Snow machine season

Hello? hello? Can you hear me down south from up here in the great white north? Oh good, then let me fill you in on the past 20 days. As you have deduced….I have arrived in Kugluktuk and am all settled in. Well, as settled in as a transient person can hope to be. It's been a busy start of up most of the night on calls, extended waits for a medevac flight, long weekend days of call after call and frantic clinic days. 

Sharing a chair

Started out with a gastro bug that went through the community and although I'm almost certain it wasn't noro virus, just a regular tummy bug, there was a LOT of drama. As in….falling on the floor screaming in front of the front desk, being found lying on the floor of the entryway to the health centre, groaning so loudly that office doors must be shut to hear answers to assessment questions, yelling "I need an IV" and then further questioning shows they vomited once four hours ago. There were votes by nursing staff as to who should be awarded Oscars for the best performances. Since the gastro bug has moved on, we are now seeing lots of respiratory symptoms. Colds and coughs with those who think they have pneumonia (usually the smokers) or the frequent flyers who don't hesitate to come see a nurse (most often outside of regular clinic hours) with a VERY well child - the one running up and down the halls with the other kid who is waiting for the dentist, or the one tearing your office apart. Often this happy, smiling, squealing child morphs into….evil kidlet. Screaming, lying on the floor or running around the office, clamping two hands over their mouth (they already know where you're going to examine) requiring both parents to wrestle them into a partially submissive state while you attempt to see eardrums and tonsils on a moving target. And don't get me started as to how you auscultate breath sounds in such a situation. These two lads above were very cooperative but they were just hanging out with someone else, not actually needing to see the nurse. 

Have had a run on human bites (very nasty) which have required aggressive antibiotic treatment, some opening of wounds to explore and some partial closing of a large deep one - had to get the Doc up one night to put an upper lip back together as it was a full thickness (through to the inside lining of the mouth) 3 cm x 2.5 cm ragged gash - have never seen a human bite like that in my 40 yrs of nursing. Apparently teeth have become the weapon of choice. I'm purposely not including in the stats the four toddler boy victims who came in over the past two weeks from the preschool - I'm thinking the female biter has been dealt with (root cause analysis) so the visits have ceased. 

I'm the STI (sexually transmitted infection) nurse here this contract and it's a busy portfolio. I knew that from my previous gig last year and still switched for it with my roommie - better the devil you know…There is a three inch binder of two page forms in a community of 1420 souls since……July. We should just test everyone at every visit. It does help that I enjoy doing family tree work when you're doing contact tracing. You can tell if someone is frequently treated if they say "where are the pink pills?" referring to the zithromax which from another supplier is now issued in white. Hmmm, I thought that too when I opened the bottle but wait…..you're not a nurse! I am determined to get a handle on the status of the program - who tested positive? is the treatment and contact tracing done? have they had test of cure after 4 wks? are the reports / results faxed to the communicable disease coordinator? STIs are reportable and syphillis is making a comeback. Clearing using a small shovel to put out a fire but just stacking the lab reports in a pile (as I found them upon arrival) is not helping. I find that I do remember some people from my last time here - that is not usually a good thing as it means they were either sick, badly behaved or both. 

A lot of the frustrations are mediated by having a good roommate - my demographics - who describes herself as  "it's not my first rodeo". She's worked north since 2001, has a wealth of experience and has been in this community multiple times, so is a great resource. She also has a pretty wicked sense of humour, great work ethic and a good deal of common sense. Lots of organization needed here as it's a pretty jumbled spot but with an experienced team of nurses we're making some headway. We're not exactly twins though as she is a vegan and is now eating some kind of weird Gwenyth Paltrow regime to fit in to a very form fitting dress she bought for renewal of vows ceremony in Bahamas in December. Myself, I am of the school of thought that if you promised 'till death do us part' once, it doesn't come with an expiry date. Mind you, they've been through a lot the past two years as her hubby is a cancer survivor and this was a promise. Her husband had post op complications and put their small dog in the kennel and it was mauled by a bigger dog, had to have emergency vet care with IVs, x-rays, exploratory of wounds, antibiotics etc (which the other dog owner paid for) and he is taking home tomorrow. So an upsetting week for her. 

I walked home tonight from work with big snowflakes softly falling and

6 pm walk home

snowmobiles whizzing by and realized that the snow which came the end of September will be here until May. Snapped a photo of a little cutie in a parka her Grannie made her. We are slipping into darkness as the 24 hr. night approaches and today we were an hour later in the morning getting light than NS and were dark half an hour earlier. We have been weathered a few days and had a 24 hr. delay for a medevac flight (14 mo old who swallowed a lithium battery into his esophagus 24 hrs before the mother casually mentioned it to the nurse at a appointment for herself) so we were thrilled when they finally arrived. I stopped at The Northern and gave in and bought parmesan cheese. I have searched several times through all my bags and have never found the container of it I bought in NS, packed into an action packer and zip tied / duct taped securely in. The life partner saw me pack it, although he did graciously look at home when I asked. I think it entered a Bermuda triangle somewhere. 

Had a brief chat with my tropical nursing course classmate as she has decided to rent a vehicle for the first two weeks of our UK adventure - I told her that she was in charge of the social arrangements and I will contribute my half.  Trips to Cambridge, Oxford and Leeds fill the weekends and we have the Beatles Museum and some pub visits on the agenda. So many choices, so little time. We heard from the accommodations in Liverpool that we can stay for the three weeks for a total of $665 Cdn in a residence with private room and shared kitchen / bath i.e. nurses residence which is a two min. walk from class. Less than six weeks now, so getting excited. Or at least I was until I opened the email LSTMH sent today with the pre course assignment (16 pages of instructions). We have a month to get it done. I will start tomorrow……perhaps. 

When my travel classmate asked how long I was home for I explained that I arrived (hopefully with weather etc) on November 21st and we leave for England on Nov 27th but….I am going to the Bob Seeger concert in the city on November 24th with a buddy (first day of lobstering so no music for the shore captain). She said "oh don't tell them in England about Bob Seeger they won't think you're cool". As if they would anyway? Made me giggle. 

Am closing with a photo of the Heritage Visitors Center which is shaped like an ulu (women's knife) and houses some exhibits. The link below is a great local resource. Will attempt to to get in there before I leave. So, you're all caught up to date and I'm heading to la la land.  

nunavuttourism.com/regions-communities/kugluktuk