When he either resigned, took a leave of absence or was removed from Cabinet - the Prime Minister said that Jose Mai had to go deal with a back injury. That's the story that spawned a hundred memes because it seemed like a likely story - since the prevailing narrative was that the US Embassy had pressured the Prime Minister to remove Mai. That's what we reported and we stick by our story. But, as they say, two things can be true. Jose Mai publicly explained that he does have herniated discs and did go to Merida where they told him he needed spinal surgery.
And he ended up going to to Guatemala City for that surgery - except got knee replacement, not spinal surgery.
So how did that happen? Well, Mai returned home on Friday after 18 days away and was keeping a low profile as he recovers. But after a picture was published online of him in a wheelchair, we reached out for an interview. He spoke to Jules Vasquez via phone about his procedure:
Jose Mai, Area Representative - OW South
"So I'm in recovery mode right now. Yesterday I went to see a doctor just to ensure that everything is still good. There's no fever, there's no major inflammation. So I think it's on the way to recovery."
Jules Vasquez
"But people are puzzled or confused because it was widely publicized that you had a bad back. But now we see you have gone for knee surgery. Explain how that came about."
Jose Mai, Area Representative - OW South
"Well, I too was shocked. I went prepared for spinal surgery after the doctors in Merida had said you know the only option is surgery to the spine and then in Belize the doctors had said the same."
"When we sent the images to the specialist in Guatemala, he saw the images and he said this definitely requires surgery, but you need to come so we can do an assessment, an evaluation of you."
"And then I was a little shocked when they told me that while the spine is in bad shape what contributed to it was the situation with my right leg, which was not fully extended. And you have pain over time. I think the human body just tends to lean on one side to avoid pain on the other side."
"I was a little confused because I had to decide what I would do, my family and I. So we had to decide what to do. Who do you believe? You have to check the doctors cause you're here now, time is running out. Nobody's eager for surgery, to be honest."
"So I had to decide what to do. And the doctor was, I think, very honest and he said listen if I need the money I can do surgery to your spine and charge you the money and you go back home. But that is not, you're not going to be right. He said in 6 months time you will have the same problem. He said because the situation is, it's your leg that needs to be corrected. So, I had to trust the experts. In this case. I have no other choice. And so we decided to do the the complete knee replacement which, no, should allow me to, to have a better posture in walking, supposed to, or balance of the weights, and with therapy, of course."
Jules Vasquez
"So what's your prognosis and timeline for recovery?"
Jose Mai, Area Representative - OW South
"Well, I need to remove the stitches in about ten days time, I think. I stay in my house, because the wound is still slightly open, infection will get in so I cannot leave my home."
"After that, I start therapy to try to get the knee back."
Jules Vasquez
"So you're looking at months off, or a few months before you can say you're fully, as they say, ambulatory, to be able to walk around."
Jose Mai, Area Representative - OW South
"Yeah, maybe, maybe two, three months."
Mais' surgery was performed 10 days ago.
