Travel Part I

I rounded on Tuesday morning on my Cards kids and then my Sr who great and my awesome co-intern told me to get OUT and get on the ROAD.  So after so whiny and complaining and then grateful hugs on my part I got in my car drove the 7.5 hr drive through KY and WVA to my parents' home in the lovely Blue Ridge Mts three hours earlier than planned!!  My trip was made more eventful by having my left back tire blow out going 65 mph on I-64 10 mi outside of Charleston. Thankfully there was a WVA state trooper and mechanic not far behind me and they stopped and changed my tire (I had a real tire not just a spare on the back of my car). Grateful I, my car, nor anyone else got hurt. I was pretty excited when I got my first view of my beloved Blue Ridges a couple miles from the VA border.

I spent a lovely dinner with my parents and sister. My best friend Jessica came over and we had a nice time chatting and praying before my trip. On Wed morning, my Mom and I got up early and drove north to Balitmore where my most excellent orthopedic surgeon is to get a prophylactic/much needed steroid shot for the non-shiny right hip. I also got a glowing report about how good my shny left hip looks and how pleased he is that my first surgery was such a blessed sucess. I am happy too!!! 1.5 yr out and I am pain free on the left. I am also grateful that my OHIO insurance covers my doctor in network so when I get good and ready for the right one I can trust that I have a great surgeon who is not afraid of my pediatric disease in adulthood!. God is good.  My mom and stopped at our favorite hole in the wall for lunch in Northern Maryland, its a KEY WEST inspired crab joint that makes milkshakes nearly better than WakeForest students' favorite COOK-OUT down in the Carolinas.  I liked the sign they had there, I think its a good mantra for some of our less stellar experiences as an intern.

Last night my Mom (dark hair like me) and I stayed with my Aunt (light hair like my Dads family), a world traveler, herself helped me manged to fit the donated laptop and 50 pounds of surgical supplies I am carrying over on behalf of various kind folks. We had fun. I also slept off the two days of driving, the bone bruise from the shot and a bit of the massive Cardiology/Pulmonary sleep debt this AM which was much needed.

My boarding passes are printed, my carry on is packed, My Mom is on her way back south to my sister and Dad. And I am ready to go back to Kenya!!! So excited!!!

If you were dropped on a lonely island and could only bring.....

Packing is an art form. Over the years of traveling and after my 16 year stint as a US NAVY dependent I have learned that you do KNOCK personal packing techniques. For example,  When I moved to my new home last June to start my internship I did not contribute opinions on how the moving truck should be packed. If I had I would have incited great family tension.  My Dad (who did a 40 year evolution of  US Navy dependent, US NAVY  medical student, US NAVY flight surgeon,  now full time robber baron radiologist (his own affectionate term)) has a method that has been tested on multiple continents. Frequent civilian travelers for work are just as savy and passionate:   I once went to a global health meeting where for 15 mins at the coffee break we debated the ROLL vs. FOLD packing techniques. I am a roller.  I can pack my entire summer wardrobe in a 2 x 2 x 1 ft square with the best of them. I have my standard passport medical license, visa, Euros, US Dollars and misc currency (currently: Romanian Lei, Kenyan Shillings, a few Rubles and a few Pounds) in my easily concealed belt.

Not to mention I also have mastered the art of travel on wheels with extra inflatable tires, duct tape, a 30 second chair to folded carry-on breakdown time and most importantly the determined look/speech that crosses cultures and translates universally  "YOU WILL GATE CHECK MY WHEELCHAIR...and I WILL HAVE IT ON THE TARMAC when I arrive. AND YOU WILL NOT PUSH ME TO MY CONNECTING FLIGHT! I WILL PUSH MYSELF" 

Packing for global health is an entirely a different matter and I am still a novice...an intern if you will. There is the standard stethoscope, head lamp/flash light ophthalmoscope/otoscope kit. But the hardest part is BOOKS.  I have limited internet access.  Gone is the crutch of up to date, pubmed or even google or Wikipedia to guide me in my medical decision making.  This is even more distressing because there is no snarky, sleepy fellow to wake up at 3 AM when my patient is crashing. In fact the closest pediatric fellow would be Egypt vs. South Africa a 1000ish miles in either direction. MOREOVER THERE WILL NOT BE A SENIOR resident to defer to because I AM BEING PROMOTED to SR RESIDENT for the pediatric/nursery team while I am in Kenya.  So naturally I want to bring my entire library with me.  I am also bemoaning the fact that my Nelson's Pediatrics weighs more than the allotted weight for carry on baggage and thus won't be coming.  So after a full month of pondering and much weeping and gnashing of teeth I have completed the task of deciding what to bring:

Tools:  Stereoscope, My Dad's cira 1982 ophto/otoscope,  trauma shears, a portable pulse Ox, head lamp
BOOKS:
-HARRIET LANE complete with lovely formulary for pediatric dosing
-Oxford's Tropical Medicine Handbook (thanks to Dr. B from the ED
-Lange Neonatology because much of what I will do will be NICU/Delivery Room resuscitations
-THE POCKET-God's gift to Pediatric Residency Handbooks, enough said.
Not pictured: Sanford's Guide for antibiotic coverage

It seems so grossly inadequate in boosting my intern to SR minus FELLOW or consultants status but its to Kenya or bust.

New Blog...

For Longterm readers of my Adventures with Doctoring, Gimpness and Traveling the world, no worries I have not abandoned my longterm blog. I have simply expanded for the purposes of sharing my professional adventures with my residency colleagues who most likely DO NOT want to listen to my melodramatic rants of disability policy and my ruminating about the oddities of patient/doctor double agent status. The NEW blog will be focused on my G L O B A L H E A L T H/M E D I C A L M I S S I O N S (choose which ever term resonates with you) travels and thoughts. I will crosspost to the OLD blog for those of you who dislike change!!! Welcome BACK. Thanks for your years of laughter, prayers and care packages.

TO new readers who are joining us for Kenya 2.0, Welcome. I leave  town for home (The Blue Ridge Mts of VA!!!!) in five days and the US in seven (approx 6 days and 23 hours to be exact!!). I plan on updating daily to every other day! Get excited!

STARTING POINT!!! 

Jessica "I have a better layover story than you" Ramsey MSII and I marveling at the MAP in the lobby of  the hospital  where I am training in Pediatrics!