Ice Road Truckers

Wow! So much has happened th last three weeks...

Dave (husband) came up on the 21st and left on the 28th. While he was hear we went down the winter ice road to Moosonee and then drove across the river to Moose Factory (better shopping there).  I don't think it is fair to give Ottawa the award fro the longest skating rink. This one runs all the way from Moosonee to Attiwapiskat 260 km and beyond to Peawanuck where the DeBeers Victor diamond mining prject is. At one point you can see James Bay on the horizon. Most of the road is across muskeg and swamp and the view is mainly flat with stunted black spruce trees.  They pump water into a trough they make through the snow and then it freezes making a smooth ice surface to drive on.  Where there are creeks, gullies or rivers to cross they make snow bridges.  These are much more unstable than the rest of the road and there are warning signs when you are approaching one.  Often you see orange marker cones or even just a spruce branch sticking up in the raod to mark a hole or weak spot.  DeBeers does a lot of the work on the road and apprently it is much better since they have taken over.  It took us about 2 1/2 hours but is can take much longer depending on the condition fo the road - we had smooth sailing other than some snowy areas.  When the road starts to deteriorate in the spring, people are desparate to get in that last trip for more reasonably priced food and necessities as well as just having some relief from complete isolation for most of the year. it is not unheard of for it to take 15-20 hours to make the treachorous trip. 
      Near Moosonee there is a stretch where you travel thorugh tall spruce stands and it was so tranquil - almost mezmerizing. We stopped - just stopped on the road, and got out to stretch our legs and soak up the sound of silence of the northern forest blanketed in the cloak of winter, while fluffy snow flakes quickly covered our hair and clothing. You can see Dave and I in a photo just before dawn. I am so glad we had the opportunity to make the trip.  I have travelled a lot of snowy highways and biways - Dave and I are a lttle crazy that way.  We go out in snowy weather when most sane folks are home by the fire - but this brought it to a whole new level.  Next time we come up here - we will put our truck on the train at Cochrane and drive to Fort Albany on the winter road.
    We also were fortunate that the winter carnival was this week and it began with a community pow-wow last Saturday.  There were 4 drums (groups of men that gather to chant and sing in honour of something or for other spritual reasons), and a number of local dancers in traditional costumes.
    It is mainly informal aside from the special aspects that include the grand entry which opens the pow-wow and 'blessing' the place, objects and people with the burning of sage to purify the spirit.  Everyone is encouraged to dance - it is intoxicating and when you hear the drumming and chanting - it seems to take your spirit to another place.  Well it does for me anyway....maybe the smoke......
    As far as the reason I am here, clinical placement for nursing, hat too is going well.  Nurses here have a great deal of autonomy and practice in an extended role.  We are no the only ones with extended roles. The
local ladies that do the admin work, appointments, log in the drugs and prescriptions that arrive from the Northern Pharmacy in Moosonee, also are trained to do vital signs and take x rays.  The nurses see patients in the clinic and as a walk-in or emergency and assess them beyond what we would down south since there is no doctor for them to see.  We used our knowledge and judgement to querie a differential diagnosis and then initiate a treatment plan based on our findings and the suugested course of action in the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch Guidelines for Nurses in Primary Care (you can access these guidleines online at Health Canada).  If it is beyond our scope, comfort level or the guidelines, we can send a consult to the on-call physicians in Mooose Factory at Weeneebayko General Hospital.  The patients are triaged using CTAS the same as they are in Er back home and the physicians respond accordingly.  We have a trauma room, 2 exam rooms, a holding room, one delivery room and an isolation room and of course there is the tiny lab where we have just enough room to take a blood sample.  I am all set to try suturing and there is a good chance that I will get the opportunity next week on nights.  I'll let you know how that goes. I have been practicing sewing banana skins back together :) 
    Well sorry that I have caught up all at once.  I willpost some new photos as well and hope to psot again before I head home.  It's hard to believe that I have only four weeks left.  As is usual with adventures like this, I have very mixed feelings aobut leaving. I am jsut beginning to develop relationships with colleagues and the wonderful people of this community but I miss my family and home very much indeed - sigh...