Belated Belize pics

Gales Point, where we spent most of the week

A little roadside shopping

What a view!

Emmett at work

What we've been up to...

Friday night: KAFP (KY Academy of Family Physicians) Resident Quiz Bowl. 2nd place. well, not the most embarassing place, considering there were only 4 teams. I can just see the old guys, "Let's plan something fun for the kids!" But we did win money, for the program.

Saturday: Phils at Reds. Of course we got there early to watch batting practice, which didn't happen because of rainy weather. I always find it hard to pay attention to baseball games, especially from the upper deck, but at least we were dry throughout. And the Phils won 2-0. In fact, they swept the series 3-0. woohoo.

Sunday: driving driving driving, from Cincy to Houma. Ugh. And my poor boo drove the whole time while I relaxed. He's a good man. Oh, and happy mother's day!

Monday: chillin' in Houma.

Tuesday so far: chillin' in Houma. We're headed to Baton Rouge tonight for Michael's art auction and then SUSHI. yummo.

I do miss the Gipper, though. I guess he's having fun on his vacation. He always does.

You better Belize it.

Jill's painting of the Sugar Shack.

So the flying fiasco mentioned previously was the return trip from participating in U of L's International Service Learning Project in Belize. Pretty fun. We took an interdisciplinary group to provide medical and dental care to 2 different communities--Gale's Point and Red Bank. Sherry and I were in Gale's Point, and we had a great time.

The medical team there consisted of me, Sherry, and 2 med students, Erich and Chase. We tried to provide very basic medical care for the residents of Gale's Point. Our little "clinic," if you could even call it that, was situated in the community center. We used ropes and bedsheets to create 3 little exam rooms for some semblance of privacy.

If I had to make a guess, we probably saw 200-220 patients over our 3&1/2 days of clinic. Not too shabby. Granted, most of our patients had complaints such as, "sometimes I have a cold," and "I have backaches," but we did see a lot of actual pathology. The hardest part was not being able to treat or even fully investigate what we found.

Our diagnostic tools included vital signs, physical exam, accuchecks, and dipstick urinalysis. No EKG, no xrays, no blood tests, no cultures. And almost no medicines. We managed to provide several people with HCTZ or metformin, but we had to triage even those based on just how bad their hypertension was. Once the meds ran out, we just started writing down the medications we recommended that they obtain in the city (apparently lots of stuff is OTC in Belize). We also did some home visits, which was truly a moving experience.

I'd love to do this again next year. But I have a feeling that there might be a little more competition for spots than there even was this year. And there's some guilt involved in feeling like I got a free vacation while everyone besides our residents and faculty had to spend $2200 out of pocket. I mean, we did work hard, so it wasn't completely a vacation. And there will always be that Catholic part of me I can't escape.

Happy to be home.

Well, I'm finally home after what seemed like an interminable amount of time spent in airports. We were scheduled to fly out from Belize City at 4:41 pm central time on Sunday--that was pushed back an hour. Apparently the weather was bad in Dallas, our connection city. But we were assurred that all of the flights leaving Dallas were also delayed, so there would be no problem. Sure.

We did finally land in Dallas around 9:30 pm (with our delayed second flight apparently leaving sometime after 10), but then we stayed in line on the runway for an hour and a half, just waiting for a gate. In the meantime, the flight attendants told us to go ahead and call the 800 number to find out about our flights. Cause they know nothing. Eventually we get off the plane. Then imigration, then baggage claim, then customs, then the never-ending line to recheckin. At some point it was revealed to us that our flight had left without us. And it's the last flight to Louisville. And it's not American's fault because they don't make the weather.

So now we're left on our own to find accomodations for the night. At least our faculty managed to find us spots at a nearby hotel and sprang for dinner. Long story short(er), and 2 flights later, I'm home. And if they're lucky, the rest of the group is in the air right now. I guess I could check on that. Admittedly, I was fortunate to get on an earlier flight, and happily found my checked baggage sitting at the Louisville airport when I arrived.

So I guess I can stop complaining now.