End of September

The end of August we had our family Middle Fork Salmon River trip. Natty had a rough start. He ate some bad sushi in Missoula, and ended up on IV's in the Salmon hospital overnight! The ER doctor who took care of him was the brother of my Med School room mate. Small world! After that everything went smoothly. There was a lot of smoke from numerous forest fires in central Idaho, but the weather was perfect. It was very relaxing to have our professional river guide children lead the trip. They knew all the rapids, the best campsites, and great hikes. The six days were over all too quickly.
I had all of two days to get unpacked and organized before I left for my first Anesthesia job in eighteen months in Chinle, AZ. I flew to Boise first, and spent a day with MC's brother John, and wife Sandy. John and I rode the Bogus Basin Hill Climb (16 mile bike ride up to Boise's ski area), and the three of us took in Boise's annual "Arts in the Park".

The week in Chinle went very well. It's a small hospital serving the local Navajo population. Good mix of surgeries. Relaxed pace. Nice patients. I took call four of the seven days, and felt quite comfortable. I had to laugh at myself for being so concerned about my capabilities after being away from anesthesia so long. It is, to a large degree, "like riding a bike" as they say. I'm going down for another one week assignment there this coming Sunday. The flying weather has been perfect. The sharp Autumn lighting on Bryce Canyon was spectacular. While in Chinle I hiked down into the Canyon de Chelly to one of the 12th century Anasazi ruins. Magical place!

The nice thing about doing Locums work, is that when I'm working away from home I totally focus on Anesthesiology, and when I'm home, I can fully enjoy Sandpoint, and focus on home projects. I've harvested all our basil and made tons of pesto. We easily have enough for the next two years! I took one last row in the shell and put it away for the season. I flew our friends Kathy and Phil down to Garfield, WA for our annual cider pressing. I'm working with a new flight instructor to get my Tailwheel endorsement. (so I can fly backcountry airplanes.)

I got my September labwork back. Everything continues to look good. Each month, during those few days awaiting the results, that nagging fear percolates to the surface, "what if...?". Then I see the numbers are good, sigh with relief, and plunge into another month of this gift of health!

Phil