Ready to Go - KInd Of

So after an afternoon at Roeding Park Playland with Jack on Saturday I ended up with a nasty sore throat and very little voice.....Irritating under any circumstances but I'm less than 24 hours away from my flight to Manila so its an extra lousy time to have bug. I went to Kaiser today and was actually able to see my primary Dr on short notice. She went ahead and cultured my throat but said it looks like it a virus. I intend to wake up tomorrow feeling much better but either way she gave me the okay to travel. After all the postponements for this trip I am finally going!! What's little sore throat - I'll sleep on the long flight across the ocean and all will be well.

I can't believe I wont be here for election night or to watch  the SF Giants in the World Series. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up a little of both via the Internet.I walked the precincts, worked the phones,  mailed my absentee ballot and reminded everyone I know to vote.....not much left for me to do but hope our work paid off. and  I'm sure the Giants wont miss me. (just win this thing guys!)

Ted and Mariah came over tonight and made tomato and roasted pepper soup. It was exactly what my throat needed and so good to have them here with Jacob for the evening

Jack and Merrill were here for awhile as well so I was able to get a good dose of grandkids to hold me over for my trip.  I tried to get a picture of the 3 of them together but Merrill was pretty squirmy.

    

                                                             

I'm very hopeful for the success of this mission. By next week the clinic will be fully operational and ready to serve the patients of Plaridel. In my heart I knew when I left last summer I would be back- so lets roll! 



Medical Mission # 2

I leave Tuesday evening for the Philippines.  The last people I met before leaving San Carlos last July were Sister Niceta and Sister Pinky. I felt an immediate connection to them and have been working with them by phone and email the last year to help them open a new clinic in Plaridel ,in the province of Bulacan.. I'm excited to meet up with my teammates and continue the good work of Team MacGyver (our Biomeds) and Team Balut (Clinical Team # 1).

Sister Pinky and Sister Niceta in San Carlos

 I relied on this blog quite a bit last year to communicate and I hope to do the same this trip...though I admit to being much more of a Facebook user than I was a year ago (isn't everybody?) My goal will be to use both this trip -plus many of you have probably seen our Bridge of Life Facebook page as well. So....the internet permitting , and sometimes that's a big "if"  in typhoon season, I will keep all of you posted on my progress.

The Adventure Continues

Well I haven't blogged since I returned from the Philippines in July. The purpose of this blog was to keep folks posted while I was in San Carlos City as a volunteer with Bridge of Life. Little did I know that the trip would be so transformational. The experience caused me to do some serious reflection about how I wanted to spend my time these next few years....in a surprising development (to some) I applied for the Director of Operations position with Bridge of Life. The last few months have been a gradual transition , interviewing candidates for my replacement for Davita and taking on more responsibility for Bridge of Life. Effective March 15 I am 100% Bridge of Life and it's a dream job. I am the only full time paid employee of Bridge of Life but luckily because its a Davita Village program I remain a Davita teammate with full benefits. Bridge of Life is non profit so this is a whole new world for me. I will be writing more about all the upcoming missions but I can tell you for sure my next international trip will be back to the Philippines. This time we are working with the wonderful Sisters I met on my last day in San Carlos. I'm sure I was meant to meet them - they are just inspiring women. They certainly inspired me. Stay tuned!

We are on You Tube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y93RXl8t5X0

More photos of the real stuff plus our reinforcements

Team 2- Anthony (Biomed) and Lee (RN) - the flowers were placed around their necks by nurses in white caps when they arrived for the dedication ceremony . The ladies had corsages pinned on,
More Team 2- Amabel (RN) and Connie (PCT) with Manny(PCT) in the background. if you ever get the chance you should hear Connie's accent- it's awesome- she is from the Philippines but has lived in North Carolina for over a decade so she has a southern drawl along with her original. It is an amazing mix of accents- I love it! This was taken at a restaurant called Enzo my last night in the country- We had a pretty large group and the musicians dedicated We Are The World to us. Of course we sang along- We are Davitans after all.

Okay- I get that I may seem a bit obsessed with the bathroom shots but really the shower was fascinating and yet so difficult to describe. I got pretty good at managing the heat and volume. If you are wondering what the red bucket on the back of the toilet is for just ask me when you see me. Poor Neil- I asked him while we were out shopping and he graciously told me but the look on his face was priceless (how did I end up being the one she asked said his face?)

Taxi Cabs Philippine style

This belongs to the husband of one our patients. He drove her to treatment in it and then gave a group of our teammates a ride they all seemed to enjoy. (at least it wasn't raining when they rode)

Called a Jitney- not sure of the spelling but they are all over and no two seem to be decorated the same. This one is pretty conservative comapred to the others. Fortunately no one who lives there is very tall so they don't bump their head when they board (like I would) Big city, little city- they are everywhere