Today has been a day off but not a day of rest. We (my coworker and me) entertained the Mental Health Worker for supper. And not because we needed to lay our troubles on her, in my case it was to repay the lovely supper she'd served me a couple of weeks ago. My coworker's contribution is that she had the cleaner apartment and enjoys doing dishes so.....we ate over there. As we were all Nova Scotians I made creamed lobsters, potatoes, carrots and we had wine to go with, then there was carrot pie (made in a frying pan as there was only one small foil pie plate) and apple pie with ice cream with butterscotch schnapps for dessert. We also had a lesson in the anthropology of the area from the MH worker ranging from arranged marriages, forced relocation, customary family patterns and the various traumas (some we were familiar with) over the past generations. Kind of like a lunch n learn event. I need to bake / eat my way out of Taloyoak as I'm heading into my final week here - as hard as it is for me to realize it, I will be flying out a week from tomorrow. As expected this contract has passed by in a blur and of course five weeks in the spring/sumer is a lot shorter than almost nine weeks in winter.
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| Arctic daisies |
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| 5plex - count the windows |
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| Taloyoak |
I headed out one evening this week around the neighbourhood to capture some of the spring goings on. The construction work continues on the 5plex which is being built the edge of the water. There were some small arctic daisies struggling to bloom on the edge of the gravel road, seen above on the left. I snapped a photo looking back towards the health centre up on the hill to the left int the photo and although it's kind of cloudy, it's another view of the hamlet.
Thursday and Friday were the usual days with the programs we run, walk ins and calls. I was up Friday night twice but could only be compensated for the second call. The first call at about 1 a.m. was a guy who was convinced that he'd phoned the RCMP about "the drunk people yelling around his house and he just wanted to go to sleep". He even identified himself by name as he was so certain he was speaking to the police. It took some firm convincing to end that phone call. The second call at 2 a.m. I had to get up and deal with. When a 15 year old comes with a headache and ends up with a positive pregnancy test it takes a bit of work for this old nurse to get back to sleep. I stood on the front steps and
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| 3 a.m not p.m. that is |
the entire community was up from the sounds of the yelling and whooping it up. I took a photo of the middle of the night which looks like middle of the day scene at 3 a.m I was creeping FB when I heard a disturbance under the open window and it's a group of about eight kids making a racket so I stick my head out the window and they've lit a bunch of grass on the corner of our building on fire! I yell at them "what do you think you're doing? come back and put that out! what are you doing out at this hour of the night getting into trouble? go home and go to bed or I'm calling the police!"The tallest of the group popped back around the corner, stomped out the flames and rejoined his buddies. I was glad to not have to go down and fight the fire or kick any butts. Slept in after that middle of the night shenanigans.
Then there was page from Nellie saying "I want to go catch a fish, does anyone want to come with me?" so I accepted the invitation and by noon time we were off on our expedition. There was too much ice still in the lakes so Nellie didn't get fishing but we had a wonderful stroll across the tundra at both German and Middle Lake where local folks go to stay in their cabins or large white canvas tents. A sample of some of the photos here:
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| German Lake - fire pits |
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| Cabins at Middle Lake |
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| Caribou skull / antlers |
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| Dried trout/char and caribou |
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| Fresh water clams |
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| Heather blooming on tundra |
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| Last yrs heather for fires |
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| Boiling tea over a heather fire |
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| Tea kettle boiling |
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| Frigid swim |
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| Qamatiks ready to go |
As we walked, I asked Nellie various questions about her work in the north and the community. She is a notoriously private person but has much knowledge to share, so I was pleased when she volunteered that at many times she is the only nurse in the community and it's hard to get time to yourself as folks always know where she's gone fishing (her passion) and come to find her saying "_____ has broken ____ you have to come". She said that when she's working solo, sometimes downstairs on call for long hours at a time that ladies just out walking in the community will come in and scrub the floors, empty the garbage, wash, dry and fold a load of laundry, whatever is needed. That young men will phone and say "Nellie when was the last time you ate? have you slept?" and bring her bannock or dried meat or fish. There is an older gentleman who speaks no English that comes when she is alone in the health centre and sits in the waiting room until the last patient is seen - and this could be all through the night - then he gets up, goes to the door and says in Innuqutan something to the effect of "I'm locking the door now" and goes home. None of this happens when there are other nurses here and all of it happens without any request. She's been here 14 years so she knows the many generations of Taloyoak, they respect her (with good reason) and it's a relationship that is based on trust. We met folks out camping and Nellie was able to call each of them by name - I did recognize the faces of some. It was a great two hour ramble across the tundra and we were glad to see the vehicle again as we rounded the corner.
I was back and enjoying a few moments of down time after eating supper when my coworker on first call phoned to ask for assistance. A three year old (the size of a 6 yr old) had been brought in downstairs because.....he had inserted a rock into his nose. Don't ask why preschoolers do this, but they do, with alarming regularity as an ER nurse can tell you. I gave him the "this was a bad idea, NEVER do it again" speech and he looked suitably subdued. He was very cooperative as we sorted through our collection of implements for just such an occasion, used some viscous lidocaine on the left nostril and while I inserted and held the nasal speculum and my younger (non bifocal wearing) coworker wielded the forceps, quickly retrieved the long narrow stone. His mother was telling me that he called himself John Cena (apparently a professional wrestler) and when he hopped off the stretcher he indeed did a very good representation of a wrestler's strut. My coworker and I found this hilarious, his mother not so much. I'm sure she had seen it before, but mostly she was still ticked that he had done this, and off they went home.
I suggest that my coworker go out for a walk as she's been stuck inside all day and I will answer the on call phone for her. I only have one call for advice while she's gone and then.....she's calling up the stairs in a breathless voice (which I at first think is a scam to pretend there's an emergency) to say that she has come across a Honda accident with injuries which will be here soon so get ready. She phones the police to ask them to pick up the wounded and the on call phone from the front entrance rings "emergency line, nurse on call" (to impress those phoning that this is not a directory assistance, weather reporting or appointment line) "I have an emergency" the caller announces emphatically. Down we go. And he's not wrong. Both are inebriated, one is not very mobile (he was the one they were trying to get off the ground at the scene) and the other looks like Freddy Kruger attacked him but is walking. We get the less mobile one into the treatment room - only one stretcher here - and I instruct the other one to sit on the bench in the waiting room and task a female who I've known to be sensible before to watch him. The guy who did the transport of the injured stands up and says in an accusatory tone (as if I'm forcing him to remain) "I cant' stay and look at this" and walks towards to the door so I say "what's your name?" which he announces. My coworker says "think we should call Nellie?" and that's a quick affirmative. I call Nellie and ask "have you heard us having fun down here? No?" and describe the situation giving her only the first names of the patients and she nails it with their last name as they're brothers. Impressive. We head in to deal with the first patient and just get started when a loud thump is heard from the waiting room. Now I have to tell you that after 40 years of working in health care the sound of a human body striking the floor is clearly identifiable. I delegate my younger coworker to go investigate. Yep, haven't lost my touch. There is mister flat on the floor and all by himself as the supposedly sensible minder has absconded. As we attempt to convince him to get up, Nellie arrives. She asks "did he walk in here?" and the answer is yes so she firmly states "then get up" and walks away. He does. I put him in my office on the exam table. The abbreviated version of the next five painful hours is that Nellie has missed her calling as a plastic surgeon as she she reconstructs patient # 1s ear and repairs large gashes in patient # 2s forehead and shin. The Dr on call is contacted, which is of little use except butt covering. The RCMP arrive, take photos, statements, charge and serve papers and threaten more if the patients don't watch their language and request a statement from the coworker as she was a witness at the scene. Family of multiple generations fill the waiting room. Both patients are obnoxious, the driver is charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm, the passenger with something else. So at midnight we clean up the havoc wrecked on the department and head upstairs. Now that was a long evening.
Today as I am baking I get a call from Nellie who is on call today saying "I need one of you to drive a patient to the airport" and as I hang up I think I hear "fast". So I grab a sweater and head downstairs. Yep, trying to make a flight with someone for a schedvac. Oh look it's a sober, hurting unit in the form of patient # 1 from last night. I transport he and the partner to the airport and he is politely grateful this time for my help. I head back up to my baking.
So, time to get to bed as it has been crazy busy on call this evenings as evidenced by all the comings and goings of the Hondas out front and I am sure that tomorrow will be more of the same.
I close with the quote of the day:
"If you can't figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead right into your purpose." T.D. Jakes
