{"id":1104,"date":"2025-10-03T13:24:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T11:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepatientiwillalwaysremember.wordpress.com\/?p=99"},"modified":"2025-10-03T13:24:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T11:24:55","slug":"%e2%9c%8d%ef%b8%8f-the-wonder-docter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bothsidesnow.nl\/?p=1104","title":{"rendered":"The Wonder Doctor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was morning handover in the doctors\u2019 room, a space that during weekends doubled as overflow from the men\u2019s ward. An empty, but still unmade, bed had just been pushed out.
We were three Dutch doctors working here in Serowe, Botswana: Eric, Willem, and me. All three of us were young, at the start of our careers, with our families in tow. Eric had been on call over the weekend, and after finishing his formal handover he added:
\u201cThat bed was for J\u00e1nos Kov\u00e1cs. Maybe you\u2019ve seen him in the private clinic? He owned the Hard Liquor Store.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither Willem nor I had treated him, though we both knew the name.
J\u00e1nos was a Hungarian refugee who had fled to South Africa in the 1960s, later settling in Botswana. In Serowe he built a successful liquor business \u2014 and drank much of his own stock. The drinking cost him his marriage and his children. Eventually he remarried, a Filipino woman who seemed to steady him, even persuading him to see doctors about his health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric continued: \u201cA year ago he came to me with hematemesis. We tried antacids, but within months he worsened. In Gaborone they diagnosed metastatic gastric cancer. No curative options.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J\u00e1nos and his wife were devastated. Yet she was undeterred:
\u201cIn the Philippines, doctors can remove any tumour without scar, without anesthesia, without pain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Eric\u2019s doubts, they flew. When they returned, J\u00e1nos looked transformed \u2014 heavier, cheerful, sober, enjoying the start of retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, some months later, his health began to deteriorate again. This time he was too weak to make the journey back to the Philippines. Instead, his wife arranged for the wonder doctor himself to come to Botswana. He flew via Johannesburg, arrived in Gaborone, and was brought on to Serowe, where he supposedly \u201cre-operated\u201d on J\u00e1nos.
For a short while, the optimism returned.

But last Saturday, Eric got a call from J\u00e1nos\u2019s housekeeper. She said he had been vomiting blood, and though he resisted hospital care, she had arranged for the ambulance to fetch him. He refused to go to the general ward, so a bed was placed in our doctors\u2019 room. He received two units of blood, but died later that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Eric asked about his wife and the wonder doctor, the housekeeper explained that they had already flown back to the Philippines the previous weekend. \u201cThere was talk of a new romance,\u201d she whispered. She had been the one by his side as he slipped away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willem shook his head. \u201cNo wonder,\u201d he said \u2014 proof, once again, that doctors everywhere share the same dark humor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was morning handover in the doctors\u2019 room, a space that during weekends doubled as overflow from the men\u2019s ward. An empty, but still unmade, bed had just been pushed out.We were three Dutch doctors working here in Serowe, Botswana: Eric, Willem, and me. All three of us were young, at the start of our careers, with our families in tow. Eric had been on call over the weekend, and after finishing his formal handover he added:\u201cThat bed was for J\u00e1nos Kov\u00e1cs. Maybe you\u2019ve seen him in the private clinic? He owned the Hard Liquor Store.\u201d Neither Willem nor I had treated him, though we both knew the name.J\u00e1nos was a Hungarian refugee who had fled to South Africa in the 1960s, later settling in Botswana. In Serowe he built a successful liquor business \u2014 and drank much of his own stock. The drinking cost him his marriage and his children. Eventually he remarried, a Filipino woman who seemed to steady him, even persuading him to see doctors about his health. Eric continued: \u201cA year ago he came to me with hematemesis. We tried antacids, but within months he worsened. In Gaborone they diagnosed metastatic gastric cancer. No curative options.\u201d J\u00e1nos and his wife were devastated. Yet she was undeterred:\u201cIn the Philippines, doctors can remove any tumour without scar, without anesthesia, without pain.\u201d Despite Eric\u2019s doubts, they flew. When they returned, J\u00e1nos looked transformed \u2014 heavier, cheerful, sober, enjoying the start of retirement. Unfortunately, some months later, his health began to deteriorate again. This time he was too weak to make the journey back to the Philippines. Instead, his wife arranged for the wonder doctor himself to come to Botswana. He flew via Johannesburg, arrived in Gaborone, and was brought on to Serowe, where he supposedly \u201cre-operated\u201d on J\u00e1nos.For a short while, the optimism returned. But last Saturday, Eric got a call from J\u00e1nos\u2019s housekeeper. She said he had been vomiting blood, and though he resisted hospital care, she had arranged for the ambulance to fetch him. He refused to go to the general ward, so a bed was placed in our doctors\u2019 room. He received two units of blood, but died later that day. When Eric asked about his wife and the wonder doctor, the housekeeper explained that they had already flown back to the Philippines the previous weekend. \u201cThere was talk of a new romance,\u201d she whispered. She had been the one by his side as he slipped away. Willem shook his head. \u201cNo wonder,\u201d he said \u2014 proof, once again, that doctors everywhere share the same dark humor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7,8,12,19,25],"class_list":["post-1104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-family","tag-fiction","tag-life","tag-short-story","tag-writing"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bothsidesnow.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bothsidesnow.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bothsidesnow.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bothsidesnow.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bothsidesnow.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bothsidesnow.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bothsidesnow.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bothsidesnow.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bothsidesnow.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}