Health News
I was pleased that the place we were staying had high-speed, wireless Internet so I could post on the ENT board . After a few hours (or more), I caught up on all of those messages. I stopped when my wife reminded me that I was on vacation. A few hours after we arrived in Baja, and after a nice shower and change of traveling clothes, we were heading off to dinner with our friends. In less than a block, we spotted what appeared to be a man lying in his driveway. "Old Man Down!" One my friend's elderly American neighbors - a man not known to be in the best of health - was lying motionless in his driveway in a pool of blood. He had also urinated himself - not a good sign. We thought he was dead. He failed to respond to our yelling. His compound was locked, so we could not get to him. He was lying about three or four feet from the 15 foot, spike-topped gate. We yelled for his wife, who was about three sheets to the wind (intoxicated). She eventually heard our calls and came out (slowly) to open the gate. It seemed like forever before she could fumble with the lock. By this time, Tony (the guy on the ground) was twitching a bit, so we knew he wasn't dead (yet) . She finally opened the gate and we got to him. He was still unresponsive and bleeding from a huge gash in his head. I unbuttoned his shirt, felt for his heartbeat (it was there), checked his pupils, and tried to get him to respond. My wife went to call 911 (nueva - uno - uno?). They had a difficult time finding the phone. Ten minutes later, while holding a wad of Kleenex on the big gash in Tony's head, he responded with the classic, "Where am I...and who are you?" During my quick exam of Tony, looking for other injuries, I found a piece of popcorn lodged in his hairy belly-button. "Tony, Do you know that you have a piece of popcorn in your belly-button? Want to eat it?" He smiled, then laughed and, of course, declined. The sense of humor is really the last thing that goes. When he laughed, I knew he would be fine. The Mexican paramedics hauled him off to the local hospital. I washed off a great deal of Tony's blood from my hands and had to go back and change my shirt. We got back in the car and headed for the restaurant (again). I had shrimp (camarones). They were good. UPDATE: Tony insisted on going home after getting about a hundred or so (estimate) sutures on his face and forehead. In the States, he would have been CT scanned and admitted for post-concussion observation. Tony apparently is doing fine; perhaps finishing the rest of his popcorn. Related Topics: