Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/1022543
28 T M C » P U L S E | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8 28 Now, the two doctors had returned, Polo permanently and Flores for a visit. In addition to checking in on Rodríguez, they were on a fact-finding expedition to learn about the state of health care since Maria and determine which supplies were still most needed. The doctors know that patients on the island still need attention and care, all these months later. They will not give up. Too concrete, too cold Parts of Puerto Rico are still without basic utilities. Residents haul water from streams, boil it to drink and cook on open fires or with propane, if they're lucky. Locals describe helicopters hovering with utility poles, rooting them into the land one by one—painstaking work to restore a power grid that was unreliable even before the hurricane. But high in the hills of Salinas, 50 miles south of San Juan, Rodríguez's home buzzed with elec- tricity that had been restored a few weeks before the doctors visited in late July. A rusted refriger- ator chilled Coca-Cola, bottled water, sliced lunch meat and yellow cheese—luxuries Rodríguez had done without for months. In one room, a light bulb shone bright on family photos of Pedro, his wife Saidael González, and their son, Johny. Hanging on the wall was a newspaper clipping of Carlos Correa in the throes of last year's World Series win, a relic from when Johny still lived there. But Johny requires special care. As a young boy, he was left mentally delayed after suffering from hydrocephalus and meningitis. After Maria hit, the already lengthy journey to the main hospital in San Juan, coupled with the absence of basic utilities, prompted the family to relocate to Michigan and live with Rodríguez's sister-in-law. Now in his late thirties, Johny would have electricity, clean water and easy access to hospitals. His father, however, couldn't bear it. Michigan was too concrete, too cold. So he said goodbye to his wife and son and returned to Puerto Rico, to his home that had stood fast through the storm. Because of early-onset Alzheimer's, Rodríguez sometimes forgets that he will very likely never see his wife and son again. Speaking in Spanish, Pediatric resident Samuel Pabon, Dr. Gloria Colón, Dr. Maria Echevarria and Dr. Ricardo Flores on their way to see patients at the University of Puerto Rico Pediatric Hospital. FRIENDS & FAMILY MASTER PLANNED COMMUNITY IN HOUSTON * #1 Don't miss Cirque La Vie! Free Parisian street fair filled with fun, magic and mystery Saturday, October 6 • 4:30-9:30pm SiennaPlantation.com 25 MODEL HOMES OPEN DAILY!