My First Code x 2

And so begins life on call. Last night I actually received my first somewhat emergent call at 1:00 am. After figuring out what to do I eagerly tried to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, this never fully came and I found myself eating a homemade carrot/apple muffin at 2:00 am and sitting on my couch reading. Eventually I made my way back to bed and finished the restless night.


Needless to say I was quite groggy this AM. Even though I did a few joint injections, a toenail removal, and saw countless influenza illnesses, I felt like the day was never going to end. Then around 5:45 when I was getting ready to pack up and leave two emergencies came in. My first was a young septic girl and my second was a man actively having a heart attack. Suddenly I found myself in a whirlwind of EKG's, labs, IV fluids, meds, blood cultures, and chaos. My empty ER was soon full and here I am at 9:40 pm waiting on my second troponin before I activate a Medivac.

We have been very short staffed this last week due to the flu and so both Ian and I have been extremely busy. It is amazing how much you learn to depend on people.  Thankfully tonight I had an amazing health aid (like a nurse) who was able to take care of a lot. It has been so long since I have had to start an IV or get fluids going, she was absolutely irreplaceable tonight.

Ian has also been extremely swamped in the front as both of his colleagues have been out. For a couple of days he was even the lone man in charge. There were actually a couple of nights that we both got home and just stared at the wall not sure what to think. Thankfully we can both laugh about it now.

Office Man Ian

This weekend Aniak is hosting a basketball tournament and I think we will be attending Friday night's games. It is a pretty big deal here and I am sure that most of the village will be attending (all 500 of us). The transition into the village has been very smooth and Ian is already established in a weekly men's group. I am planning on attending the women's sowing club that meets every Sunday and we have been contemplating on joining the weekly co-ed volleyball team.



Other fun news in our life is that we also got into our first ATV accident. I will not say who or how, only that we crashed and cracked the rim of our quad. Thankfully no one got hurt and only minor bruises were attained. The ATV is also fine, I think it looks loved now.

Hoppy, My NP Colleague

Another cool thing happened last week with our janitor. Without going into detail, someone anomalously gave him a little extra $$ for all of his hard work. Last week he also had the flu, but because he was concerned about not getting paid if he left,  he continued to work everyday that he was ill. When asked why he just wouldn't take the day off he replied that he wanted to be able to support his family. He has such an exemplary work ethic and such a peaceful and pleasant demeanor. When he opened the envelope of money the other night his smile was completely priceless. He then went out and bought Ian a Pepsi and a Slim Jim and gave him a hand written Thank You letter to the anonymous donor. He is such a blessing and his gracious and thankful heart was so awesome. I am really hoping that Ian and I can befriend him and talk to him about the Lord. There is a real gentleness and tenderness about his spirit that makes you think about Christ. With the little that he has been given, he is a great ray of light.

I also want to wish a very Happy Birthday to Mama Dianne! We love you and miss you!