Holy Crap

Ok... I've been in Peru for almost a week now, and I JUST REALIZED that my blog posts haven't been saving/posting!!

I was posting via. email, but now I'm logged directly in through the web interface so HOPEFULLY this will post!

ACK!!

I will go back and re-post everything (it is saved in my sent-mail) but it may not be right away so here's a round up:

Left MKE last Saturday afternoon, great flight to Atlanta, great flight to Lima, 3hrs in Lima airport and then... BOOM... travel sickness hit me like a brick wall. Nausea, fatigue, no appetite. By the time we got to Arequipa at 5am I was a hurting unit. 6 hrs of sleep and some Phenergan and I was MUCH better.

3 days working in Father Alex's mission projects in Alto Cayma (above Arequipa): clinic, home-visits, food-kitchen, day-care.

3 days to Cusco, Aguas Calientes, Machu-Picchu, Wayna Picchu mountain (yup, I climbed that sukka right there!) back to Cusco and then 3 hrs IN A PLANE ON THE TARMAC in Juliaca on the way back to Arequipa.

Today was a whirlwind of tourist stuff... primarily stimulating the local economy with an influx of my personal cash.

Tomorrow we jump on the bus for Colca Canyon and Mon/Tue/Wed it is NRP training time!!

There are pics on facebook and I'm really having a wonderful time despite the altitude sickness, constant nausea, diarrhea, and smell aversions. FUN eh? Truly though, I'm having a wonderful time.

I miss Mike and the boys terribly though!! I'll be very happy when I get home.

1.5 days

This is amazing.

This is actually happening.

You all made this happen!

*SQUEEEEE*

3 days...

On Saturday, April 17th I will take my bags (one duffle with my clothes and necessities and one VERY large suitcase packed with donated vitamins, art-supplies, baby clothes and hats, bulb-syringes, ambu-bags, non-sterile gloves, etc...) get into Mary's car and we will be off to Milwaukee International Airport to start our adventure to Peru.

My final donation $$ Amount is $2120. I don't know how it happened... but it did, and every single person who donated even $1 helped make this trip possible.

Mary and I will arrive in Arequipa, Peru early Sunday morning and we will immediately begin our Mission with Father Alex. We will help at their free child-care center... we will deliver meals to the elderly members of the community, we will help in every way we can. On Wednesday the 22nd we will take a brief break (2 days) to travel to Machu Picchu. On Friday we will return to the mission, complete our work there and prepare for the second portion of our Mission.

On Sunday, the 25th we will board a van and travel up into the mountains (over 15,000 ft. elevation) and then back down into the Colca Valley (the floor of the valley is at 11,000 ft). Here we will help Dr. Gheringer teach NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation) to groups of nurses and physicians who man the government run clinics in these tiny rural villages. When classes are done for the day we will help in the clinics with immunizations, vitals, wounds, etc... anything that needs doing. Friday we will return to Father Alex's guest house and Saturday evening we board our plane home.

I am nervous, I am excited, I will be sad to leave my family, but somehow I think it will all be worth it in the end.

Thank you for making this possible.

THANK YOU!!! I'll keep this spot updated as much as I can from Peru. Expect Alpaca pictures!!

xoxoxo

2 weeks...

Its been very busy around here as we prepare for the trip.

I am gathering the little things: socks, travel bottles, etc... and putting them in a small pile in my bedroom. Delta allows 2 free checked bags to South America and Mary found a wheel-chair that we can bring on the plane with us!! We sold our huge old recliner for $100, which is going directly to the trip, and I am really hoping that we can get our final arrangements made for our trip to Machu Picchu completed soon as well! Our travel agent in Peru is being a bit slow in responding to us.

Honestly I still can't believe I'm going to Peru in 2 weeks. I haven't traveled out of the country in so long that I feel like a complete boob. I am an obsessively light packer, which should serve me well, but my Spanish sucks and I'm nearly petrified of heights/bridges/etc... so there will definitely be some emotional challenges for me on this trip.

Plus I'm going to be away from my family for 2 weeks... all this adds up to me being a bit emotionally volatile lately. If you've been caught in the wake of that, I do apologize!!

Seriously though... 2 WEEKS!!! *SQUEEE*

The countdown begins!!

We're less than a month away from leaving for Peru now! I've put out a request to gather things that would be useful for us to bring to give to the Peruvian people while we're there.

Infant clothes and hats
Non sterile gloves
Pens for the school children
Children's chewable vitamins

We can each carry 2 50lb suitcases with us, but we'll only need one for our own gear, so the other is dedicated completely to carrying supplies that we'll leave there.

I have been working a lot of extra hours these last couple of weeks... trying to build up some more cash to take with me and maybe earn enough to buy a telephoto lens before I go. I'm exhausted and also trying to finish up the on-line Statistics class I have to complete to get into grad-school.

Anyway, hopefully everyone has received their thank-you notes (Rhia... yours is late, I had to figure out postage to Canada!)... and once again, THANK YOU all for your support. Without you this wouldn't have been possible!

Poker for Peru!!

Last night, Mike and I played poker with some friends. Mike took 1st and I took 2nd (tournament style Texas Hold 'em). Each person put in 20$ and we paid out the top 4 seats, so Mike won 40$ and I won $35. All of the winnings are going right into the Peru fund! I also got another $50 donation and sold my Nike sport band and sensor to my friend Michelle, so in total I've gathered $1725 for my trip!

I'm also picking up a few shifts here and there for extra money (overtime is good!) and I really think I'm going to be able to have the whole trip paid for before I leave!

In other news I was accepted to Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing this week! I start grad-school to become a midwife in May/June!! I am absolutely petrified and excited at the same time. Its very similar to how I felt starting my BSN program. I am confident that I can do this, but to be honest... I'm petrified of how much work it is going to require, and I can only hope that I'll be able to find a job when its all over.

Wish me luck?

Its a Garage Sale!!

Hey everyone! In order to try to raise some more money toward this mission Mike and I have been pulling together some things to sell in a virtual garage sale type format. He has already sold his Taylor acoustic guitar and I'm gathering items I can't/don't use to sell as well. First on the list is my Nike sport-band and shoe sensor... I only used it about 3 times because I've been told I should not run (ever) for the health of my feet, so it's going on the auction block. We're going to put my leather recliner on craigslist along with another office chair that we don't use... not huge ticket items, but every dollar counts and I really think its worth it. I'll post a full list of items for sale by Friday and hopefully we'll be able to get stuff sold over the weekend!

I'm trying to figure out (also) how to put a running total on the side bar, I'll see what I can come up with today... with the sale of Mike's guitar I'm up to $1550!!! YAY!!!

ACK!!!

We did it!

Mary and I just completed our reservations for our trip to PERU!!!

This would not have been possible without all of your WONDERFUL SUPPORT!!!

YAYAYAYA!!!!

Whoops!!

Its been a long time since I posted an update, its been VERY busy at work!

Last week our little unit witnessed the births of 31 babies!! It was crazy busy, but very rewarding.

Mary and I have been trying to track down the cheapest flights, but it looks like we need to just bite the bullet and buy our tickets ASAP before the prices jump way up.

The nerves about this trip are settling down a bit at this point. I've been gathering infant masks at work as they are used briefly for babies. I clean and decontaminate them with some gluco-chlor wipes and tuck them away for the trip to Peru. They're considered single-use items, but they're very easy to completely decontaminate and it seems such a waste to throw them away when they're so very useful.

I'm also thinking about what I need to bring with me, clothing wise. I am a light packer because I hate packing a lot of junk around on trips... but with the changes in temperature I'd hate to be stuck without enough warm clothes! Does anyone have advice on traveling to high elevations? Khaki's, jeans, shirts, a couple of sweaters and various socks is about all I can come up with... well, and a variety of undies. ;) But even that seems like a lot to pack, maybe I can cut back and bring some Dr. Bronners and wash things while I'm there.

Finances

First of all... THANK YOU everyone who has donated. I plan to thank you each in a more personal way, but I feel like I can't say it publicly enough. I wanted to give a run-down on the financial costs that I've paid out and will pay out shortly, so you all have a good picture of where I am:

So far you all have donated a total of $1100. That is simply amazing to me.

Two weeks ago I sent my deposit check to Health Bridges for $150, and this week I will be purchasing my ticket to Arequipa out of O'Hare for aproximately $850... so in total I will have about $100 of your donated money left. My room and board while there is estimated to be about $1100 total (to which the $150 deposit is being applied), so I still need to earn about $850 to completely cover the trip.

I'm not sure how else to get the word out, but if anyone is willing to pass my story along to their friends and family, I'd certainly appreciate it. At this point I will pay the extra out of my own pocket because I am 100% committed to going, but any support I can raise will help defer the hardship this trip is placing on my family.

Thanks again!!

PASSPORT!!!

YAY!!!

Despite never being able to track the status of my passport online (possibly due to the name-change, but I'll never know)... it has ARRIVED!!!

The passport service office returned my old one with a couple of holes punched in it, so I have it for a souvenir, but the brand-spankin' new one with my married name on it is in my hot little hands and I couldn't be happier.

I was actually getting a little worried, but truly, I sent in my application the first week of January, so really it was less than 6 weeks of processing time.

WOOHOO!! Now to find tickets!

This is getting real!

There was an organizational meeting at the hospital on Thursday, but I was unable to attend as I was working and had a very complex patient load so I couldn't leave the floor. Luckily, my friend (and co-worker) Mary went for me and gave me all of the information.

We're going to be flying in to Lima on Saturday the 17th and there will be a guide from Health Bridges there to meet us and get us to our in-country flight to Arequipa. It will make things a lot easier on everyone if we all arrive in Arequipa at the same time, so there is only one bus pick-up and such.

We are told that there is internet access at the guest house where we'll be staying in Arequipa, but outside of that we may be out of luck. I plan to bring my camera, and hopefully I'll be able to upload a few pictures while we're there.

I'm a little freaked about the elevations we'll be staying at. Arequipa is around 9000ft above sea level and the FLOOR of the Colca Canyon is close to 11,000 ft. (Have I already mentioned this?) I haven't ever stayed anywhere near that elevation before and I'm really hoping my body copes with it well. I'm going to my spin classes regularly, so hopefully my cardiovascular system will be able to adapt with relative ease... altitude sickness sounds like absolutely no fun what so ever.

Lunch with Dr. Bob

Today Mary and I met with Dr. Bob Gehringer who is one of the project organizers for Heatlh Bridges International and who will be taking Mary and I to the Colca valley to teach NRP. It was a WONDERFUL meeting and he gave us a LOT to chew on and think about as far as the trip and training itself.

Once our first week in Arequipa with the Affinity group is completed Mary and I will be accompanying Dr. Bob to the Colca valley and specifically to the town of Chivay. Arequipe lies at about 9000ft. above sea level, and the road to Chivay wanders up to about 15,000ft. before descending into the canyon carved by the Colca river which itself lies at 11,000ft. The Colca river is one of the sources of the Amazon, but the elevation makes the area completely arid! There are 14 colonial villages and in this area most of the babies are still born at home with traditionally trained midwives.

Those born in the Ministry of health clinics are attended mostly by nurses as often there is only a doctor in the clinic once or twice per week. From our base in Chivay we will make day trips down the canyon to the other colonial villages to teach our class and then return in the evening to our base. Nurses will be the primary focus of our teaching, but man... I wish we could get in touch with the more traditional midwives in the area... what an experience that would be!

Dr. Bob told us to plan for it to be comfortable during the day, but probably below freezing at night, especially up in the Colca Valley area. The homes, hotels, etc. do not have heat, so we may have to bring sleeping bags, but for the most part he says you can stay comfortable wearing long johns a hat, warm socks and gloves... TO BED!!!

The excitement and anticipation are building! You all have donated over $1000!!!! I am so very very grateful! This wouldn't be possible without your support!

Its an UPDATE!!

Sorry I haven't posted all week... I've been bogged down with statistics homework and I fell off the update wagon.

I just checked the bank account and pay-pal and am thrilled to let y'all know that you all have contributed almost 50% of what I need to get to Peru!!! The donation total is at $975!!!

Mary and I will be meeting with Dr. Bob Gehringer on Tuesday, February 2nd to see what he has in store for us, and hopefully we'll have a good conversation about the medical conference as well. Sometimes I wonder if I'm getting in over my head a bit here, but maybe that's exactly what I need... some push to go a bit further and see what I really can do.

I haven't gotten my new (updated) passport yet and that's a little worrisome at this point. I was told that they usually take no more than 2-3 weeks for a renewal and its now been at least 3 weeks since I sent it in! ARGH!! If anyone knows how I can check up on the status of that, I'd REALLY appreciate any info you've got!

Happy Sunday y'all!

How about some more details on the area of Peru where I'll be going:

Arequipa is a city south and east of Lima (the capital of Peru). It is the second most populous area in Peru with nearly a million people. We'll be staying in a guest house on the church grounds and working in what would be considered the slums of the city where the clinic and orphanage are found. There is a possibility we could spend some time with the Partera (Midwife) who works in the clinic as well.

The Colca Valley, conversely, is a very rural area of separated villages at high elevation. Here midwives and traveling doctors who work in multiple small clinics around the region provide the majority of primary medical care. The residents of this area still cultivate the ancient Incan terraces in the walls of the canyon for their living.

Several more donations have come through both pay-pal and the mail. If you don't have pay-pal and would prefer to send me a check, please don't hesitate to email me (lexine at gmail dot com)! I will happily send you my snail-mail address!

We are up to $585!!! Thank you all!!!

A New Development

So! Learned a lot about the trip on my conference call yesterday.

It turns out that Mary and I may be called upon to actually GIVE a presentation at the medical conference on emergency care of the newborn.

Uh.

HOLY CRAP.

I mean... WOW!!! I really hope we could do a good job, but there is a LOT of information that we'd have to cover and the thought of presenting to a room full of Peruvian doctors, nurses and such absolutely petrifies me.

I thought I'd just be working at clinics, teaching neonatal resuscitation... maybe helping build a house... this is a bit bigger than I'd expected.

Please send good thoughts that we can make this happen.

Donations are at 495$!!! Almost 25% there!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

Peru here we come!!

I am filling out my application for project "Impact Peru" through Health Bridges International today. They ask why I want to go and what skills I have to offer on the trip. It is true that both Health Bridges and my Hospital are religiously founded organizations. Two nuns with no money and a cause started St. Elizabeth Hospital... and it is one of the best hospitals in the area now. So I've been asked, since I'm not a religious person, why I want to go on a religious mission and to that I have only one response:

You do not have to believe in God, to do God's work.

I am a good person. I have worked hard for what I have and where I am in my life, but I know that because of my circumstances I have had FAR more opportunities than the majority of the human population of the earth. I was fortunate to be born in the United States. I was fortunate to have loving, competent and dedicated parents. I was fortunate to be educated and to be able to further my education after public school.

What is interesting to me is that as fortunate as so very many of us in the US are... I come in contact with so many who refuse to acknowledge our fortune, and who believe they are entitled to all they've been able to achieve and all they've been given.

I don't believe I am entitled to anything I do not earn.

I also believe that it is my duty, and my privilege to be able to give to those who are not as fortunate as I have been. Why do I want to go to Peru? I want to go because I can... and in going I might be able to help someone improve their life... and the lives of those around them. My specific skills, taught to health-care providers in Peru could save the lives of babies. I think that's a pretty good reason to go, myself... I hope you all do too!

Donation update! I got a check from my Grandfather (Thank You Big Bumpa!!!) and another pay-pal donation which brings my total so far to $470!! YAY!!!

Thank you EVERYONE for your support and help! Several friends have listed my site on their FB status for a while and I appreciate that so much!!! THANK YOU!!!

HATS!!!

Yesterday at work we gathered up all of the unused knit hats that we had lying around the nursery and put them in a bag for Mary (my co-worker and friend) and I to take to Peru for the newborn babies there.

Our volunteers make TONS of hats, but some of them just never get picked by the new moms and dads in the hospital, and while they're not the cutest of the bunch, they're functional and soft and I'm excited to get to take them with us to Peru.

I haven't heard anything on my updated passport, but we have a conference call with Bernie Nitz on Thursday. She is coordinating the Affinity group for the first week of our trip. She'll give us all of the details on travel and such and then I'll be able to let y'all know what's going on.

No new donations since the last update, but I'm still hopeful that I'll make my goal. If you can't donate yourself, would you mind passing on my blog and info to others? Even a donation of $1 gets me closer to Peru. Thank you so much for helping me do something that will hopefully make a difference to newborn babies!!

Day 4

Sorry for the missed day, yesterday! I work 12 hr. shifts every other Saturday and Sunday and I was pretty wasted tired last night.

Paypal donations are still at $245, but I've been told by several people that they're sending checks (YAY!) and I'll update the total as soon as I receive those. I have a few more details about the trip:

The first week we will be spending in the city of Arequipa where Health Bridges International will be holding a medical conference. We'll arrive Saturday, get to our hostel and have dinner. Sunday will be a clinic orientation day and then Mon-Thurs are clinic and construction days. Friday and Saturday will be spent at the medical conference. Sunday Dr. Gehringer and the other OB nurse (My friend Mary Williams) and I will travel to the Colca valley which is a much more rural area of Southern Peru. There we will work in the clinics and help teach basic neonatal resuscitation skills.

The more I learn, the more excited I get about going, it really seems like we're going to do some needed and important work there!

Day 2

Holy cow!

Thank you everyone who has donated, I've already passed the 10% mark and donations stand at $245!!

I want to say something about the tragedy in Haiti... I really hope, that if you have to chose between giving to me, and giving to the relief efforts in Haiti that you choose Haiti. There are thousands of suffering people there who need our immediate help, and while I do need assistance to reach my goals and help the babies in Peru... they need it more.

Consider the Red Cross, or Doctors Without Borders... they need our help and our donations desperately right now.

Again, thank you so very much for supporting me as well, I have no words!!

Day 1

Hey everyone! If you're here you've probably followed a link in an email that I've sent out to all of my friends and family, but if somehow you've gotten here and you don't know me or why I've created this blog, let me give a brief description of who I am and why I want to go to Peru.

I am an RN on a relatively busy Labor and Delivery Unit in Appleton, Wisconsin. One of our hospital's driving tenants is to provide care for all who need it, ESPECIALLY the poor. I love my job, in fact I left a lucrative career in network engineering and support to get my BSN and become a nurse. I'm hoping, in the next year, to begin my Masters program to become a Certified Nurse Midwife. I'm also married, have two boys (11 and 7) and four (yes four) cats.

But why do I want to go to Peru? And why am I asking for help getting there? Here's the deal: The neonatal (newborn) mortality rate in Peru is 18 out of every 1000 live births. That means that for every 1000 babies born, 18 won't live out their first month. (In contrast the US neonatal mortality rate in 2006 was 4.5/1000.) In the US we take for granted things like clean running water, oxygen masks, suction, supplies, warm towels, and everything necessary to help a baby who may need some assistance to breathe in the first few minutes of life. In the Colca Valley those things are not a given, and many babies die for the lack of simple skills and equipment that we use almost every day.

I have the opportunity to join a medical Mission to this area of Peru from April 18-May 1 2010 to help teach basic Neonatal Resuscitation skills to the health care providers who care for laboring women and newborn babies. Along with other nurses I will be able to demonstrate and practice with them and work in the clinics alongside them. They will, in turn, be able to share their skills with others in the hopes that we can save the lives of babies who need a little extra support at birth.

So that's my story. There is a paypal generated donation button in the right hand column, and if you have a few dollars to spare to help me get to Peru, I would be eternally grateful for your donation. I need to raise $2000 to cover my expenses and I'll take the button down as soon as I reach my goal. I'll also post daily updates to show where I stand in progressing toward my goal. My hope is also that I will be able to update this site while I am IN Peru with pictures and posts... if that is not possible, then I'll keep a detailed diary and post a trip report when I return.

Oh yeah... and if, for ANY reason, the trip gets canceled I promise that I will return every penny to those of you who donated it. I can not tell you how much your support means to me!