#28 - Odd jobs and Odd creatures

#28 - We are living in a weird and wonderful place.

Today (Saturday) is my first day off.  Though work this week, has not been particularly taxing- save for the Cold Chain Breech yesterday; it is still nice to occupy my time my way. 

My morning started by dropping off Ben another nurse off at the airstrip.  The end of his contract had come, and he heads off on a marathon trek today from Darnley Island - Horn Island - Cairns - Sydney - Adelaide. He wont get home until about 8 pm tonight, so I loaded him up with  a breakfast of half a wild grown PawPaw & two Strong cups of coffee, and in return he left me some lovely fresh Mackerel.  Yummo...for tonight we eat fish.  Ben if you are reading this, thank you, and it was a pleasure meeting and working with you....Now Mop my floor!!!  (in joke).

A couple of other odd jobs this morning.  A young lady with a new diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes which is a form of diabetes one gets only when pregnant; needed to have this news shared with her this morning.  She was a little upset at the thought of having to test her own blood sugars (by pricking her finger) 4 times each day, and change her diet from CocaCola, Nuttella and Nutrigrain to fresh health fruit and veges, but with some gentle persuasion she'll come round.  I will do some followup education and counselling with her on Monday morning to see how she is going.  Another first for me.  Ive never had to break this news before, but the maternity team in Thursday Island, has a fabulous set of resources to use for teaching new Mums to be about the evils of diabetes.
  If you have been following the blog, you will recall that a huge rock wall was hand built around the coral shelf in front of the clinic (and my accommodation).  This Fish trap is one of those things that I have been watching for the last few days, and as the Luna cycle creeps towards full moon, the tides have gradually been getting higher highs, and lower lows.
On the bottom of the low today the rocky fish trap was almost completely devoid of water save for multiple rock pools , gullies and sandy shallow ponds.  After a few call outs and odd jobs, I decided to venture out to the shelf and explore the pools.

Do you remember loving to do that as a kid.  You'd don thongs (jandalls in my case) or an old pair of sandshoes and explore all the cracks and crevasses left behind by a retreating tide?  Well I had a ball!!
I saw creatures in that water that I have never seen before.  Crabs that look like mossy shells, long snake like fish with a mouth of a million needle like teeth.  A beautiful spotted eagle ray, and even caught some footage of a small squid playing around my feet and the rocks.  It was so relaxing to paddle, in relative safety litterally a stones throw from the clinic.  The water was about 27 degrees, and crystal clear!!   After about an hour I looked back to the clinic to see a patient waving from my front door.  My fun was over for the minute....or was it.

Those that know me know I love a good wound, or boil to lance.  Well today This bloke had a doozy.  A 4x5cm carbuncle with about 6 heads in it.   !!!

• Scalpel ...check.
• Lignocaine ...check.
• Lots and lots of gauze...check.
• Goggles ...(yep, you read right) ......check.
• Antibiotics......check.
• Good strong arm (and stomach)......check!!

Hold tight mate....Im going in!!! 
Well that was as much excitement as looking in rock pools.  It is amazing to see what can come out of some folk.  I am sure he is a kilo lighter!!  In all seriousness, this was nasty, and he was starting to feel systemically unwell.  The big risk with these lesions is that they can become cellulitic and cause complications like septicaemia (Blood poisoning).  As aggressive as my poetically licenced description may sound, this bloke will be feeling much better today because of his abscess drainage.  I feel satisfied.  A job well done, and he was very thankful.

On completing this task, I met Annie, the permanent nurse, who had just been picked up from the airstrip by Chris her hubby.  I look forward to learning the ropes a bit more from Annie, and hearing her take on Life a a permanent RAN (Remote Area Nurse).

The afternoon has been quite civilized.  I might have another paddle in my rock pools , or catch a few zzzz on the couch, with the breeze blowing through the coconut trees.

Tomorrow... On call again, but will attend the church service (which is just next door), and we will see what comes through the clinic door.

 It is almost the end of week one of three on Darnley.  There is so much about this island that I could enjoy more if I had Jo and the kids with me.  Amy would love playing with the island kids, Ben would have a ball in those rock ponds, and fishing off the wharf, and I could walk hand in hand with my bride for endless miles down unspoiled beaches, sucking the island breeze into my lungs and feel recharged by His creation.