Issue" of this matter, or to try taking it to a "higher authority"!!!!! Smell the "rotten fish" here? Si!
A call was made to our "friend" (the Governor of The State of Colima), but since the Immigration Department was "Federal", there was nothing he could do. The objective of the clinic was to help the poor and needy, NOT line the pockets of greedy government officials! Also, it is doubtful that the doctors who attend have the financial wherewithal (or desire), nor does the clinic, to "pay" the Mexican Officials to be able to provide a "free service" to the people. With no other options available, the clinic was closed
So once again, as is often the case, the "people" suffer for the "GREED" of their government officials.
Will the clinic reopen one day? Perhaps, if the attitude of the 'Officials' changes to the "needs of the people"!

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