He may be Belize's most beloved pediatrician and that's why hearts around the country were heavy when Dr Cecilio Eck had to be intubated due to COVID 19.
Dr Eck's bout with the virus was troubling he was, as they say, "rolling in the deep"; his doctor colleagues were gravely concerned for his well being, and concerned that he might not survive.
The tense weeks he spent in the hospital were taxing, not only on his family, but on his body as well. Even though Dr Eck has been discharged and is at home recovering, he's lost some mobility and a lot of muscle mass and has to use a wheelchair for the time being. But he's slowly making his comeback, and his young patients are cheering him on.
Today, Courtney Menzies visited Dr Eck at his home in Ladyville, where he spoke about his COVID spiral and what might have saved his life: a combination of hardworking health staff, his faith in God, and, of course, the vaccine. Here is that story:
Courtney Menzies
"After you woke up, at any point, did you ever think, I might actually die in here?"
Dr. Cecilio Eck - Pediatrician/COVID Survivor
"Yes. Yes. What had happened is that while being in the hospital, being intubated, but when they remove sedation, so you are weak, but the tube is in your throat and you're breathing. Yes, I was fearful of that. And it is a real fear because you can't move, you're intubated. The machine is breathing for you, so you're at the, I'd say, beck and will of the doctors will look after you. There is a deep, deep, deep level of trust that's involved."
Well-known pediatrician Dr Cecilio Eck was diagnosed with COVID 19 in late October. He believes he contracted the virus from one of his young patients, but he's not sure how or when. One day, he had developed a cough, and five days later, on October 23rd, he was admitted to the KHMH.
Dr. Cecilio Eck
"My wife had told me, if it gets worse to the point where you can't handle, then please tell me. So that happened midday on a Saturday, and I thought it was the night. I still think it's the night, but it was the middle of the day and we got in the vehicle and went to be admitted."
And just like that, Dr Eck went from the hospital's friendly pediatrician, who always brought sweet treats for the COVID unit's staff, to being one of their patients intubated and sedated. And while he is at home now, he says his time in the ICU is all a blur.
Dr. Cecilio Eck
"For my specific experience, I tell my wife I have no recollection of it. I remember them dropping me off walking in and the next thing is 12, 13, 15 days later, waking up. But me being in there and looking around and I have, I think my mind kind of blocked that. But to answer that question specifically, I've been there. I've had two family members, two uncles before me who passed. I have visited the staff nearly on a daily basis, spoken with them, ask them what they needed or if there was anything else I could provide for them. The simplest thing I bought was donuts. So they would say, donut man dih come."
And it was these same doctors and nurses who worked round the clock to save Dr Eck's life. On October 26th he was transported to Belize Health Care Partners and his condition only seemed to get worse.
His family had asked for his patients to send "get well soon" messages to cheer him up and he said he's still not done reading them all.
Dr. Cecilio Eck
"Post extubating after they removed the tube and after I got out of there, I got back my phone because my wife was in charge of my phone, there are hundreds of messages from all of my patients. Some send pictures, some sent just a simple message, Dr Eck, I hope you get better soon, some sent songs. And each one of them, I'm literally going through one at a time to say thanks. I have I think on my phone 86 left to respond to and on my wife's phone, I think she has a couple hundred. And when I had a walk and she would play them for me. Just to kind of lift my spirits."
His journey is not an easy one, but he says he's just grateful to be alive.
Dr. Cecilio Eck
"I do know the rates of patients coming off ventilators and surviving is pretty small, is minimal and is not only that, but coming off twice and coming off after having internal bleeding and two operations. A lot of people don't understand, but when someone is ventilated, anything can happen and it does really mean that we could get. I could have weakened, but without the use of half of my body or with a problem, with speech, with a problem with comprehension, blindness, deafness. In Belize, they say, any numbah play. So for me to awaken with the use of all my limbs, with the ability to remember people with my cognitive awareness intact, I'm on top of the world."
But he's not at the end of the recovery road just yet right now, he's in a wheelchair and must take physical therapy sessions.
Courtney Menzies
"So tell us about some of the after effects you are currently dealing with."
Dr. Cecilio Eck
"The biggest one is mobility. The longer you don't utilize the muscle, the body starts to re-absorb it. And what happens is, the term is muscle atrophy. So what has affected me most is my lower limbs. So from my hips down, I can still move, but not like you, I can't stand and walk around. But with due time, and with physiotherapy, the muscle mass and the muscle and proper nutrition, muscle mass and muscle tissue should come back."
And that's not all extreme fatigue has made those sessions twice as hard. And with everything he's endured, Dr Eck has advice for Belizeans so that they don't have to go through a similar experience.
Dr. Cecilio Eck
"Wear your mask, wash your hands. You don't need to have the party for 15 people, don't have the party for the 15 people. Limit activity exposure at the grocery store, wherever you go to shop or buy or any group, get two vaccines. Think the only reason I'm here is because of the vaccine. And if I did not take the vaccine, I would have... I would have gone."
Dr Eck is now looking forward to when he'll be able to take his third shot.
Dr Eck had a list of people to thank, including his surgeons, Dr Fargo and Dr Gutierrez; internal medicine specialist, Dr Arriaga; Drs Hidalgo and Elrington; Nurse Eliannie at BHPL; physiotherapist Michelle Trejo; his two companions who make sure he's moving around and eating every day; and a team of health staff who put their knowledge and wisdom together, including Dr Lisa Johnson and obstetrician Dr Tracy Nicholas; and he also wanted to thank all the other health professionals who had a hand in his recovery.
