Typhoon Lagoon

Whangarei Hospital on the side of my office, note weather is Seattle like with grey skies and misty rain.
Whangarei Hospital from the inpatient side and Emergency room side, note better weather a few MINUTES later. Viv, my friend, mentor and lab manager is seated and Judy, blood bank director is smiling behind the door.

My office which I currently share with David, lab director, and Geoff, point of care testing manager. There are 3 desks and we confer with eachother way too much for us to be efficient. For my coworkers in the US, Melissa and Jim, our morning coffee break with LB is termed "morning tea" and the hospital here practically shuts down at 10:30 for it.

We have had a busy week here in New Zealand. Remember, the kids are still in school with only the 2 week break since we have been here. They are really enjoying an afterschool program that is offered at Phillip's school. The other 3 ride a bus over there for the afternoons when I need to put more work hours in. I have seen many an activity when I pick them up: woodworking, model clay, dancing of all sorts, and more. Whangarei Heads school's entry level (Kindergarten) class was moved up to a new teacher this term in order to make room for the continual inpouring of new 5 year olds. The twins have a new teacher who is a Kiwi but also has lived and taught in Korea. They made the ornate paper structures this week (Is origamy the name?). Andrew has had fever all week and weekend and missed some of the fun. Lynn has been at a sleep medicine conference at a resort on Rotorua where the hot pools and other thermal features are. He said the meeting was VERY helpful for sleep practice both in New Zealand and America as the face of sleep medicine is moving away from center based sleep studies to some role for sleep studies at home. Of course it is cheaper at home so that is practically all New Zealand does. Lynn said it was a strange feeling to cross that young practitioner and expert divide realizing he has been in practice long enough to be more an expert. He thought it was good for his morale because general inpatient medicine wards here is really stretching his memory bank from long ago training. In America we have a specialized system where if you are in the hospital your general hospitalist has access to consults from a cardiologist if you have a heart problem, a nephrologist if you have a kidney problem, Lynn if you have a lung problem, etc. Here the system has a lot more emphasis on ONE doctor who takes care of everything. It has its benefits but for Lynn it is a strain to be all things to all people. He has set the limit in the clinic to only lung patients and sleep patients. In addition, the working with medical students and residents has brought to light their own plight and grievances with the New Zealand system. He presses on and we continue to have each team of trainees over for a get to know you dinner. My work has gotten much busier as the director of the department started full time this month. We are busy doing audits, restructuring the lab based on accreditation recommendations, commisioning newer equipment, adding needed lab tests, and getting out there to meet the other doctors in the hospital and in the community. I am getting to learn more about the running of a lab and hospital administration. I included some pics of my friend and lab manager Viv and the workplace.

Oh by the way, in the midst of this we have had a Category I hurricane (worst storm of the decade) yesterday, power outages, busted water heater, I mentioned sickness, flooded basement, etc. One VALUABLE lesson I am learning here is not to get upset with challenges but laugh at them and work it out. My blood pressure is just not going up anymore when the boat starts rocking. It's the kiwi phrase, "She'll be allright." Indeed, the situation usually is in a few days. My dad was always great about not getting upset when bad things happen. It's a peace giving principle. Lynn's coworker Debra put a blog comment that said the key to patience is acceptance and faith. I think that is profound.....accepting the bad circumstances and having faith that it will work out and God will make use of it some how in the great scheme of our life. I am also learning that I value people and experiences much more than things which flood, break, fade, and go out of fashion. Cleaning out the "stuff" of my life and living more simply has made me see how much more you all back home mean to me and how much more interesting new people and experiences can be compared to building a material based lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, I also appreciate things more and would love someone to send me some graham crackers and dryer sheets!