Stateside

Terry and Jeannie returned to WI and the United States for a brief sabbatical and his first locum tenens work at Appleton Medical Center. Here are some updates from that trip. More from Haiti soon!
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Feb 10-23  Ah!  Winter in Wisconsin.  What a change from the tropics.  It was a delight to see my partners again.  They have been so incredibly supportive of me taking this year to work in Haiti.  We were able to spend some quality time with Dr Erickson and his family.  His wife, Mary had a high risk pregnancy with twin babies.  Fortunately all went well and they are thriving.  Mary has kept us highly entertained with her blog.  Both Dr Smith and our new partner, Dr Ken Kleist are doing well.  I assisted Dr Kleist on a total knee replacement and was very impressed with his surgical skills.  He is fellowship trained in joint replacement.  He is a tremendous addition to the Thedacare Orthopedics Plus team.  Dr Smith left for the orthopedic academy meetings in San Diego a couple of days after I returned.

Overall, the time in Appleton was very good.  I was able to do some elective surgery and saw patients in the office and covered the ER and took call for my partners.  Many coworkers were very interested in the Haiti project and I spent considerable time answering questions.  Many are interested in the coffee table book that we are producing to raise funds for the work here.  Dr Erickson and his wife gave an extremely generous donation to the project.

Wisconsin did manage to impress upon us its ability to make wintertime a real event.  Over 13 inches of snow fell in a blizzard accompanied by 40+ mph winds.  It was a real old-fashioned storm.  The snowplows were out in force and life continued without much disruption.  I was able to enjoy a lot of no-cost exercise keeping the driveway and sidewalks clear.  The 5 foot snowbanks were a testament to the effort.  I gauge much of my caloric expenditure in terms of “cinnamon rolls earned” which puts the activity in a very positive light.  Jeannie and I indulged at a couple of our favorite restaurants several times.   I was also able to make it to the tennis center several times and burn more calories and get my endorphin “fix.”

Now we are off to Portland Oregon for a few days.  I will be able to meet the graphic arts designer who is laying out the coffee table book and give input that might be helpful.  We will have a couple of days with our daughter, Summer, and her husband, Tim.
Feb 24

Portland greeted us with very cold, wet weather.  It was welcome for us.  We had hoped to have some good snow conditions on Mt Hood for at least one day of snowboarding.  It turned out to be classic.  It was one of the best snowboarding days that Jeannie and I have ever had.  It was our snowboarding season for the year and it was as good as it gets.



Feb 25

What an enjoyable day this has been.  Tim and I played tennis for a couple of hours at an indoor club close by.  Tim is slowly improving.  If he would take the time to really work on his game, he would improve faster and undoubtedly dominate me.  It is a great workout and we enjoy spending time together.  David and his wife Alyssa came over and we talked about the book project.  He is the graphic designer who is doing the layout and design of the book.  He has  a great sense of humor.  Steve and Heidi then joined us for dinner.  We all had a great evening eating soup and salad and bread with dipping sauce.  Jeannie and I are really taking advantage of all the good food.  We have both put on several pounds during this trip.

Feb 26

It is so nice to have another Sabbath to enjoy.  I really enjoyed going to church with Jeannie.  The Happy Valley church in Portland is very friendly.  Tim had arranged with the pastor to have us up in front and talk about Haiti.  We introduced the coffee table book project as well.  It has been really great to have a couple of days with Tim and Summer.  Jeannie and I both have to leave later this afternoon.  Jeannie will be in southern California with Bob and Carolyn and plans to get together with several good friends for a few days.  I fly to Haiti and work until Thursday, then return to join Jeannie in Loma Linda for the Alumni Postgraduate Convention for three days.  I want to see as many patients as possible and get them ready for Scott and Dror Paley on March 12.  Our medical school class celebrates its 40th reunion this year.  It will be great to talk to friends we haven’t seen in years.  I hope a lot of them come.