Village fun

November was uneventful. It snowed a fair amount, I voted, tried my hand in some ice fishing and did a lot of cross-country skiing. The days got shorter so any light was welcome. Because of social distancing, I didn't attend any Thanksgiving gatherings and didn't even take a little bite of turkey (as is my custom despite being vegetarian). Low-key, nice to have a break from work.

"I voted" sticker in Inupiaq

My friend Peggy trying out some ice fishing.

My amazing view, can't get enough.

 We saw some Aurora/Northern Lights in town on Nov 21st. I have an app on my phone that tells me when/where the aurora is most active and luckily that coincided with a clear night. It lasted all night, the lights were most active around 4am- I serendipitously got up around then so enjoyed the show from my living room window.

Pictures don't do the Aurora justice

I celebrated a birthday Dec 12. Last year I was still so new and hadn't really told anyone it was my birthday, so the day went by without much fanfare. This year I got a bit more attention including a little lunch party with cake and presents from the Long Term Care staff. It's nice to feel celebrated and come home with a big banner to commemorate another year.

I planned a trip to Anchorage in December since I needed to see a dentist. I found out the ski resort Alyeska was opening on Dec 18 so I made sure to be there for opening day. I brought my snowboard along and had a good day. Also a day that made me feel my age. My body doesn't like all the sitting, buckling and twisting that snowboarding requires. So though I enjoyed myself, I decided to sell my snowboard and off it went to a new owner. I will continue down-hill skiing whenever the opportunity arises, but I don't anticipate more snowboarding (though you never know...).

My new friend Triin and I at a park in Anchorage

On the lift for my last snowboarding adventure

Christmas was fun. My friend Melanie (Nurse Case Manager at the hospital) dressed up like Santa and visited some kids in my complex. Somehow I weaseled into her plans and we ended up spending an hour driving around town on an ATV surprising people with Santa. She was fun to watch, dancing outside people's windows and giving big waves and "Ho, Ho, Ho"s. It was a mild night, so we didn't get too cold as we drove around and tried to make people smile. It's dark most of the time here in December, so being outside at night was something fun & different.

Melanie in her awesome Santa suit

The absolute highlight of my whole experience up here in the Alaskan Arctic happened this Tuesday, Dec 29th. I was asked to go with a team to a few villages to vaccinate against COVID-19. These teams are typically not staffed with physicians since we're needed at the hospital. But with so many employees out on vacation for the holidays, they got desperate and asked me. I said yes immediately and was up early Tuesday morning, ready for an adventure. 

My team consisted of me, 2 nurses and a pharmacist. We met at the airport, we started on a larger plane (10 seater) along with a couple other passengers and headed to Ambler. We were picked up on the runway by the village clinic staff, they brought a couple of snow machines and a sled. We piled on and headed on a 5 minute ride to the clinic. 

Getting there :)

 

There were several patients already waiting at the clinic for the vaccine when we arrived, the staff had been announcing by VHF radio that we were coming all morning. We stayed a couple of hours and even made a home visit to a 92-year-old elder who couldn't travel. The thing that struck me the most was how grateful the villagers were. Grateful that we came, grateful that they were getting this vaccine and that they weren't forgotten. The flu of 1918 hit the Alaskan Arctic hard, wiping out whole villages. The stories of that pandemic has endured and when COVID-19 hit, the fear of another devastating pandemic and them being so isolated was pervasive. Of course, our system to provide medical care to these remote villages has come a long way since then. But being able to make this vaccine available to these citizens was very satisfying.

Our transportation outside of an elder home, school in the background

Next we went to Shungnak. We were taken back to the runway on sleds, then met a small charter plane that barely had room enough for the 4 of us and our pilot. Off we went. The sun was just coming up near the horizon then (around noon), so we got to see pretty colors as we flew in to Shungnak.

 We were again met with fun transportation and got this awesome picture snapped.

My awesome team

After Shungnak, we went to Kobuk (just a few minutes by plane away). The clinic staff laughed and said we should have called and they could have picked us up by snow machine. We had less of a turnout in Kobuk (unclear why), but it was nice to spend time chatting with the villagers that came and doing another home visit to 2 married elders. The village staff know their people and when we said we had enough for 1 more vaccine, they got on the radio and got someone in before we packed up.

View from Kobuk clinic.  They have trees and mountains, a nice change from Kotzebue

Our pharmacist was responsible for keeping the vials frozen during transport, then de-thawing the right amount to be able to vaccinate whoever came. We didn't want to waste any doses and she did a great job of gauging how much we would need and making provisions when necessary. Our 2 nurses were awesome, they did all the vaccinating and made sure patients filled out the correct paperwork and got appropriate handouts about the vaccine. And then there was me. My role was to make sure patients were medically appropriate to get the vaccine and to observe them afterward to make sure there were no adverse reactions. Everything went so smoothly making my job super easy. My presence was necessary but I ended up spending most of my time enjoying the recipients' stories and making sure they stuck around for 15 minutes.

Our flight back to Kotzebue in our tiny charter was long and loud, but we made it back by 6pm. It was amazing how much we were able to accomplish all in 1 day. And how enjoyable the whole experience was. When I first signed up for this job, I imagined all of the traveling and unusual assignments I'd be taking on while I was here. With COVID, travel to villages has been so limited that my expectations weren't being met. There has been a lot of monotony and I was feeling a bit burned out. Now that I've had this adventure (and hopefully a few more with COVID restrictions lightening up), I feel a new sense of purpose and vigor. It makes me smile just thinking about it.

View of a village (maybe Noorvik) from the air with a winding river and full moon rising

 Here's to a better 2021!