After a lifetime of hard work, Eliseo Bernal sighs deeply as he looks at the cost of his medications and tries to figure out which ones to purchase and which to skip for now.
For more than 25 years, Bernal, now 54, has fought a losing battle with diabetes. It has cost him both of his legs, and is close to claiming his eyesight.
"I got this years ago, when I was still a younger man," Bernal said. "In the morning, I take my insulin, and then at night I take a smaller dose."
Born in the small village of Santa Mónica, in the Mexican state of Coahuila, he was a young boy when he moved to Brownsville, where he eventually worked in construction and labored in the fields.
"I remember we would wait outside a cafe and the truckers would come pick us up to take us to the fields," he said.
He was in his late 20s when he found out he was diabetic. Even as he fought the disease, he continued to work under the hot sun, earning what he considers good wages for an honest day’s work.
But in early 2000, Bernal was forced to stop working after complications from the diabetes forced the amputation of his right leg. Four years later, he lost his left leg.
Today Bernal is fighting to preserve his eyesight, also an effect of the diabetes.
"I take all these drops about four times a day," Bernal said, pointing to a bag with a variety of medicines inside. "As soon as I buy them they run out and I have to buy them again."
In addition to eyesight meds and insulin, Bernal takes nearly a dozen other medicines to control blood pressure and other health complications.
"These medicines are so expensive," Bernal said. "Each time I go to the doctor, he prescribes more. I have Medicaid, but it’s limited so it only covers a few. I have to pay for the rest. Some of these are $80, $90 and some more than $100."
To try to keep down the cost, Bernal takes advantage of his weekend visits to Matamoros, when his brothers take him to visit their 80-year-old mother, Albina Mijares. While there, he fills the most expensive prescriptions because they cost less than in the United States.
But even at that, Bernal still has to pick the most urgent medications and forego others in order to make do.
In addition to financial problems, Bernal faces difficulties created by the loss of both legs. Doctors provided him with a prosthetic for the right leg, but he has yet to find a replacement for the left. About five years ago, he was fitted with a prosthetic for the left, but it didn’t fit and has been collecting dust in his closet until he can get fitted for a new one.
Because of his lack of mobility, bathing has become an athletic endeavor.
"I have a bathtub, so I have to place the wheelchair at the edge and try to hold on to the handrails and pull myself over to that little seat," he said, pointing to a small seat placed across the tub.
Once on the tub seat, Bernal uses a bucket to bathe because the showerhead doesn’t reach where the seat is placed.
One of his most pressing needs is a larger wheelchair, one that would allow him to shower and to get in and out of the chair with less difficulty and risk. The one he has is five years old already and worn out.
Despite his many difficulties, Bernal keeps a smile on his face and manages to enjoy life by watching boxing and soccer matches on television.
"I don’t have cable, but here I’ll watch boxing and futbol (soccer) games when they are on," Bernal said. "I recently saw the Manny Pacquiao fight. Man, they threw some good punches."
HOW TO HELP
To donate funds, services or items, please contact:
United Way of Southern Cameron County
634 E. Levee St.
Brownsville, Texas 78520
Tel: 956.548-6880
Fax: 956.548.6906
Web site: www.liveunitedrgv.org
Email: information@unitedwayrgv.org
Source: brownsvilleherald.com
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