Friday 22 June - Happy First Day of Summer

Today I was able to get a morale flight in one of the helicopters. You must attend the safety training before the flight. They basically tell you how to wear the life vest and head gear then what to do if you have an emergency water to land landing. I was scheduled to go on the second fun flight. When I got up to the flight deck we received our gear. They were getting the second helicopter out and unfolding it. Once we got our gear on they informed us they were having communication problems so they were flying out to test and we would get on the first helicopter out when it came back. Well as the first one was approaching, someone threw up in it so they had to get everyone out and clean it up. By the time they got most of it cleaned the second one was coming back so they had to take off so it could land. When the second helicopter landed we got out to the deck to load and they had problems again so we went back in to wait for the first helicopter to come back. They then cleaned it up and took off so the second one could land and they thought we would get on  but it still had issues so they decided to put it away and only use the one. After they parked the problem one, they decide to shorten the flight to 20 min and take out 10 people instead of 7. Just meant some of us would not get to be on a door opening. After a 2 1/2 hour wait I got my ride.

They did some swaying from side to side and a gravity drop then flew over the coast and countryside and back over the pier where we x-ray and then back to the ship. Got some great pictures and video. They kept it pretty mild after the first guy threw up.  On the whole, it was neat. It really is a pretty smooth ride. The department was pretty nice to let me go in place of one of them. We were only allowed 2 people per department so I felt privileged to be allowed. Will have to thank them somehow.

I didn't finish the story about the little boy I did 2 days ago. He had about 7 inches of his intestine hanging out of his side. Looked really weird. While we were doing the whole procedure I was watching his mom. She had stepped back and I could see she had her eyes closed and her lips were moving like she was praying. It made me think that sometimes we as LDS think we are the only ones who pray for things and made me realize that in this culture this is the only one constant they have. The one thing they can hope and rely on. Talk about making me sit back and think what is important in my life.

The other interesting thing we did yesterday was they did a CT on a 19 month baby with a mass in his abdomen. The mass was a twin inside of him. It is call a fetus in fetu which means it could be a teratoma or a parasitic twin. (this is for all you medical geeks) you can see a full spine, pelvis and shoulders. They were doing an angio to see if there is any blood supply to it before they do surgery to remove it. It is about one in 1/2 million this happens to.  If you remember in "my big fat greek wedding" the aunt talking about the mass in her neck and it was her twin. This is it. We have had every one coming it to see it as the guys put it into a 3d image so you can rotate it around and view from all directions. So far I have seen so many things you will be lucky to see once in your career.

We were told tonight that Susan Puls and Lynn Samsel would be arriving 26 June  and there was some GA coming for a lunch meeting on the 28th. Unfortunate for me that both of those days I am off the ship so I will not be here for either event. That is OK, I take my turn to cover the pier.

They told us it would be $60 to cover the cost of the tour. We will rent one large bus an a small mini van. Get to see the area, got to a restaurant for lunch, do a temple session, maybe shop, and then the local ward is cooking a native dinner and entertainment for us that night. Sounds like we are staying at the temple dorms and then will go to the airport the next morning by the bus. The temple housing is about $2 but I think they are off on that.

The lady tonight spoke about her finding out she had breast cancer after she got on the ship. She was suppose to stay the whole time but is going home in philippines. She said it really has been a blessing to be here as she feels surrounded by family and has felt very much at peace with the whole thing. Blessings when you are serving are a wonderful thing. You can put your trust in the Lord and know it is His plan.

Will keep you posted on all the travel stuff.  All in all it has been ad great day. They even opened up the pier today so our people went into town and ate and had some fun.. Looks like I will be on the pier Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday -  so maybe we can FaceTime. I know the Sunday (your Saturday night) will be busy as they have a surgical cap but I will give it a try a few days and times. Don't wait around for me we will just get it as I can. Thanks for your notes.

Love and miss you guys. Mom/Caroline