Published: November 06, 2008 05:21 pm            

Land Minds: Breathing easy south of the border

Originally published in the Oct. 31, 2008, print edition.

If variety is the spice of life, my cup runneth over.

Oct. 20, traveling with two Olivia friends, Paul and Bill, we flew to Phoenix, Ariz., then drove to Yuma. The next morning to Los Algodones, Mexico, a dusty little village about 10 miles west of Yuma. In this village is Dr. Jose Luis Diaz Barboza. In his mid-40s, Diaz heals people’s ailments in a most intriguing way. He uses stem cell culture tissue from sheep reared in Germany.

Trained in Cuba, Diaz injects this stem cell culture into people suffering severe lung impairment either directly from smoking, or indirectly from working in a smoking environment. That was the condition of my Olivia friends. Both were looking for something, anything that might enrich their lives.

We parked our rented car in a large parking lot on the American side of the border. With Paul in his wheel chair and his oxygen tank unit also on wheels, we slowly crossed into Mexico. The officials didn’t ask where we were going, and why. Perhaps showing up in a wheel chair was all they needed to know.

Following instructions from another Olivia resident who had taken her father to this same doctor about six weeks earlier, we waited outside a purple pharmacy building (which also sold groceries, some clothing, watches and jewelry, liquors and tobacco, plus deli food items). Soon a young Mexican asked if we were to see Dr. Diaz. We said “yes,” and shortly a van arrived to transport us the four to five blocks to the doctor’s office.

In this nondescript village you don’t see any new or recently new buildings. The doctor’s office building sort of fit that same décor. We walked in and told the young lady behind the counter that we had a 1 p.m. appointment with Dr. Diaz. She said it would be a bit later.

Indeed.

The waiting room had 15 chairs and 13 were occupied, mostly with other Americans — from Montana, Idaho, Oklahoma, Kansas and Arizona (formerly from Minnesota).

It’s 4 p.m. and still eight people, including Paul, age 76, and Bill, 66, wait. Some had been there since 11 a.m. “We’ll keep on waiting,” they say. At 5 p.m., the young receptionist says, “Mr. Peterson.” I wheel Paul into the doctor’s office, Bill also joining us.

The doctor greets us with handshakes, asks us to sit down, and presents the following interesting first question: “Why are you here?”

Both share their smoking history and their current difficulty in breathing. The good doctor listens quietly and smiles, “You should have been here two years ago.” He’s a spirited, but easy man to visit with.

We ask how long the “treatment” will last. Why sheep stem cell culture? Why don’t American doctors consider this? He tells us that some patients are now into five years of “good health” after their visit, but he says one to two years is more realistic. He uses sheep stem culture because it doesn’t get rejected by the human body and is quickly absorbed into the blood system. American doctors will likely eventually be doing similar treatments but the American Medical Association is overly protective about accepting stem cell treatments until research conclusively proves there are no possible side effects.

We learn that Diaz conducts classes for medical students and speaks at seminars to other doctors from Mexico and elsewhere.

Bill volunteers to go first. He peels off his shirt and lays on the gurney. With marker pen, the doctor makes seven injection spots on Bill’s chest and abdomen. Then seven Novocain injections to minimize the pain of the stem cell injections. Then the injections of the stem cell culture. All this process in about 15 minutes. And no nurse taking blood pressure, checking pulse, etc. Just the doctor and us three guys from Minnesota.

He asks Bill to sit up, and take deep breaths. Slowly Bill takes his first deep breath. Then his second. Then his third.

Diaz asks, “Is it easier to breath?”

Bill says nothing.

Bill takes another deep breath. Slowly, a smile shows and Bill says, “Yes, it is easier.”

The doctor asks Bill to step off the gurney and walk across the office. Bill gets to the wall, turns and walks back, then turns and walks again — effortlessly it seems and without stopping to gain his breath. The doctor tosses a small item on the floor and tells Bill, “Bend over and pick it up.” Bill slowly bends over and picks up the item.

Now a bigger smile emerges.

He tells Paul and I that he previously couldn’t bend over because his stomach would cut off air to his lungs. The doctor attaches a metal clip to one of Bill’s fingers. The instrument, which measures effective lung capacity, reads 95, 96 then 97. Bill’s smile is now pure joy. Back home that same instrument measured only 88.

Paul’s procedure is exactly the same, except he keeps his oxygen unit turned on because his lungs are so bad. However, after the same injections of stem cell culture, the instrument measures 94. Paul also smiles.

Dr. Diaz gives each patient a printout on dos and don’ts, particularly no red meat and dairy products. Paul and Bill both hug the doctor. I take pictures of this entire routine and am still bewildered at what I have just seen.

It’s now about 6 p.m. as we walk back into the reception area. Five people still waiting to see the doctor. They cheer seeing both Paul and Bill now smiling and giving a “thumbs up” sign. We leave the doctor’s office with a chorus of “God Bless You” as our farewell.

At the purple pharmacy, we get Vitamin A, Vitamin E and Vitamin B complex prescriptions filled, plus the special “stem culture enhancement” tablets which each is to take for the next four months.

It is now dark, 6:30 p.m., and we start the 180-mile trip back to Phoenix. However, now I am riding with two Minnesotans both definitely breathing easier. The cost was $900 each. We talk about what each has just experienced. We marvel. We wonder. We are thankful. And now we know — in this dusty, sleepy little town just across the border, a Dr. Diaz is providing “new life.”

Earlier in the waiting room, the guy from Oklahoma told us there are just three things you need in life: God, faith and Dr. Diaz.

We now understand his message.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.