Friday, January 1, 2010

New Year's Eve in Kash

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone!! I thought I would just write a quick message to tell you what happens in Kashechewan on New Year's Eve at midnight!

My Eve up here was pretty good. Of course, it's already my favourite day of the year because it's my birthday! Last night, Wes and I went over to Diane's apartment (one of the other Nurses) to ring in the new year with everyone. We watched "Yes Man"...very good, funny movie! It finished just in time for midnight and the big countdown. We watched the Time's Square ball-drop, like I do mostly every year. It was actually really fun to do the countdown and ring in the New Year with such a great group of people! Anyways, that was all lots of fun, but here comes the really fun part...

Just after the countdown, we started hearing what sounded like someone throwing snowballs at the side of the apartment...just a dull "thud" or "crack" kind of noise. We peeked outside, but no one was throwing anything. We realized that we were hearing the Kashechewan New Year's Eve tradition of GUNSHOTS! People go outside of their homes with their shotguns and shoot into the air to celebrate the New Year! There were LOTS of gunshots. I actually went outside to take part in it (listening only, no gun shooting for me), because this was the first, and possible only time I will hear so many gunshots at one time. There were also lots of people shooting off fireworks throughout the community. It was really pretty! I stood outside in the -25 C weather for awhile watching the fireworks and listening to the gunshots, and then things quieted down.

You may be wondering if anyone got hurt through this whole thing...thankfully not! It was a more or less quiet night at the Nursing Station I think (I wasn't on call). I was worried about that when the gunshots first started going off. I asked Henry, one of the Security Guards, if anyone had ever been hurt, and he said never as far as he knows. It still made me just a little bit nervous...I'm worried about guns at the best of times, but at midnight, in the middle of the community, with people that have potentially been drinking...I could see something going wrong.

Well, that is all I have to update right now. The travel plans are still underway for Thursday...meaning, if everything goes as planned, we will be at home in Owen Sound at this time 1 week from now!

Wishing you peace and happiness in 2010...the start of the best Decade yet!!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Can't Believe It!!

What can't I believe? That Christmas is over! That has got to be the quickest December in history....I don't know where it went. So, after a few not-so-subtle hints from my darling brother and a couple of friends, here is my latest update!

The lead-up to Christmas was pretty uneventful...mostly just work, walking outside, and getting things done around the apartment. One Saturday afternoon (I think it was Dec. 12) we went out to watch the parade through town, and ended up being IN it and judging the floats! We were asked to judge because we have no bias and would be fair. It was SOOOO cold, but a lot of fun. The parade basically consisted of 10 vans and trucks that were decorated for Christmas, and driven by different members of the community. There was a truck with some of the Elementary School kids in it that sang Christmas songs for us, and a truck with some of the High School students. And there was one van with a guy dressed up as the Grinch on top...he was just standing on the top of a moving van dancing and shouting at the kids on the streets (all in fun, of course!). We (the Nurses) were sitting in the box of the lead truck, so we got to watch the whole thing...we drove through the streets of Kash in probably colder than -20 C weather in a truck going about 10 km/h...it was SO fun!

Christmas Day was actually pretty nice here too. Both Wes' parents and my parents sent us packages with gifts to put under the tree, so Wes and I spent Christmas morning unwrapping gifts with each other, and talking on the phone with our parents. Then we laid low for the afternoon, and went to the OPP trailer for supper with Police and the other Nurses. One of the Police cooked the turkey, and everyone brought something...there were mashed potatoes, coleslaw, another salad...Wes and I took a turnip casserole and a broccoli casserole. And there was EGG NOG!!! It was the yummiest thing I have had to drink since we got here...I didn't realize how much I missed it until I took that first sip. So we all got together, had a nice meal, and socialized the evening away.

We are COMING HOME!! Our flight leaves Kashechewan at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday Jan. 7, and goes to Timmins. Then the plan is to have dinner and stay overnight in a hotel in Timmins, and get on the train from Timmins to Toronto on Friday morning. The train ride is 12 hours long, but it's much cheaper than the flight from Timmins to Toronto, and it will be more scenic anyways! We'll be home until Jan. 23, then taking the train all day Jan. 24, and flying from Timmins back to Kash on the 25th. I can't wait for vacation!!!

Anyways, it is getting late again, and I should go to bed. I'm 2nd on call tonight, so I should be trying to get some sleep while I can, in case I get called in!

Monday, December 7, 2009

The Happy Holidays Begin!

Hello everyone!

Well, here we are almost two weeks later again, even when I vowed to write more often. I'm trying, but I'm beginning to wonder if I'm ever going to get any better at this!!

I've still been pretty busy with work, but I'm definitely finding it more manageable. I think part of it is that now I'm used to the clinic space, which makes things less overwhelming. I know where to find (most) things, and I'm just comfortable in the space. I'm also getting more and more comfortable with the work that I do here. Everything is coming together very nicely, and I'm still learning everyday. I've come so far when I look at how much I know now compared to what I knew when I first got here. It's very encouraging! I still have a long way to go though...

Things have also been very busy socially around here lately! We've got a great group of Nurses here right now...I know I mentioned earlier that we have a good bunch of new full-time and part-time Nurses. They've all been here for about a month now, and we've really been getting along very well. We had a spaghetti supper at our (Wes and my) apartment on Saturday night, and we go out for walks almost everyday. I'm really appreciating the consistency of the people (not having a whole new group of people to adjust to every week), and it makes it much better that they're all wonderful people to work and spend time with. We've been doing some fun things, that I will talk about in the next couple of paragraphs!

My friend/colleague Meagin and I went out last Wednesday night to play volleyball with some local community members at the high school, and it was a GREAT time! Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not especially athletic, but the group of people who were playing weren't really competitive, and it seemed that we weren't out of place at all. It was a really good time out, and it gave me a chance to meet some of the young people in the community who don't come into the clinic. Being a Nurse here, I tend to see the people who are sick or have health issues more often, so I get a different picture of the community. Getting out with active, healthy people outside of the Nursing Station was very refreshing. I'm really planning to look into doing a fitness class over at the school one night a week...I think there are lots of women who would have a lot of fun with something like that!

We went for a big long walk to a place called "Half-Kash" on Saturday afternoon. It's the original site that Kashechewan was supposed to be settled on, but for some reason they ended up settling here instead. Half-Kash is a beautiful place, about 1.5 hour walk from Kash. It's very peaceful and serene...there are WAY more trees and wildlife there, and it's right along the Albany River. The river was still flowing fairly quickly when we were there, but it was completely full of ice floats. (As a side note, the river is now completely frozen over...the ice floats all jammed together and backed up over the past couple of days. I even saw two silly people walking on it on Sunday!). To top it all off, Saturday was a beautiful day...sunny with the perfect amount of snow on the ground, not too windy and not horribly cold (about -5 to -8 C). It made for a very nice adventure!

It's beginning to look like Christmas around here too! Our lab organizer/cleaner Annie got a ton of sparkly decorations out last week, and they're now hanging all around the clinic. Happily, our apartment is starting to get decorated too. Our friend/colleague/next door neighbour Scott went out and cut down a WONDERFUL little Christmas tree for us on the weekend. He even saved a few of the metal lids from frozen juice cans and put strings through them to make decorations for it!! We've been using the colourful foil wrappers from Christmas chocolate balls to cover the metal lids, and they actually look like real decorations. I've also ordered a couple of little wee toques (a lady here crochets them) with Wes and my name on them that we can use for decorations (SHH, I haven't told Wes yet, it's a surprise!). I need to get out to the store to get a few candy canes, and get some popcorn stringed...then maybe some tinsel. A friend here says she has some oranges in her fridge that make good decorations when they're dried too. It's going to be a great Christmas project for the next couple of weeks! I will take lots of pictures so I can share it with everyone. Oh, speaking of that, I'm trying to set up a place online to post all the pictures I have...I'll keep everyone posted about that.

I've also been keeping busy with a course that I signed up for about a week or so ago. It's called "Pharmacotherapeutics"...all about prescribing medications and when to give certain ones, their effects, side effects, interactions, etc. It's a self-study course...there's required reading and then a quiz at the end of every section. There are 12 sections I think, so it'll keep me busy for awhile!

Anyways, I think that's all that is new right now. We're hopefully coming home for a visit in January....it's actually coming very quickly, so we'll have to start making plans to get together with everyone! Keep me posted!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

So, it's Been Forever!

Hello everyone!!

I can't believe it's been over two weeks since I posted my last message! Time seems to have flown by. Honestly I can't even explain why I haven't had time to write - it just seems that between working, doing a little bit of reading and learning after work, and eating, the day is done before I can get to writing. I suppose I would have time if I kept my postings shorter and just wrote more of them! Maybe I will have to try that...the way I'm doing it now is daunting, because I feel like I have so much to write and I have to put it all into one message.

This week I have learned a little bit about how the weather can affect how we care for patients here. On Tuesday morning we had a man come in who had overdosed on some pills, to the point that he needed to be cared for in the Intensive Care Unit (if we had been down South, he would have been transferred to the ICU right away for observation). Normally, we would call the air ambulance and have the patient transferred down to the Timmins hospital, or to Kingston if he was in need of more specialized care. Unfortunately, a fairly deep fog had set in over the coast of James Bay early Tuesday morning, and no airplanes were able to land here in Kash. So, the patient is currently STILL in our Emerge department on a stretcher being observed by us. Luckily the patient has been fairly stable all the way along, so it hasn't been too bad, but it still hasn't worked exactly how it would ideally. I think this kind of situation probably happens fairly often here...we are so dependent on the weather! Between fog, snow, ice, and other weather phenomenon (I don't know exactly what types of weather pilots can't fly in), there are lots of things that can affect our ability to get people out. It really makes me appreciate the nice weather more though!

The past two weeks have been very exciting for me, because I have been working with 4 new colleagues up here! I know that doesn't sound very exciting, because as I explained in earlier messages, there are always new people coming and going. The difference is that these 4 people are more full time Nurses like me! Usually people come up for 1 or 2 or 3 weeks at a time and then leave. Sometimes they never come back to Kash, or they don't come back for months. Now it seems that I am going to have a more consistent team to work with for awhile. Diane and Scott have signed up to stay for a year like I have, and Beth and Meagin are doing 1 month in and 1 month out. They are all really nice people, and I think we will work very well together. Everyone comes with their own strengths and experiences, so I think we will all be able to help each other.

I've been seriously thinking of starting a distance education course to do while I'm up here. I've been researching online, and I've found a few really interesting courses that would teach me lots of really valuable information for working up here. The thing is, I'd really like to find one that will count towards the Nurse Practitioner certificate...since I'm planning on doing the NP course eventually when I get home anyways, I might as well work towards it if I can. So far it's kind of difficult to get the information I'm looking for though. I can't seem to find out if there are any courses that I can take that would count towards the NP program. Oh well, I'm going to keep looking, and I plan to start something soon!

Well, I think that is long enough for tonight. I have more to write about, so watch for something new in a couple of days. The weekend is coming up (WOOHOO!!), so I should have some time to write another message. As of the schedule that's posted right now, I'm on call Saturday night from 8:00 p.m. to Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m.

I love you all...once again, thanks for stopping by! :)

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Online!

Hello everyone! Just a quick (happy) note to let you know we had our satellite internet installed this afternoon, so we're online for the rest of the year. Hooray!! So drop me a line anytime, I will try my best to keep in touch with everyone.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Northern Nursing

Well, I think things have finally (thankfully!) settled down up here. Last week was probably the busiest week I've ever experienced in my life. There was a lot going on between giving H1N1 vaccines and treating people with influenza-like illnesses. We had about 60% of the community show up for immunization, which is awesome because that is a large percentage of people that won't be coming in later with the flu! But because of the great turnout, lots of our Nursing resources were going toward immunizations. Unfortunately, like myself, there were a bunch of people who got the shot too late, and ended up (probably) getting the flu. So another big portion of our resources went to assessing/treating people with influenza-like illnesses. Then, on top of all of that there were all the regular clinic issues and emergency issues too keep up with, as well as a Doctor clinic to manage. Busy, busy, busy! But I think we're through the majority of the flu stuff (hopefully!), so things will be back to normal now.

So last week I was the Nurse taking care of the Doctor's clinic, which is very hectic because it seems that everyone wants to see the Doc when they're in town. Because people are so excited when a Doctor comes, I thought there was only supposed to be a Doc here one week each month...but apparently I was mistaken. Apparently there is really supposed to be a Doctor here 4 weeks a month! The Docs have been working short lately, so there have been a decreased number of clinics, but apparently we're supposed to have them here the majority of the time. Although we Nurses have an expanded scope of practice, we still don't have prescribing rights, and there are lots of things that still need to be seen by a Dr. I'm still learning my role as a Nurse up here. We definitely take care of all the on-call emergency stuff...basically our role is to stabilize emergency patients until an airplane/helicopter can get up here to medevac the person to the hospital in Moose Factory. When you think about it, it's a very huge responsibility! Anything can walk through the door, so I really have to be prepared for any kind of situation (basically like any emerge department!). I think the most worrisome thing (in my mind) is when the weather gets bad and airplanes have decreased ability to fly. Well, we'll deal with that when it happens.

The Nurses' scope of practice up here also involved dealing with regular, day-to-day clinic issues. I think I've mentioned this in one of my other posts...things like strep throat, UTI's, prenatal assessments...basically things that a Nurse Practitioner can do. Granted, an NP has prescribing rights that I still don't have up here, and they can also order x-rays, ultrasounds, bloodwork...things that I still need a Doctor's order for. But we still have more abilities here then down South.

As far as things I've seen so far...I know people are interested in hearing crazy stories!
I can't say too too much, because of confidentiality, but I'll give you an idea. There's been a dehydrated 2 month old, a few kids with breathing troubles, a Tylenol OD, a couple of really high blood sugars (Diabetic Ketoacidosis), someone with sepsis (a blood infection), someone who stepped on a nail, a heart attack, a few people with chest pain...those are really the most intense things I've been a part of since I've been here. I'm very, very thankful that I haven't been around for anything worse than that (although the heart attack is about as bad as you can get), but especially that I haven't been alone for most of it. I'm kind of terrified for the night that I'm on call and at home in bed when I get the call at 4:00 a.m. that someone like...I dunno, that something terrible has happened. Well, I keep reminding myself that I'm not alone...I always have another Nurse I can call, and there is a Doctor to consult with 24/7.

We had a really nice weekend here. I heard it was beautiful at home in Owen Sound too...up to 18 degrees?!?! Well, we had sun and 8 degree weather both days this weekend. It was
very uplifting to see the sun!! I consider each nice day a bonus at this point, it's just a matter of time before we are forced into hibernation!

OH, I JUST remembered that Elsie (a reception staff member at the Nursing Station) told me that a barge came in on the river today. I will have to go out tomorrow after work to see if it's still there. I doubt it will still be there, I got the impression that they come and go fairly quickly. DARN, I meant to go out after work today to take a look. Oh well, I guess it will come again sometime in the year that we're here.

Guess what...we're finally getting internet in our apartment!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!! I was told that the equipment for the satellite would get up here to Kash around mid-week this week, and then there is someone here that works at the Band Office who installs the equipment. It's expensive to get everything set up, but it will be so worth it when we have access to the world!! I can't wait to be able to go online whenever I want. I can't wait to write back to all of you that have been so great about writing to me...I really WANT to write back to you all, but in order to be online at this point I have to be over in the Nursing Station...at work...where I don't particularly want to be when I'm not working! Hehe, I promise I will be better about writing back when we have our satellite.

Oh, by the way...I am REALLY missing shopping!!! For those of you that recall, I pretty much went to the grocery store every single day back home. I LOVE grocery shopping. Honestly I just love being out in a store and surrounded by people. I promise I will never take access to fresh fruits and vegetables for granted, ever again! There are several problems with the store here. The produce is very limited, and the things we do have access to are fairly expensive, and not the greatest quality. AND, even if the produce was fresh and varied and inexpensive, the store hours are still very limited. It's open Monday-Friday from 10:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., and Saturday from 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. As you will know from my earlier posts, my regular workdays are Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. You will also know that, until now, I have worked several Saturdays. That has made it pretty hard to get to the store. But Wes isn't crazy about grocery shopping, plus I LOVE going to any store that's available to me, so I still find the time to get there at least once a week, usually twice. Even though I complain, we really have everything we need here...we're not suffering, that's for sure.

Hmm...well I think I've run out of topics AND brain power for writing tonight. As usually, I will sign off by saying thank you for caring about me enough to read my blog, and that I love you all. Talk to you soon!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Swine Time

Here we are at the beginning of week #5. The past 4 weeks have been a flash and an eternity at the same time. The longer we're here, the more I am encouraged that I've stuck it out as long as I have, and I feel like I can do it. On the other hand, it DOES seem like it's been a long time, and I start to wonder how I'll make it through 11 times what I've been through already. But Wes is such a good supporter, so don't worry - he's keeping me together! And don't worry, I'm not really as jaded as this paragraph is making me sound. I'm just reflecting as I go.

So, I think it actually happened...I think we caught the flu. I got my flu shot on Wednesday (Oct. 28), but it was too little too late - I saw about 3 patients last Sunday and Monday (Oct. 25 and 26) who I thought might have strep throat, or a bad cold. This was before we knew there was any H1N1 in the community...so I wasn't wearing a mask. Turns out, the people I saw actually had the flu. So Friday (Oct. 30) I started developing the classic symptoms - cough, fever, headache/muscle aches, stuffy nose, sore throat...I pretty much covered them all! Working 12 hour days this past Saturday and Sunday probably didn't help my recovery much, so I'm still a little tired and weak. But unfortunately, as I'm on a slow mend, Wes has gotten pretty sick too. He doesn't think it's the flu, but considering both of our symptoms fit the definition, AND I know I've been exposed to people with it, I'm almost positive that we can officially say we got the dreaded H1N1. Thankfully we'll be ok though! All the cases we've seen up here have been pretty mild, so I'm sure we'll both be back to normal in no time.

The snow that we got about a week and a half ago melted completely. Hooray!! We had another little ground covering this morning, but it's gone too. Overall it's actually been fairly mild here the past couple of days. I think it got up to about +9 Celcius on Saturday. We have a thermometer that I'm looking at right now...it's 10:48 p.m. and +1.3 C. Not too shabby for November 2nd, and not too much different than it is at home, right? I'm sure we'll start seeing the difference sooner than we'd like, but I'll take all the "warm" weather I can get! :)

So I was thinking, I bet the Christmas decorations/merchandise have started to come out (hopefully still in SMALL quantities!) in the stores. I think I will miss that this year! Well, I'm finding that I'm missing a lot of what's going on in the "mainstream". It's amazing how big an impact surroundings and social interractions have on my mood/feelings/outlook, and how much I took for granted at home. I knew I would learn a lot about myself and about all of this during my time here, but it's still interesting to actually sit and think about it.

I know everyone is curious about the things I'm seeing in the clinic, and I promise that will be my next posting! For now, I think it's bedtime again. Ciao, for now!