And another cancer patient who is on the rebound is Belize's favorite pediatrician, Dr Cecilio Eck.
He hasn't rung the bell yet but he has made it back into his office to see patients after being diagnosed with stage four cancer in June of 2024.
Now, after a long, taxing journey of traveling, doctor visits, chemotherapy, and medical bills, he returned to his desk two weeks ago in better health and better spirits. He's still on the road to recovery but he's back tending to Belize's littlest patients. Courtney Menzies spoke with him today and has that story.
Last June, Dr Cecilio Eck was diagnosed with cancer while testing the new CT Scan machine at KHMH. It was a chance discovery - and by the time it happened, he was already at stage four.
But now, over a year later, he's back behind his desk at the Coral Grove Medical & Pediatric Center. In the intervening months, his life was put on pause while he recovered.
Dr Cecilio Eck, Pediatrician
"I usually tell parents that their kids have cancer and the next question they would ask me, well, what to expect? And my answer to that would have been, and has always been, for the next two years, cancel your personal life because it will take a lot of effort, a lot of time, a lot of money to get your kid back on track. So when the diagnosis was made for me about a year and a half ago, driving home, just thinking to myself, that was the answer."
"My life was put on pause for at least a year, and maybe a little longer than that. And not only my life, but the lives of my entire family."
Dr Eck explained he saw doctors here in Belize, in Houston, and finally Merida, where he's been receiving treatment. While the journey has been grueling, he said he's doing much better.
Dr Cecilio Eck, Pediatrician
"Initially it was really rough but now it has tapered off, plateaued and now I think I'm on the upswing. The rough parts would have been initially for me and my family when the diagnosis was made and when the cancer was spreading throughout my entire body and having a lot of pain and I tell people bone pain because it had spread to my arms and my hips and this was before I saw the specialist in Houston. But certainly after that, after the initial radiotherapy was done, 5 courses of that, and then when I moved to Merida to get the chemo and the immunotherapy and those started to work. I'd say the first 6 months was pretty awful, after that it has been getting better."
"for me personally the side effect that affects me is 4 days post chemo I get 24 hours of being extremely fatigued so I would just sit and watch TV and just have to hype up myself to get up to get some water. It lasts for about 24 to 48 hours and then I'm good but that's the worst it's been for me and I give a lot of thanks."
And when he was first diagnosed, there was some mystery around what type of cancer he had. But today he told us it's a rare kind that affects the bile ducts in the liver.
But while the diagnosis was shocking, he explained that the support from the community and the grace of God kept him going.
Dr Cecilio Eck, Pediatrician
"At the beginning and the end it's God so to God be the glory. It was practically post covid, very surprising to me to see the support that I got and I tell everybody it was very humbling because as a person who is working, you don't see the other end, you don't walk that road, I'm not the cancer victim. And so taking on that role you realize the amount of love and support that the community has for you is overwhelming. And it still is. The cancer treatment is not cheap. The insurance that I have is covering a lot of it but the fundraising efforts helped immensely."
"A child, I'll call his name, Salinas, my little friend, he used to sell avocados off his tree and he brought his money here and gave it and sent a little video so it is overwhelming. but again it's not me and it's not all of them, it's God be the glory."
"I've been very thankful for the little thing. I missed the interaction with my patients, I really missed that. I missed my hospital work at KHMH, I'm back at KHMH. I missed the hospital work and explaining to the parents about their very ill kids. I miss the parents in here but mostly I am very thankful that I'm back again and I know a lot of people don't make it back."
Dr Eck still has a year of treatment left and will have to travel every three weeks to get it. He said by mid December he will know whether he is in remission.
