Those stairs look like Mt Kilimanjaro

It's been a busy week and I'm ending it by being on call, so taking a few moments to update you all. I'm first on call and have enough sense not to use the Q word, however it's nice to have a night where you claim the stand by for simply standing by. The later in the contract it gets, the more appealing that concept is. A week from today I'll be catching a flight out to take in the graduation - my how quickly the time flies in the north. We were expecting a replacement nurse in today but the Canadian North flight she was on flew over Kugluktuk (because of fog) and turned back to Yellowknife. The nurse leaving was on First Air and managed to make it as far as Edmonton at least. Ahh the joys of northern travel. 

Sik sik

Sitting pretty

Had an interesting patient visit when a lady arrived telling me that her eye was sore as she'd splashed wolf blood and water in it when washing a fresh pelt. Apparently there are strong oils in wolf and wolverine pelts. Now I know my Nova Scotia marine injuries and the local hunting infections but I'm still learning here. You can never go wrong with antibiotic eye drops. And speaking of wolverine pelts....someone came to the door, serious to make a sale and the roommie scored a wolverine pelt and two necklaces/two pair of earrings carved from bone for 60 bucks! We've been seeing more animals about now that the weather is moderating. Saw my first Arctic marmot or ground squirrel, they're called sik siks for the noise they make and are the size of a gopher, for the western readers. There are suddenly puppies all

Musk ox hides

over Kugluktuk - this one thought if he looked pretty that we'd take him home when we were out on our walk. We also saw lots of hides drying and one of the prenatals working on a frozen caribou, removing the hide with her ulu. She said she'd been working with hides since she was 11 years old. Lots of caribou being brought into the community and shared with the elders. The animals are shedding this time of year so the hides aren't used for making clothing, the ones from the fall hunting are better quality for sewing. One of the front desk staff told us her husband got a 12 foot polar bear and they've been preparing the hide to send out to Ottawa for sale. 

How tall are these boots?

New use for a sled - water ski

Apparently a spring blizzard dropped 90cm of snow on Rankin Inlet recently and folks are 'snowed in' to their apartments. Here there have just been some fluffy white flakes swirling in the air, giving me an excuse to drink hot chocolate. Lots of skidoos navigating over the snow covered hills and 4wheelers making their way down the muddy streets with sleds and bicycles respectively for the younger set. Hard to describe Nunavut in a few words as I discovered when chatting to my brother this evening - I had enlisted his expertise in a rental property scavenger hunt for the soon to be RN daughter. 

Subsidy rates

Koak, nam nam etc

There's the issue of Nutrition North which is attempting to improve the diet of northern peoples, making nutritious foods available such as lean meats, fruits, veggies and dairy. And this is important as the fresh, heavy food flown in on daily flights is expensive. Every community has a different subsidy. Here is the link to explain the program which has replaced food mail:

http://www.nutritionnorthcanada.ca/mr/fs_trns-eng.asp

The nutritional issues of eating junk food also known as nam nam (pronounced locally as num nums) leads to rotten teeth, anemia and generally poor health. When country food - caribou, seal, fish, polar or grizzly bear, and even walrus are eaten the nutritional status is better. 

The tree 

We also went in search of 'the' tree in Kugluktuk as someone had told us there was one here because it's the banana belt of Nunavut. And here it is on the right. Can't imagine how it would survive in the winter temperatures but it apparently has for some time. I often make the comment that 'for a place without trees we kill a lot of them' in reference to the paper pushed here. Guess I'll have to change my slogan. A patient today told me that the temperatures reach the 30s and stay there for days in the summer. The insects come in July but after 26c they stop moving - too hot for the bugs he says. 

I've almost been afraid to make contact at home as there have been various veterinary contacts over the past month which the nursing student has been handling. First Stanley had a UTI, then all the cats needed worm medicine due to the hunter on the harness bringing helminths in and of course being prescribed by weight that meant Gary had 8 pills. There was (by what I was advised) a lot of frothing, biting, growling and fighting with restraint required especially for Stanley and Gary. It sounded like some injuries were inflicted but the immunization status of the medication administrator is up to date so now worries. I personally think the talk of raptor gloves is a bit excessive, but then I am also relieved to not have to be the med nurse. My only question was when the repeat dose was due - before I get home? Whew! Then the past few days I've been getting updates on the senior dog who has apparently had balance problems. A small stroke, a brain tumour, an inner ear problem? Prednisone is always the veterinary answer to what ails. This dog is terrible in the vehicle and put on her usual horrendous behaviour during the transport, is still begging for food, and not in any pain so hopefully will be in good spirits when I make it home. 

My 'program' at the health centre is the STI program and all I can say is that it's good I have a background in tracing family history.  I've been enjoying the drama of calling in all four contacts of one positive at the same time and watching them squirm in the waiting room. Having strongly worded chats with young people and watching their reactions is my entertainment this week. Oh, and the scabies outbreak continues at rocket speed. Mixing those two together is just wrong. Sigh. 

The arrangements for my next contract are underway, I'll only have a week at home to take in the baby daughters's graduation but that was the plan - to come home briefly for the big day and back quickly so as to have the summer off.  I'll be going back to Taloyoak which I'm looking forward to seeing in June as I'm sure it's quite different than January. Had a chat with the former room mate from my time there and we (my former co-worker who will again be joining me as well) will have a chat to catch up while we're all north. The co-worker is beginning her ascent of Kilimanjaro in the morning after having finished a pilgrimage called El Camino in Europe. She said there was a 50% success rate of making the summit due to altitude sickness etc. I'm managing stairs here in the apartment I told her. Time to call it in and put the call phone on my night table.