SOLUCIÓN PROPUESTA

Doña Rosa Teco, a 62 year-old woman, arrived at Don Jose's cha-

cra (small plantation) a few days after I had decided to stay

with him for a month, following the special diet prescribed for "learning" from ayahuasca. She was brought in great pain by her family, with swollen knees and ankles. Don Emilio had seen her some days before, but he thought that he would not be able to cure her and sent her to Don José. She remained in Don José's home for three weeks. During this time I was able to observe and take notes on the whole process of treatment, which inclu- ded massages, the use of various medicinal plants, healing ses- sions similar to those held by Don Emilio, and sometimes even careful analyses of the dreams she had during the healing pro- cess. It also happened several times that during his sleep Don José engaged in magical fights with the witches responsible for her illness. I learned that before she went to Don Emilio, she had been treated by Don Sergio Freitas, a vegetalista I had interviewed in Iquitos the year before.

After three weeks she partially recovered and went home. One year later, during the summer of 1984, I went to visit her in Iquitos. I was able to tape a retrospective view of her ill- ness, the time she spent in Don Jose's home, and the later de- velopment of her situation. Here is Dona Rosa's story:

This happened to me on a Sunday. When I was going to visit Don José Torres, a vegetalista, I fell down, but I was not seriously injured. I scraped my knees. I returned home and my daughter cured me. Then I went to see Don José. After visiting him I went home and slept a little. I woke up and did not feel very well, but I did not pay much attention to it. I began to make a shirt for my son using a sewing machine. Sud- denly I felt pain in my foot and noticed that it was swollen. My daughter said: "It must be the result of the fall you had this morning". But I replied that I had walked all the way to the old man and had not felt any discomfort. I continued working, but at about six p. m. the pain was so great that I was not even able to walk. I began to cry.

My daughter became worried and went to look for a

sobadora (from Spanish sobar = to knead. A woman

specialist in giving massages). She said she could not do anything, because the ankle was too swollen.

I asked Walter, one of my sons, to go to look for his elder brother to tell him that I was very ill. He came and immediately went to bring an old man who examined me and said: "We are going to put all the bones back in place". He began to knead my ankle. I screamed with pain. After a while he said: "The bone is now in place". They put bandages all the way to half my leg, putting there a medicine that was recom- mended in the pharmacy. The result was that in all the area touched by this medicine my leg became

terribly swollen.

At about ten o'clock that night, I could not stand it any longer, and took off the bandages. The swel- ling was enormous. I called my daughter and told her: "Nobody is going to fool me any longer. This is dano (witchcraft). Tomorrow I am going to see the abuelito (literally, grandfather, meaning the vegetalista). The next morning we went to see Don Vicente Torres. Don Vicente said: "Did I not tell you, when you told me that you fell in the street, that I should have examined you? You said that it was nothing and went back home. But you should have stayed here." I told him: " A b u e l i t o , p l e a s e , h e l p me. It is very swollen. " He treated me for a while and then said: "Tomorrow you should come here. Bring a bed with you, so that you can stay here for a while. I will cure you."

When I got home, I could hardly move. My leg turned greyish. I told my daughter: "My leg is going to rot." At about five in the evening my daughter said: "Let us go to the doctor, to Clínica Loreto. The spe- cialists will see what is wrong. " They convinced me. She called a taxi, and we went to the clinic. There were no doctors in the clinic. All of them were in another clinic, called Lourdes. We went there. At last we found a doctor. He said: "The lady has to stay here. The leg has become gangrenous. We have to amputate it." I said: "No, I do not want that. Tell me what medicines are necessary. I will buy them, whatever they cost." The doctor said: "No. You have to stay here. We will see what we can do. We will give you the correct medicines. If you go back home, you will die."

At last I accepted to stay. The next day I felt I was going to die. I started to have visions. They gave me a liter of serum. On the fourth day the doc- tor operated on me. He opened the leg. It was full of rotten blood. At least half a liter.

In the hospital they served me farm chicken. It seems that this was affecting me negatively. After six days in the clinic, I told my son that I wanted to go back home. He talked to the doctor. He said that I could go back home, but I had to take the me- dicine he would prescribe me.

We bought all the medicines. My daughter knew how to give injections. But the more injections I got, the more weight I lost. When I had taken all the me- dicines, I could hardly move. Then my daughter said: "Perhaps it is true what you said. Even though you have taken all these medicines and vitamins, you don't get well. We'd better go to see the abuelito (the vegetalista). But my son said: "No. We have to

take Mother to the clinic"

I stayed at the clinic nine more days. Dr. Rojas treated me. They made a lot of analyses, but they did not show that anything was wrong. The doctor wanted to give me a blood transfusion. I did not want it. I told the doctor: "I do not want a blood transfusion, because I shall die" The doctor said: "How do you know?" I said: "I know that you are a religious pers- on, so I am going to tell you. I wish you could understand me. I had a dream. I saw a white man with a beard. He said: "Do not let them give you a blood transfusion, because you will die. You had better go home and try to find another type of medicine."

The doctor said: "I see your point. It was our Lord who made you dream. Your body will not stand the transfusion. I will let you go home."

We paid the clinic and went home. I felt that I was getting weaker every day. But I did not say anything. One day my daughter, who is married to a soldier, told me that her husband wanted her to go to Pingo, to the garrison. I told her to go and said that I was feeling better, even though it was not true. But I did not want her to stay in Iquitos because of me.

She left. Six days later I became very ill again. They gave me injection after injection. One night I thought I was going to die. In the morning, I told my son: "Bring a taxi, and take me to the abuelito. I should have gone to see him days before. If I die, I hope the neighbours will bury me." He brought a taxi.

I could hardly move. But in a matter of three days with the abuelo, I felt much better. I could cook for the abuelito, and I could wash myself without help. I stayed with him for two weeks, and I recovered almost completely.

In those days my daughter returned from Pingo. Her husband told her that he had had very bad dreams about her mother's situation. He called the garrison, and put her on a military plane back to Iquitos. About one week later I became very ill again. I could move neither my arms nor my legs. Then I was taken to Don Sergio Freitas. Don Sergio said to my daughter:

"Your mother is not going to live much longer. If I do not manage to make her react before two in the morning, she will die." He gave me camalonga (uniden- tified) and tobacco juice. I became very mareada

(dizzy). In my visions I saw the two women that caused my illness. Don Sergio treated me very effec- tively. He used suction, massage, several sorts of medicinal plants, such as garlic, white onions, ajos

macho, patiquina (Dieffenbachia sp.), etc. I stayed

with him for 26 days. In the end I recovered comple- tely. I paid him and went back home.

One month later I became ill again. I went back to Don Sergio. But at this time Don Sergio was very busy, going from one place to another. He did not stay at home, so I decided to go back home. When I became worse, I was taken to Don Emilio Andrade. Don Emilio took me to see Don José Coral. I stayed there with Don José. He is a very kind person, and I am very thankful to him. He said that it was daño. He also used suction, massage, and he whipped me with

ortigas (nettles). You witnessed how I recovered,

and was able to walk again.

After a while I went to Pucallpa to get medicines, so as to recover completely, because I was tired of being ill. My daughter took me there. In Pucallpa I met another old man, a vegetalista called Don Eze- quiel. He just touched my head and looked at me, and immediately said that the illness was a revenge, because I did not want to lend money to a woman. Two women hired a witch to make you ill. But now you have only some phlegm from the animal which was used for

causing you _{daňo. But just by taking some plants,}

purgatives, and following the diet it will be extrac- ted.

After some time in Pucallpa I returned here to Iquitos. I took again some of the medicine that the doctor told me to take. And now I feel much better, I can walk almost perfectly, and can sleep in peace, and do not disturb my neighbours screaming in pain. The various vegetalistas told me the reason for my illness. But I was able to verify myself, by taking strong purgatives, who were the persons who induced this illness."

COMMENTARIES

Doña Rosa's case is quite typical in regard to what is known by the term "doctor shopping". She goes from one practitioner to another and from one medical system to another, with great ease. She even travelled from Iquitos to Pucallpa, the second major city of the Peruvian Amazon, to find a cure for her ill- ness. This is another example of the great mobility that exists among the mestizo population of this area. People sometimes travel great distances in order to find work, to find a part- ner, or, as in this case, to find a cure.

It is also interesting that she is perfectly convinced of the etiology of her illness, not only by the words of the various

vegetalistas she visited, but also because she was able "to

see" with her own eyes the persons who induced her illness. During the time I spent in Don José's home while she was treated, one important topic of conversation in the mornings were the dreams, because in them, according to Don José, the development of the illness w a s some- times revealed.

Don Jose Coral extracting a magic dart from a patient