Thanksgiving

Our thoughts were with you today as we shared Thanksgiving continents apart. We initially thought that this would be year in which we would "miss" Thanksgiving. Most of the mission staff are American and will not celebrate their Thanksgiving until November. However, we found 2 other Canadian families here at Shell and we pooled our Thanksgiving recipes and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. It is so interesting to hear of the journeys and adventures of others as we cross paths. Don travels on a Canadian passport even though he was born in Ecuador, went to school and worked as an engineer in the US for over 20 years and has now "retired" to work with indigenous churches through the valley. He is a great adventurer, rappelling canyons, skydiving, to the point that some have told his wife that "their husbands are not allowed to play with Don anymore" because he lives a little too close to the edge.

Ecuador is home to several active volcanoes. Often cloaked in clouds we were treated to a great view this afternoon of a plume rising from a volcano in a nearby mountain range. No scheduled surgery today, but I was able to reassemble an anesthesia machine donated and shipping in February and arrived here Friday. There were several outpatient sedation cases and had the opportunity to remove a fish bone from the larynx of a very stidulous 4 year old. Surprised while eating dinner, he aspirated a large piece of bone and struggled for breath all night. It is very satisfying to use tools at hand to relieve a life threatening obstruction and send a young boy back home to the jungle. The lack of fluency in Spanish is frustrating at times but the mission physicians and Ecuadorean interns are very gracious and to translate for me.
Gary