About Me :)

Kenya Trip--Limbo Time

Sat, 9 Jan 2010 18:00:51 -0700

As mentioned earlier, the medical mission portion of our trip had been cut quite short. Originally we were supposed to be in Kakamega from Sunday until Saturday. When the mission was cut short on Tuesday, we had some time before we needed to be in Nairobi for our Safari flight to the Masai Mara. So on Thursday we left on a chartered bus and headed towards Nairobi. We planned to stay at Lake Navasha and stay at the Sopa Lodge for a night and then travel onto Nairobi on Friday afternoon.
It was billed as a 4 hour drive. It turned into a roughly 6-7 hour drive. Roads in Kenya are not quite the same as here (I will never again complain about the condition of our roads or the construction on them!). Potholes, pedestrians, bikes and other cars are generally everywhere and going every which way. It was quite the ride.....

Kenya Africa Trip-Medical Mission pt.2

Sat, 9 Jan 2010 10:26:19 -0700

Day Two....
I decided that I would go with the Outreach team and help with the classes. We were to go to the Maternity Ward for the classes (so I knew that Jeff would be close by anyway). When we arrived there were already quite a few ladies, and their children, waiting for us. We hurried and set up our things and started. I was to help Miranda with the dental class and then just help where needed. These ladies were so interested in learning what we had to say. They participated and asked lots of questions. The children were absolutely adorable and loved the small little treats that we gave them (stickers, crayons, dolls, cars etc). We also handed out newborn kits , hygiene kits and dental supplies.

Let the Demotion Begin

Sat, 9 Jan 2010 09:45:01 -0700

For the past few years, Jeff and I have been going back and forth about re-modeling our Master bathroom, closets and the laundry room. Here is a sample of that conversation....
Jane: “Please, Please, Please!!!!!”
Jeff: “No”
Jane: “But you want a bigger shower right?”
Jeff: “Bigger shower?? could it have steam, mood lighting and an ipod dock?”
Jane: “Yes it could!”
Jeff: “Let’s do it!”
Ok, that might not be verbatim but you get the picture. Jeff really wanted a bigger shower and I really wanted a soaker tub (non jetted), better organized closet space and a larger laundry room.
So we decided that this was the best time to just jump in.
Demolition began on December 30th. Within in 2 days the bathroom, bedroom, closets and laundry room had been gutted, wired and framed. (Did i mention that I have an awesome contractor???)
So it’s been a week and a few days and things are really shaping up. Of course having crammed our bed and a few dressers into Gracie’s playroom, moved all of our clothes (and the entire contents of the closet, laundry room etc to the basement, sharing a bathroom with Gracie and having a garage crammed full of furniture has had it’s challenges.... (Does anyone else have that vein on their forehead that twitches? Or is it just me?) My new mantra has become...”It will all be worth it when it’s done!!!” (And keep repeating until the twitching has stopped :)
Here is a look at what has gone on so far.

Ughhhhh.......Computers!!!!!

Sat, 9 Jan 2010 09:36:11 -0700

Have I recently told any of you that computers and myself are apparently not a good mix??? Actually it’s any type of technology. Jeff tells me that I have gremlins in my fingers and when I touch things, it kills them....phones, computers, tvs, remotes. Really anything.
So, yesterday I spent HOURS trying to fix my blog. I had some entries and albums that wouldn’t publish. So I figured out how to delete them and then I spent more HOURS updating my blog. I blogged about Christmas, our bathroom remodel and other things. Well as I tried to publish some pictures...Guess What????? It wouldn’t!!
Curse this computer!!! So this morning, I have been on the phone with the good people from Apple (who told me that they haven’t seen my problem much before....yes because it’s me and I hadn’t called them yet!) and they walked me through a lot of troubleshooting and then made me take my time machine back a few days (which erased all of yesterdays blog updates) and then do some other stuff and FINALLY (fingers crossed, knocking on wood etc) it published. Photos and all.
Sooooooo.......if you looked at the blog yesterday, all of the new entries are now gone. But on the bright side, the African entry is back.
The moral of this story??? Don’t let me near any electronics that you would like to keep working. Of course, if you want a new phone etc, just let me at it :)

Kenya-Africa Trip 2009--Medical Mission

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:37:48 -0700

We left for Kenya on Friday, November 13th. We all assembled at the airport at 8:00 a.m. We had SO MANY BAGS! We were swimming in a sea of OGIO bags. The flights were uneventful, LONG, but uneventful. I didn’t sleep very much (about 2-3 hours total for 19 hours of flight time). We went from SLC to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Nairobi Kenya. We had a 5 hour layover at the Amsterdam Airport. We took advantage of that time and bought some yummy cheese!
We arrived in Nairobi at 8:30 p.m. We gathered our luggage and loaded it onto buses (Catholic School buses) and headed to Carnivore (a restaurant like Tucanos.) for a meal loaded with MEAT! I even tried the Ostrich Meat Balls and Crocodile. Liked the Ostrich didn’t like the Crocodile. After dinner we headed to our guesthouse to try and sleep for a few hours. The guesthouse was interesting. Let’s just say, that I wouldn’t take my shoes off AT ALL! Or sleep under the covers. But we were only there for a few hours.

We left for Kakamega the next morning. We flew from Nairobi to Kisumu and then took a 2 hour bus trip to Kakamega. The countryside on the way was beautiful! So different than what I expected. Green fields, hills and farm lands. People walking everywhere. Children playing by the road. People waved and kids chased the bus.

We arrived in Kakamega around lunch time. We went the the Bishop Stams Catholic Center . It is a big compound where we were staying. It is a gated compound with a bunch of buildings...dorm buildings, chapel, laundry, kitchen/dining hall & reception area. We were greeted by the advance team (Amy, Chanel & Katie). Then we headed to the dining hall for some food and to plan the rest of the day.

We headed to the hospital and sorted through the supplies and set up the operating theaters. The GYN theater was in a separate building than the main OR. So Jeff, George Gourley and I went and set it up. The hospital was made up of a bunch of separate buildings. Families of the patients would stay on the grounds so that they could take care of the patient (feed, change clothing, bathe etc). So there were always a lot of people on the grassy areas.

The hospital areas were definitely a lot different from what we are used to. There were often 2-3 people to a bed. The wards had open doors and windows. The beds were tiny and mattresses thin. But the people always seemed to be in good spirits. They were amazing to me! After we stocked the OR, Jeff and George went to meet the patients for the next day. There were 30 cases scheduled for the week and 5 were scheduled for Monday. Each patient was assessed and asked if they had questions. They were all so grateful for the opportunity for the surgery. As they could not afford it otherwise.

After a very long day, we returned to the Center. We were exhausted but ready for the next days surgery!