biking and hiking, it must be summer!

above: bike ride from arctic valley through fort richardson with a midway stop at cinnabuns

below: wednesday evening hike from prospect heights towards near point. perfect weather!

Philippines trip with HealthCare Ministries

I was part of a medical mission team through HealthCareMinistries. Our team meshed immediately and we were a very efficient clinical team made up of docs, dentists, an eye doc, pharmacist, nurses, local nurses and students, interpreters and I went as the group's health educator. From Manila we flew to Naga and then drove a few hours to Peracale where we set up clinic in a school compound.

This was the Registration area where people had to chose to see either a medical doctor, an eye doctor or a dentist - tough choice. some people came back the next day for another visit.























Everyone went through Triage seeing Carol or Rachel for vitals, history, etc. We saw around 600 people in the four days of Clinic.



















Amelia was happy as pharm tech. We used the student tables and chairs and were happy for the electricity and fans. It was 98 degrees plus humidity making it 105 degrees. Big change from Alaska.
























here's Elaine in loving action!




















There was alot of waiting around in hot temperatures. The people were patient and used to the heat.



















I floated between Health Education on the Medical side to Pharm Tech and counseling. This is Dr. Bill who was lots of fun to work with. This lovely lady turned 55 on clinic day.

























Debbie (missionary), Amelia RN, Dennis OD, Paul our fearless HealthCare Ministries leader, Carol and John, MD and Diane. Morning discussion and clinic planning.



















We had great partners who have the hard work of following up with all the folks that we met and enjoyed take care of. This is a local pastor and his wife, lovely people.






<

The second of our two-day clinics was at the base of perfectly conical volcano Mt. Mayon. Village was Camalig. We saw around 300 people there, too, for glasses, dental work, medical exams and treatment, meds, love and healing.

We were all humbled by the sweetness of the people and their gratitude to get some professional medical help. Dennis had the rewarding job of fitting people to glasses after they had visual acuity screening by local folks. All that we did was richly rewarding.




















Meet Dr. Ryan Nielo from Naga. Along with Drs. Bill and John they provided great family medicine. We saw just about every ailment that effects the human body from head to toe!
























This is our Health Education Department! We all spent time with folks helping them prevent diabetes, hypertension, oral decay and deal proactively with infectious conditions.





















This is Dan the Pharmacist. He made a full-fledged pharmacy out of the suitcases we brought. He was very patient with his pharmacy assistants.




















I liked filling prescriptions.
























We had a chance to get out and explore a little in the city of Daet as we went from one clinic site to another.


















This is Rachel, intrepid nurse from Kansas City who was also on her first HCM trip.


















Here's a young lady named Ruth that helped me count and split pills and prepare them for dispensing.


















When the clinic part of the trip was done we flew back to Manila and took a day to explore the island of Corregidor and learn about its role in World War II. Very interesting history including the setting of Macarthur's "I Shall Return," the Malinta Tunnel, ruined barracks.


















The trip was very fun, rewarding, humbling and challenging. I'm real grateful that none of us melted from the heat or got sick. I'd go again on another volunteer healthcare ministries trip in a minute.

Samish Island en route to Manila

Dave, you were a wonderful and flexible host and buddy for a few days.
Samish Island is a beautiful little spot indeed. Thanks for hooking me
up with Vange and Dave, the bike riding and hiking was a much-needed
transition between anchorage and manila.

i enjoyed the lush woods we saw by bike and hike and great views of the sound.

mt redoubt - ashfall 3-4/2009

This is the downtown city of Juneau.
















Guess I got out of anchorage around the time Mt. Redoubt blew its stack.



















Some of us just can't stand the thought of not hiking in the winter, ashfall notwithstanding.

skiing in fresh powder 3/9/09

Monday after iditarod start was good for a day off
and cross country skiing on the freshly used and powdered
Tour of Anchorage trail. 2 hours out was good for a back-recovery
ski and mexican food at taco king didn't disappoint.
~ mary anne, me and rosemary~ we didn't see any moose, bears
or wolves that attacked a friend's dog yesterday on the trail.

Iditarod 37 - ceremonial start in Anchorage 3/7/09

We had good conditions for the Iditarod's ceremonial start in Anchorage today. 1 degree above was okay for humans and almost cold enough for the dogs. It was clear with sunny skies all day and warmed up to the teens. Horizon Lines was a sponsor and staff had some fire pits going to make the party more fun.

Here's Cecilia and I about an hour before the first team came through.

We hung around with others talking, sledding, waiting. Some little kids got surprise snow machine rides on the nearby lake.

This year the southern route will be used to race from Anchorage to Nome. The race is around 1,000 miles. There are 25 checkpoints, mostly little villages where dog food, supplies, vets have flown into. The greatest distance is 90 miles, Ophir to Iditarod and Kaltag to Unalakleet. Every musher must take one 24 hour stop and two eight hour stops.

the view from the rear never changes

We chatted with musher #6 Allen Moore for a few minutes while the dogs got tangled up. We'll keep track of the mushers' progress to Nome.

back in the saddle again

i'm ecstatic to be back and my back is ecstatic to be fixed. if you ever need to know of a good neurosurgeon in Anchorage, Dr. Kim Wright (Jensen and Wright Neurosurgical Associates) i can tell you that Dr. Wright did it Right. There was nasty dark cloud over me for 7 months, but a quick surgical procedure and a couple of days healing did the trick. So look for more photos coming. Only two more weeks till Daylight Savings Time and an evening hike in and around Anchorage won't be in the dark! YAY, another winter almost over. I'm thankful to walk without pain, be back in the pool and starting to dance again. Remember to take it easy (yah) - Judith

Cecilia at play 1/31/09

at last the Princess is ready for the ball!

























Cecilia's friends came to bring her to the prom at the
Millenium: rhonda julian and michelle.

inaugural speech of President Obama

experimenting now with putting video clips in.
ignore this if it's a mess

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Martin Luther King Day with AFS students 1/20/09

The AFS foreign exchange students get together for their mid-year orientation on Martin Luther King Day. Aside from discussing adjustment issues and ups and downs of life in a different culture, they learn about Martin Luther King.
Cecilia (ci-ci) reads a book about him and his ideals and dreams - a fitting introduction to the Inaguration of Barack Obama.
My blog may take a rest as I remain grounded. just call me Queen of Sciatica
*thanks for hangin in there with me.


 
 
 

Gingerbread house by Riley 12/13/08

Riley made her first gingerbread house today! Mom and Keeley and Judith certainly got in the way, but she prevailed. What a masterpiece. Good job!

 

popcorn ceiling prep 12/7/08

thanks to Tom and Lynda the downstairs is now ready for the popcorn ceiling to be scraped off in the next few days.

 

Thanksgiving 08 in Charlotte

Thanks mom for hosting us all at your new digs! Very impressive. Some shots of those of us who could make it! You're looking great doing your physical therapy.



Most of the cousins