It seems that these last several weeks have been a bit hectic. I was thinking it would slow down, but maybe not. Just after my last update, I flew down to Port Moresby (picture above), the capital city, to meet a nursing student from Germany who came to PNG for a few weeks’ internship. She was a delight to work with and we had sweet fellowship. Dr. Google came in handy for words now and then, since he is fluent in most languages. One day I had to ask him to find the word for lizard in German, since one was meandering its way across the kitchen floor at the time.
At the end of her 2 weeks here, the nursing student and I drove about 2 hours west to Goroka. We spent the night at a guest house for another mission, and she flew out to Aibai the next morning to work with co-worker Rachel (also an FNP) for about 3 weeks. The chopper brought back another co-worker Belinda, and she and I drove back here that afternoon. She came here to Ukarumpa for some dental work at the mission clinic. I have been volunteering once in a while there. It is nice to work with some health care workers from the USA who have some similar understanding of the 2 very different worlds of health care. Last week I was invited to join them for the PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) course. It was intense, but an excellent class and learning experience. I was told I had passed the class, for which I am incredibly thankful to the Lord. Speaking of classes….. I continue to study for my FNP exam later this year. I have begun the process to schedule that test. I hope I pass that one too.
The work at the clinic continues to stretch me to the limit. The cases I see are sometimes really complicated. This little one (about 2 yr old) came in for an x-ray. Part of her right lung has collapsed, and I suspect she may have end-stage AIDS. She was too weak to hold her own head up. I felt so badly for her. Another lady has metastatic breast cancer, but feels too embarrassed to have surgery. I had the opportunity to give her the Gospel, but the news I had just handed her made it hard for her to listen. I did invite her to come to Bible study this Saturday at the church in town. A fellow I saw in clinic yesterday has severe liver and heart damage from over-treatment for malaria. He is only 25 years old, and likely will not fully recover. Then again, I had a lady yesterday whose asthma has been uncontrolled for years, but she has drastically improved with a change in her medicine. And another lady who had had a heart attack from severe high blood pressure came in with much-improved numbers. Those cases make up for the hard days (like today).
So I will close out this blog to the sound of incessant rain (a sign that it’s February or March in PNG). I need to get up at 2 am to call the midwest of the USA for questions about radiology equipment. It’s worth it. Really. And tomorrow afternoon I will meet again with my Nepalese friends. Then Friday the boss of the company with whom I volunteer will be here. Then Saturday will be Bible club and ladies’ Bible study in town. You’re welcome to drop by for any of it.
