Same old, Same old

Grace and greetings.

Sunday, the temperature in Barrow finally dropped below zero, but the winds have continued to be strong, up to 25 mile an hour winds. Today is more of the same: cold and windy.

Kim is back in the hospital in Anchorage with more lung issues. Saturday afternoon, ten minutes before I was heading out to officiate a wedding, Kim thought she should go the hospital because she was hearing noises during her breathing. I asked if she could hold on until after the wedding, so between the wedding service and the reception that followed, I dropped Kim off at the hospital and returned to have the wedding license signed, then returned to the hospital to wait for the doctors to finish up with their test.

After seeing the doctor, we were on our way out the door, when the doctor asked us to stay a few minutes longer. After consulting with another doctor on staff, they decided to admit Kim for observation overnight. With her heart rate up and oxygen levels slowly dropping, she was medevaced to Anchorage yesterday. It does not look like she will be there long, maybe a day or two more. Of course the doctor in Anchorage looked at her and told her that if she lived in Anchorage, she would not be in the hospital. But that was one of the points, we DO NOT live in Anchorage, we live in rural Alaska. As the saying goes, "If the rest of the United States gets a cold, Alaskans get the flu." To continue the statement, (and I guess this could be true in the majority of rural areas), "If Anchorage gets the flu, the Bush (rural Alaska) gets pneumonia." We are still waiting to see what will happen, as of this afternoon, they, the doctors, are still looking at her lungs. Though they are filling up again, it is not reacting like "normal pneumonia" rather filling in other areas of the lung. They still may go in with a needle to drain the lungs this time, rather than with a larger tube like last time; but that was also to help re-inflate the lung as well.

It is getting near the time when the sun will set for the last time here in Barrow for 2008. Though we officially have about six more days of "daylight", with the overcast skies, you would not know it.

Thank you for reading my blog, and your patience during my times of absence.

Peace and blessings.