Softball, town, and more water adventures

Last weekend, everyone got together and decided to play some muddy softball. I know, a little late, but I finally downloaded the pictures off our fully-functional camera and couldn't pass this one up. This is after a pretty darn muddy afternoon of softball in which I failed to make Baldwin Fields proud... sorry Mr Shada! I think my wife out hit me at least half the time, and I definitely had to make use of the "nobody strikes out" rule at least once. All in all, though, it was a great afternoon of fun with our friends here. I was on call last weekend, but I was able to be there for almost the entire game before being summoned to the hospital for an inning and a half or so.

While Stephanie and I played softball, Caleb was having a grand old time with Priscilla Radcliff (Dr Jim's teenage daughter) and the younger two Dooley girls (Emma and Olivia). Caleb has really warmed up to the people here, especially Priscilla, and it is really nice to let him go off and play with the other kids. It seemed like in the States he only felt comfortable if Stephanie or I was within arm's reach... it is nice to see him spread his wings a little and really enjoy himself. Another thing he has been working on recently is saying hello to people as we walk by. Now he says "Apinun!" (like saying afternoon here) loudly and then says, "Daddy, I did a good job saying 'Apinun'!!" He is a funny kid.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we went to town a week ago last Thursday where we got some grocery shopping done, got some much needed cash from the ATM's, and went to the Highlander for lunch and a dip in the pool. Here's a picture of the boy and I there. The pool is really nice, and the food is good too. If you ever are visiting Mt Hagen, PNG, this is definitely a good place to stay.

Now, outside the grocery store are some old men who we affectionately call the Basket Men. They sit out and weave cool baskets and coasters and pot holders all day. When they see us white skins, their eyes turn to dollar signs and they pounce. They are really nice about it, but they bring over all their stuff and start telling us prices. We have bought a few things from them, and the missionaries see them quite often, so these guys feel pretty comfortable around us. Anyway, here is a picture of one displaying his wares. There really aren't too many people who sell touristy-type souvenirs. In fact, the only ones I've seen are at the Highlander Hotel. I guess there just aren't many tourists here. There are two local guys - one who does wood carvings named Joel and one who does wood/bamboo burnings named Gideon that have been by our house at the station to sell us things, but that's about it.

This past week, (getting a bit more recent) we did another ultrasound of our little guy/girl. You might be able to make him/her out on the ultrasound screen if you look hard and use your imagination. Like I've said, it is pretty cool to be able to have a look at your unborn baby whenever you feel like it. I'm always amazed by how active those kids are! It's a wonder you pregnant women get any sleep at all with a little kid doing somersaults in your womb all night.

Just to inject some medicine into this blog entry, I'll tell you about the most common procedure I do here: incision and drainage (I&D) of abscesses. As Niles (visiting doctor who recently returned to the States) said, this is the land of puss. People here generally have poor hygiene and are also pretty hard on their bodies, which I'm guessing is the reason for all the skin infections. In the States, we see mostly staph abscesses on legs or buttock that seemingly come up from nothing. Here, I've seen abscesses mostly on the feet of adults, but also a couple in the legs of babies from immunizations. Kids here also get a lot of septic joints and osteomyelitis, which is kind of a different beast, but from the same general problem. People here just have bacteria floating around in their blood (bacteremia) a lot more than we do due to their hard life and poor sanitation. If they get a bruise, be it in their bone or joints or anywhere else, the bacteria can seed those little hematomas and form abscesses. Here's the picture of a really nice kid I saw in clinic with an abscess that was not typical of what I usually see. He presented originally with painful swelling just above his elbow. There is an important lymph node there, so he was given antibiotics and told to follow up. I saw him at his follow up appointment, and took this picture. An infection had seemingly traveled up his lymphatics to his axillary (armpit) nodes. The poor guy was in some pretty good discomfort, but the nodes were pretty firm and didn't feel really fluctuant (fluid-filled), so I gave him different antibiotics and had him come back in a couple of days. This time, the swelling had gone down a bit and the lumps were much more fluctuant and there was lots of fluid on ultrasound, so we decided to stick a needle in and see what I could find. Well, it was definitely puss. I took the needle out and set up for the I&D, but there was so much pressure in there it was just pouring out of the little needle hole. I finally was able to cut it open and get all the infection out, rinse it, and put in a wick to keep the hole open and let it drain. The same day, I saw a good old American style butt abscess that had been let go far too long. The guy said he had seen a private doctor three times since it came up, but all they had done was give him pain pills and had never even looked at it. Well, I had to knock this guy out with ketamine and Valium to do the job, because it was the biggest abscess I'd ever seen. Poor guy. To top off the afternoon, I saw an old lady who had a more typical abscess of the foot. Typical, except that this had gone waaaaay too long without care (as opposed to the typical way too long) and I really think she is going to lose her little toe over the deal. Looking back on a day like that, it's not hard to see why Niles gave me the title of Dr Puss.

After that appetizing conversation, here is a picture of our dinner Friday night. Homemade pizza, some freshly cut pineapple, canned corn, and some freshly squeezed lemonade. Pretty darn good. I must take credit for the pineapple and lemonade, but Stephanie has really done a good job of keeping us fed in circumstances she is not accustomed to. I think she used real yeast for the first time here. Everything has been really good, and today she even got some compliments from the missionary wives at a potluck. Way to go Stephanie!

After having to spend a good chunk of last weekend at the hospital, it was really nice to relax and do some fun things with Stephanie and Caleb yesterday and today. On Saturday (yesterday) we took a walk down to the river again to play in the water and have a little picnic. This picture is via the timer on the way down. I know I've said it before, but it seems like pictures just don't do the scenery justice. Anyway, we got there without too much trouble, except that Stephanie was watching a mother pig with her piglets along the path. The sow evidently saw Stephanie as a threat and followed us all the way down to the river. At that point, I decided enough was enough, so I decided to man up, protect my family, and... throw rocks at it like the natives do. Hey, it worked. Caleb and I had a great time playing in the water and Stephanie got some much deserved rest on the river bank. The only dark spot on the afternoon was Caleb's first sunburn. Yes, I am the worst parent ever. Before we left, Stephanie mentioned the sunscreen, but it was really overcast and it was even sprinkling a bit, so I said not to worry about it for now. Stephanie did get some on him after we got to the river and had played a bit, but it was too late for his little neck. I never did put any on and got absolutely fried. Just goes to show you really can get burned through the thickest of clouds, especially a mile high and near the equator!

Also yesterday, we met the woodcarver Joel, who was selling pigs. I am proud to say that I am a real Papua New Guinea man now that I own my own pig. I told this to Thomas (the native guy who takes care of the hydro power) who we hung out with last night along with two of his kids, Samuel and Nancy. He got a good laugh out of that. We had a chance to talk a bit about PNG culture and American culture, which was neat. At one point, he asked if there was any crime in the US. I guess all the Americans he's ever met have been missionaries. He was a bit surprised to find that, yes, there was crime, and even murders in the States. And the fact that police are generally trustworthy and not terribly corrupt was even more surprising for him. We also talked about bride-prices, how weddings work, the gardens that everyone keeps, and the importance of pigs. It was a pretty good time.

Today, being the first Sunday of the month, was the big English service at the hospital chapel. All the English speaking missionaries from around here are invited to come and worship together. Today was also the day for the potluck, which is only every other month. We got to meet several people from nearby from other denominations, like a couple of British families who are working on Bible translation in a tribe across the Waghi River. Stephanie made a cheesy, meaty, pasta bake type of thing and an apple crisp desert that were both really good. Then it was time for church, where a man who does short term work all over the world spoke out of John 12:20-26, basically encouraging all the missionaries that they were doing exactly what Jesus asks all of us to do: give our lives to Him and do His work.

After church, Stephanie, Caleb, and I along with Scott, the Dooley girls, Jessica, Ethan, Sam, Lydia, Cassie, and Kristyn (not sure about that spelling) went to the Rock Slides, which is just what it sounds like. Lots of waterfalls with some pretty smooth rocks that make good slides down into calm, shallow pools. It was gorgeous. Here is a picture of Scott and I talking in front of one of the falls. We took tons of pictures, and the camera stayed dry, which is always a good thing. We all had a great time, but the place was awfully slippery and Sam and I were pretty clumsy, both falling a couple times. Both of us had slips involving kids, but everyone turned out alright and I think we felt worse than anyone about it! Caleb had a good time, and learned that daddy can be a bit clumsy at times. By the end of the day, he was encouraging me to take Sam's hand up some steep slippery inclines so that we wouldn't fall. "It's okay Daddy" he would say, "Sam can help us up." So much for me being the big tough guy! It was a really fun time.