I have no idea why I'm writing a boring blog about food... but since so many lately have asked what foods or what things we miss... I'll write a blog for the world to know! lol... At lunch we asked each of the kids to think of the 3 foods that they would eat again and again... At the top of several lists was Lasagna... sadly a very expensive and non practical meal here (cheese and meat topping the reasons why it's not practical!)... Spaghetti and pizza were also on a couple lists... Tonia of course had groundnut stew on her list (a Sierra Leone food that we all love to eat)... Oddly enough pancakes came up a few times as well (they don't miss pancakes... we eat them a few times a week). Joe was pretty sure some moose sausage and steak would be on his list... So... these are the food items that 'we' miss.... I think I just miss variety! But in reality... it is so much easier to not have to think much about what you are eating... the choices are just a topping for rice... sardines, flavored tuna, beans, kamote tops, etc... so not so difficult to think about every meal!
Well... I've been informed my 'free time' is over... time to see a patient!

Sick of being sick!

My good friend who is Nurse Practitioner told me that the first year of practice you get every bug that walks through your door... multiply that times 9 and it feels as if someone is always sick! It's usually mild and only passes through a couple of us... but seems like there is always one child sniffling, coughing, puking, fever, etc... So my New Years resolution... no more sickness!!! Lately we've had a round of the flu bug passing through the clinic and I sure DON'T want that one! We've seen a lot of intestinal bugs as well... though I believe that has to do with the water source being so low... we still bring our drinking water in from Alabel as there has only been water for an hour or two every day. But it FINALLY rained last night and we have water today!! So loads of laundry are being sent through the washer as I type... and if it stays strong... maybe we'll get in a 'real' shower!! It's the simple things in life that give us pleasure! :P
Christmas was interesting to say the least... we woke up and got to skype video chat with my sister while the kids opened their stockings... then they took a break to do chores and eat before we connected again and opened presents from Aunt Christine while she watched. What a blessing the internet was this year! Joe had strep on Christmas morning... but there was a plug needed for the kids to be able to play the new Wii Aunt Christine got them... so we drugged him up and sent him to GenSan on the motorcycle while I took the kids to the Thanksgiving celebration at church... (can you say H-O-T!!!)... but it was all good and the kids got to enjoy their new game that evening.
Presents and such are a weird thing for me... I look around at our surroundings and the lack of just basic needs... and feel strange for receiving presents when we already have so much... yet I know that God takes pleasure in giving good gifts to his children... Anyways... it's a weird struggle... one not easily solved.

For REAL!

So I haven't been blogging lately.. not that lots hasn't been going on.. but mostly because I'm afraid I would be a little too 'real' with people... I have started many a blog to try to express some of these 'real' issues here... but then I am always afraid it will come across the wrong way and I end up resorting to just deleting the post and keeping inside for yet another day. So.... sorry for the absence of 'fun' blogging... it's been difficult to have the 'Christmas' spirit here... so far away from people who share the same love of Christ, the same language, family, etc... some days if it were up to me I would just hide under my blanket until this season has passed... but of course having children forces one to not do that, (and the fact that's it's 100 degrees out!)... so we plod on through... learning how to celebrate with no close friends of family close by, with just the ants as our constant companions... :) We are thankful that we have each other (and there's a LOT of us!)
We are finally on 'break' from the kid's school... so now it's just the 'normal' duties of animals, garden and of course patients... We see anywhere from 10-25 patients in a day... ranging in problems from halfway cutting their wrist off... to infected wounds, to trying to figure out some medical dilemna that's plagued someone for years... (those are the hardest!)
We are trying to at least get some holiday baking in... but it means that we splurge for 'nice' flour (that you can only buy in the city)... the 3rd class flour just doesn't cut it for delicate baking items! It's difficult to find baking products and goodies... But we managed to find marshmallows in the city last time we were in... and a box of rice crispies... The box sizes here makes it perfect for rice crispy treats... one box per 1 bag of marshmallows! I think we might even have some food coloring that we could add in to make them look 'Christmasy'!
Currently we are in the middle of re arranging and organizing the house... BLAH... but oh well, it must be done.. and I'll feel great when it's finished!

bugs!

It's amazing what one can get used to when you have to... Joe and I both grew up in COLD climate... aka.. Alaska! No ants invading your coffee 30 seconds after putting it down, no strange and weird bugs falling on you at night, no crawly guys in the bathroom, and NO snakes eating your chickens (although we did once have wild dogs eat our chickens...) Anyway... you either get used to it... or learn to deal with it! Just this week we decided that the bugs falling on us in the middle of the night was robbing us of precious sleep and needed to be solved... so up went the mosquito net.... now of course all the kids want one! lol... ants really do love anything and everything... I was at the desk earlier typing and kept feeling something crawling on me... sure enough... ants had invaded where the water/ rubbing alcohol mix bottle had just been sitting... who knew ants liked alcohol!? But for the most part we are 'used' to our little house critters... generally they are harmless... although the big ol wolf spiders don't appear so and when I see them I don't mind letting 1/4 of the can of bug killer out on them (even though it doesn't kill them!) Joe mostly just enjoys getting pictures of bugs... and trust me... there are LOTS of interesting new bugs here!

Enjoy a few of his shots!

Gardening!

Well.. it's official... we are full fledged into gardening! We FINALLY had a nice rain and were able to transplant our lettuce today... thankfully they had JUST finished plowing the rest of the garden this morning! Sweet timing!

So anyone who knows me... knows I certainly DO NOT have a green thumb! So far I had only been able to grow a few bean plants and squash... lots and LOTS of squash plants! I'm not THAT fond of squash to be honest... I've even considered giving one squash to each household here in the village and organizing a squash bake off! Anyway... all my starter plants weren't doing so well... but finally I was able to get a few cucumber and tomato plants in the ground... the tomato plants ended up being transplanted a second time as where we originally put them happened to be a wee bit too close to where our patients SPIT! lol...

Anyway... I've been doing a ton of reading on gardening... trying to figure out what grows well where... and finally was able to get some lettuce started and some more bean plants. And the funny thing was... when I dumped our old 'starter' to mix in with the dirt I was putting around our bean plants... the tomatoes that hadn't grown... grew! So... I currently have 19 tomato plants all shooting up! I guess I better be looking up some good jarring recipes! :) Good thing we like spaghetti sauce!

Some of the kids really enjoy gardening... others just enjoy the 'clearing' (the burn pile to be exact).... but we've been busy, busy clearing and planting! We've so far gotten squash, beans, papaya trees, tomatoes, cucumber, and lettuce planted! Phew!

I actually have really enjoyed gardening (shocker I know!)... I admit to being slightly impatient and wanting it to all grow faster... but I'm sure that a few months will pass before we know it!

Internet Part 2

Miracle of ALL miracles... we have internet once again!!! And SUPER fast at that!!! We are so excited to be able to use our internet phone to be able to connect with family and call out in emergencies! Yeah!
On a funny side note... the company's satellite is based in Korea... so all my little side bars, etc... are all in KOREAN... hmm... maybe I should start studying so I can understand... either that or figure out how to change my settings to ENGLISH! lol... :)
It's been pretty busy at the clinic... seeing about 10-20 patients a day... as our current REACH nurse stated today... you sure do get a LOT of strange cases! Trust me... strange is putting it lightly! I would expand... but I understand that some of you readers don't care for the medical side of things... so let's just say... we get some WEIRD cases! :P
Glad to be up and running again... and feel free to call us (that would be if you have my number... which you would have to email me to get!) God bless!

Internet

Well.. we are temporarily w/o internet... it's a very long, frustrating story... but we were unhappy with the provider we had... so since we were still w/in our time frame to cancel... we did... of course getting a refund out of a company is like pulling the teeth of a horse! But... we are fairly confident the new company will allow us to actually use our internet phone and video call... and not blank out whenever there is rain! So... we are hoping to set that all up here within the next week or so... pray it happens fast... would love to be able to talk to my family on Christmas!!!

Life flow..

Life flows on... yesterday morning I know God was watching my back... I set the alarm and got up early so that I could breed a couple rabbits... so I was able to get chores done early. God knew they would need to be done since we had our first patient there around 6:30am... she had severe pain in her R side... we decided she really needed to be seen at the hospital in GenSan. Thankfully we had already planned a trip in for that day! So we put the plans on fast track and away we went (we saw another two patients in the meantime!)... I had a horrible pinched nerve in my back... but it was nothing compared to this poor lady's pain... every bump on the road was pure agony (all 2 hours of it!)

We came home to a brownout... a nice fire had been built under a power line down by the river... very smart! So... we unloaded the boxes from my sister and friend in the dark... along with our family Christmas gift. Phew! Right before bedtime the power came back on; just in time for our patient who arrived in a LOT of pain... apparently while plowing the field his Carabow decided he'd had enough and took off at a dead run... dragging the poor guy behind. A piece of wood had narrowly missed gouging out this guys eye... and he had a nice cut on his nose... upon further investigation it was found that he not only had a gash on his nose... he had a stick UP his nose! It wasn't a little stick either... Ouch!!! We were afraid it had gone through to his palate or a sinus cavity... but apparently he missed both (a miracle). It was quite a good lesson for our kiddos on "Don't drink and plow... or better yet... don't drink at all!" (he'd had a couple shots before heading out to plow)...

Today was another busy day, seeing over 20 patients and trying to get all our normal chores done with such a little amount of water (it hasn't rained enough!) Then tonight just before starting this blog... we had a nice sized earthquake! Oi! Life in the bukid! I'll be happy when we eventually get the earthquake straps to attach the top floor of our house (the part we live in) to the downstairs clinic! Until then... these big earthquakes make my belly a little jelly! ;P

What do you smell?

I currently smell the remnents of horse on my shirt, sweat from the sun, the neighbors trash burning (with a nice bit of mountain fresh air mixed in), a bit of goat/horse/chicken/rabbit poo drifting up, and I swear that I can still smell a bit of the two dressing changes I did today... you know.. that rotting flesh smell.... yum!

Consequently I am also laughing at hearing Christmas music while sweating in this 100 plus heat!

Gotta love village life! ;)

It's a love/hate thing

You know how the things that you love about someone are the same things you hate?... Take for example your spouse... you love how giving and caring he is... only it's also because he's so giving and caring that he's helping with everyone else's projects... thus your own at home are left undone... (I'm not saying that's my spouse... just giving an example!)... Well our life here in Kihan is like that... it's a love/hate thing with life in general. See some days I'm overwhelmed at the enormity of the 'job' at hand... yet it's that enormity that makes me want to be here (are you still following or am I confusing you?) Take today for example...
Joe got up at 5 am to take the motorcycle across the river to meet up with a couple of REACH team members to get back the BP cuff's they accidentally packed when they left the other day... while he was gone I was summoned by our neighbor who has one of the guys who had the testes surgery staying with them... Apparently while out back at the loo yesterday... he fell down the hill! This is no small hill... it's quite steep... thus injuring his barely healing 'ahem' and breaking apart ALL the stitches leaving a gap about 2 in wide and 7 inches long! NICE... oh.. and it's swollen to the size of a pomello (cantelope for those in the US)... By then Joe was back, kids were being fed and animal chores almost completed... Joe and I headed off on a hike to try to get cell service to call Dr Sam who was in a neighboring area (about an hour and a half away)... we weren't able to get cell on the mountain beside our house, so we took off in the motor and headed across the river and up the mountain... About 45 min later we finally reached cell service and tried texting. Sadly by then we weren't able to get ahold of him, but was able to reach my friend who is a NP in the states. We got some advice and headed back in... only to arrive home to patients galore! Seriously... we spent the next 4 hours seeing patients, finally returning to our injured man next door and then eating lunch around 2... We saw more patients later on in the evening and again went to give more pain meds and change the dressing on the guy next door.
So.. the love/hate thing is... It's CRAZY!... I seriously had no idea what to do for this guy... I would love to have handed him off to some 'higher' doctor... but that just wasn't an option... so we tend to him the best way we can... So I hate feeling/being inadequate... but... I love the fact that because I am so inadequate in every way, every day... it keeps me on my knees... seeking guidance from the ultimate physician. I could tell story after story of times when I've just been stumped by a patients symptoms and then I've just listened to that still small voice telling me to 'ask this'... and sure enough... it will often reveal the cause/problem....
The love/hate thing is true for our health here... it's hard not to fall into worry about things that I just wouldn't worry about in the states. (ok, so these problems generally wouldn't happen there)... anyway... Meggie for example... she started getting little sores... then she had this huge knot develop under her chin (like the size of a walnut)... final diagnosis... empitigo... with her body just reacting strongly to it (knot is a hugely swollen lymph node)... so antibiotics for her. I hate worry, especially when it comes to our health... but I love that it makes me trust in my heavenly Father for peace.
I love being able to pass out knowledge to patients about their bodies and their health... but I hate what the lack of knowledge does to people's health...
Anyway... you get the picture right?
Right now you're probably loving that you can read about our daily adventures... but hating that it's such a long post! lol...

A 'fun' fact...

K... those who know me know that I won't tell anyone where or how to give birth... but I did run across this statistic and thought I'd share... :)
"Compared to home-born babies, hospital-born babies are six times more likely to suffer distress during labor, eight times more likely to need resuscitation, four times more likely to become infected, 30 times more likely to suffer permanent injury, and their mothers are three times more likely to hemorrhage. The hig...h risk is in the hospital." - Balizet (thanks Christy Fiscer Midwife)

This little cutie pie has Kwashiorkor... it's a form of malnutrition... and... unless some serious diet changes take place, she will die from it. Hard to believe when you see those puffy cheeks right? But this form of malnutrition (sometimes called wet malnutrition) is from lack of protein. Basically her body has so little protein intake that eventually her kidneys are compromised... she leaks fluid into her tissues and eventually will go into a coma and die.
When her swelling started her parents took her to the area health center and they gave them a weeks supply of vitamins and dewormed her... um, yeah... so that didn't help! (ok.. the deworming was good). There was no instructions given to the parents on diet changes or even what the problem was... until today, the parents had no idea that all their daughters problems (tiredness, hair falling out, swelling, etc) was all related... and that yes... she will die unless they do something!
So we went over some SERIOUS diet changes for this little girl (who only eats rice and sometimes kamote tops)... we gave some of our supply of peanut butter and mongo beans to get them started... she will return weekly for progress reports until she is hopefully a healthy happy 2 year old that she should be! I don't care if I have to use up all my supply of peanut butter (which is a pain to find down here)... but this little girl WILL live (if I have ANYTHING to say about it)! I think God was just reminding us why he had us here...
The last picture is of her bloated belly... the muscles eventually become lax and the belly will basically 'fall out'... or look very bloated like... not shown is her super skinny back and shoulders (where she isn't swollen).
Please do pray for her and the others like her around here... it's such a preventable disease, but education is a key in bringing about change. Thank you for those that support what we do... as you can see... it does make a difference!