I’ve gotten to write a lot this year about my medical experiences, but fear not; it won’t be about me today. One of the things that has annoyed me the most doing the last year and a half is that our leaders (political, medical, scientific, media) treat us like we are morons. At this point here in the Philippines people have figured out how to work with or work around the large number of restrictions. Most Filipinos are back to work, the businesses that survived have re-opened, the plaza here in Valencia is bustling. In fact the town has a bunch of new restaurants and business seems to be brisk.

While travel is difficult, the people who need to travel (including Janet and I) have figured out how to travel. Even at the height of the lockdowns we figured out how to find a restaurant to serve us and despite several alcohol bans, my liquor and wine cabinet are bursting to the brim.

But this isn’t exactly what I want to talk about today. The following are several stories with the names and circumstances slightly changed to protect the innocent. They all relate to medical issues and death here during these difficult times.

Number 1 – Our Gardener: We have a gardener here who does a wonderful job and works his ass off. No sense in saying what we pay him; in the US you wouldn’t believe it. He looks ancient but I finally found out he’s about my age. OK, I guess that does make him ancient.

He hasn’t taken the vaccine nor does he intend to. BTW, if anyone is wondering, I’ve been vaccinated here (Sinovac) and am far from an anti-vaxxer. That said I know that many people here don’t want to take it and I have no problem with that personal decision. The gardener told Janet he was no fool and that he takes good care of himself, gets plenty of fresh air, sun and exercise in his job and does his best to socially distance. But he’s scared of the jab. The following scared him worse.

He told us a story of his cousin. About his age and from what I could gather with heart issues, the cousin took the vaccine and the next day got sick with chills. The family chose not to take him to the hospital and the cousin died. I have no idea what he died of nor does the family and that is sort of the point of this blog.

Here in the Philippines, where religion is still important, death and the subsequent funeral is a very important thing. So is family. All Filipinos know that if your elderly family member is taken to the hospital he will be swab tested. If he tests positive he will be quarantined and no family member will be allowed to see him. If he dies after a positive test, there will be no viewing, no church funeral and no burial with the family in attendance. The body will be sent directly to the cemetery. Everyone knows this and so for many people the decision is to not take the ill person to the hospital. In this case, could the cousin have been saved? We will never know. But my gardener ain’t getting the jab.

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Number 2: A man was stabbed in a dispute. He was rushed to the closest clinic where it was determined that he would need surgery and was sent to a hospital in Cebu. First thing that happened was the swab test and he tested positive, despite the fact he had no symptoms – well unless you think a gaping stab wound is a symptom. He was quarantined in the hospital for 14 days but was able to get his surgery done and did survive. No family was allowed and in fact family members who’d been in contact with him were also quarantined. Neither the man, nor any members of his family ever showed a symptom. Had he died from his stab wounds his family would never have seen him again.

Number 3: I wrote of the death of Janet’s Grandfather/Lolo last December, at age 90; a pretty old age for a Filipino man. He died in his sleep. He was not sent to the hospital for an attempt to revive him, for exactly the reason I am writing about here.

In fact, the part of the story that I did not write about last December was that several days before he passed away he was depressed because he missed his family and was not eating. His daughter, my Mother in Law, went to the local clinic to ask for vitamins to help him eat. They strongly suggested she check him into the clinic. She refused, knowing what this could mean. Several days later they actually came to visit Lolo and encouraged him to check into the clinic. He refused. Could they have helped him? At his age and in his condition probably not. But his fear and the family fear that they would never see him again outweighed any possible benefit. In the end he passed away peacefully and had a proper viewing and funeral.

This is in stark contrast to his illness the year before (prior to Covid). At that time he got a lung infection and spent several weeks in a clinic getting antibiotics and oxygen. He survived and returned home to live another year.

Janet’s Grandmother/Lola: A little more than a week ago Janet’s grandmother passed away at age 89. She too died in her sleep. There was never a consideration about rushing her to a clinic for an attempt at revival.

Janet’s Uncle: Janet calls him an uncle, but he’s really Janet’s Mother’s cousin. He was recently ill and rushed to the hospital by his son. The son was tested for Covid and tested positive. The father never got tested; he died shortly thereafter. Because the son tested positive, Janet’s uncle was sent directly to the cemetery, never to be seen by a family member or to have a funeral, despite the fact that no one ever determined whether he even had, let alone died of Covid.

I have 5 or 10 more similar stories but you get the idea. Going back to my original point, people here aren’t stupid. If you punish them for taking their family members to a hospital they will stop doing it.