Parka-Plegia

I've lucked out with some unseasonably warm temperatures this month.  I have nothing against the cold (there's not such thing as bad weather, just bad gear) but it has been nice to have a chance to get acclimatized to the conditions a bit over my first few weeks up north. The coldest it's been so far is -33 with the windchill but it's generally been steady in the - mid-teens.  My walk to work is about 15 minutes each way and on the colder days I've been wearing my ski pants over my work pants to keep warm.  Add to the ski pants my giant tourist parka, hat, mittens, scarf and boots and I'm pretty much parka-plegic by the time I'm all bundled up.  I somehow manage to waddle my way to work with limited use of my joints, sweating buckets by the time I get there, swearing to myself that I'm not going to be so ridiculously afraid of the cold the next day.  But every morning I check out Environment Canada's Weather and I see the high negative numbers and convince myself I need to put on every single piece of warm clothing I own just to step foot outside.  I am slowly learning though!  Today I didn't even wear my tourist parka!  After thinking that maybe my parka was a bit overkill and after seeing all the locals in their 'normal' winter coats, I decided that since it was a balmy -14C I would simply wear my snowboard jacket to walk to work.  I wasn't cold per say, but I definitely did miss my parka.  For no other reason than it's so cozy that I could curl up into a ball and nest in it.  My 'normal' winter coat does not have that coziness to it.  Yes it kept me plenty warm and yes I realized that I don't NEED my parka, but I decided that I LOVE my parka so I'm going to keep wearing it, even when the temperatures aren't necessarily cold enough to justify it.

The whole point of the above ramblings was to ask the question I've been asking myself since I arrived:

  At what temperature is it acceptable to be wearing ski pants over work pants?  

There's gotta be some kind of temperature threshold in which it's ok for adults to be bundled up like school children.

Lucky Superstitions

My fabulous red Canada Goose "Tourist Parka"

It's funny how every culture has it's own superstitions that seem so ridiculous to outsiders that they are laughable.  I went out with some friends for wing night in town last night and I was being made fun of for my big huge red parka.  Terrified of how cold it gets up here, I purchased a Canada Goose jacket to bring with me.  A fabulous red one.  Well, I might as well have a giant sign on my head that says "FROM AWAY".  All the locals refer to them as Tourist Parka's and make fun of me as often as possible for wearing it. My saving grace is that my colleague has the same one but in a different colour so at least we're lame tourists together. To be fair they are incredibly warm, and I am not used to walking around in -50 degree weather.  Today was only -25 and my eyelashes froze to each other on my 15 minute walk home from work. I was definitely happy to have my 'lame tourist parka' today and I am sure I will be more than happy to have it once it gets into real winter weather a month from now.

 Apparently the only people who wear Canada Goose coats up here are Japanese and Chinese tourists who come up to see the Northern Lights.  I got laughed at once again by all my local friends for asking them to call me at any time of day if they happen to see the Northern Lights.  I've never seen them before and apparently they are absolutely unreal up here.  It's been too warm and cloudy to see them so far, but I've been told that on a clear night in the middle of winter the entire sky is just full of a plethora of different colours and it's spectacular.

Northern Lights over Hay River

I was surprised to hear that -25 degrees Celsius was too warm for the winter lights!  Apparently Northwest Territories is a very popular vacation destination for Asian tourists specifically because of the Northern Lights. I was told that in Chinese and Japanese folklore, it is said that children conceived under the  Northern Lights will be male and blessed with good luck. Crazy eh? It makes me wonder what they would think of our superstitions here in Canada. For example: opening an umbrella in the house is bad luck, crossing the path of a black cat is bad luck, making a wish at 11:11 on the clock is good luck, people believe in lucky charms, breaking a mirror is 7 years of bad luck, and the old school rhyme "step on a crack and break your mothers back".  Obviously these are all just as ridiculous, but they do share a common theme.  All of these superstitions, regardless of where they originate are based around luck.  Everyone is looking for good luck and for good things to happen to them without having to put in any work. And the reverse is true as well; there are many superstitions that cause bad luck and give people an excuse for bad things happening so that they don't have to take responsibility and be accountable.

I find the same phenomenon in my clients.  Everyone seems to be looking for a quick fix, an answer to all of their dietary issues that doesn't involve doing any of the hard work that is required to make changes and see improvements.  I'm not sure how I feel about luck.  I like to think that you make your own luck.  Yes I think that some people are fortunate with the timing of opportunities, but you have to set yourself up and work hard to be in a position to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to you.  One of my favorite quotes is "Success is when preparation meets opportunity" and I believe that some people interpret this as luck, forgetting about the preparation required by the 'lucky' individual.  For now I'll pass on the superstitions and just keep working hard knowing that the next new exciting opportunity is around the corner.

PS the picture of the Northern Lights was taken in Hay River by a local. I recently purchased a coffee table book containing a bunch of his pictures taken in and around Hay River and it is gorgeous!  His website is found here.

Anticipatory Excitement

The Michael Buble Christmas Special is on TV right now and it makes me happy.  I LOVE the holidays! I started listening to Christmas music as soon as Remembrance Day was over and have been excited ever since. I had been listening to Michael's new CD and the Justin Beiber CD on repeat in the car and while studying at the end of my internship and was 100% in the holiday spirit. 

Since arriving up north, I seem to have lost the anticipatory excitement of Christmas looming in the near future.  The town is decorated with lights and trees, but it just doesn't feel the same!  I think the best part about the holidays is checking off all those holiday things you only get to do once a year like wrapping presents, decorating the house and tree, going to parties, and eating copious amounts of Grandma's shortbread cookies. It's the traditions associated with the holidays that make them so fun, and that's what I'm missing up here.

Cooper the Christmas Cat

All of the things I normally look forward to during the holidays is back home and I'm up here.  I don't get home until really late on the 23rd, so technically Christmas Eve and I know that I will have to go without getting to do many of my favorite holiday things. It's a bit of a bummer but on the flip side I've only been here a week and already I've had so many great experiences that I would not have been able to have at home.

I LOVE snow, and I spend the majority of most Decembers crossing my fingers and wishing for a snow fall before Christmas.  I have never seen so as much snow in one place as they have here! Its awesome!  I haven't had much opportunity to take advantage of it yet, but I'm hoping to in the near future.  I'm excited to get home for the holidays but so glad I'm here!

No-Shows

Today was a bit of a bust.  We had 3 clients scheduled but one of them only wanted to see the nurse and requested that the RD NOT be present, and the other two were simply no-shows.  Apparently no-shows are very common in December since everyone gets really busy with Holiday stuff.  It's also common for people to be no-shows when 'holiday stuff' entails holiday parties and holiday eating and they feel as though there is no point to coming in because they know their blood sugars are going to be out of whack and that their current laboratory values are not indicative of their typical diabetes management.  I can understand wanting to avoid an appointment if I thought I would be scolded by a nurse and a dietitian for indulging in a some festive treats, and for the fear of seeing huge lab values and blood glucose values when you feel as though they don't represent how you normally eat.  Most of our diabetes clients come in every 3 months to have blood work done and to meet with myself and the nurse, so missing one appointment doesn't seem like a huge deal to them. I also think that the appointments that are being missed are even more important that a typical visit simply because it is so close to the holidays and eating habits are so irregular. As a public health dietitian, it's my job to help people self-manage their diabetes through diet and exercise recommendations.  This is possible for many newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics but sometimes medications and insulin are unavoidable, but regardless diet and exercise always play a key role. We don't tell people they can never eat their favorite foods or splurge every once in a while, but we try to teach them how to eat so that their blood sugars remain within target ranges.  This includes educating clients how to enjoy some not-so-good for you treats every once in a while without it resulting in chronically high blood sugars.  A check-in with us at this time of year would actually be beneficial for clients because it gives them a chance to learn strategies and refresh their knowledge on maintaining control over their diabetes despite indulgences.

Ok enough of my ranting! Instead I'll just cross my fingers that our clients show up tomorrow!  Since I don't have any admin work to do or charting to get caught up on, I spent the day reading and responding to e-mails.  Didn't feel like the most productive day, but I do think I learned a lot in my readings!  I am working towards becoming a Certified Diabetes Educator this year so I have a lot of studying and reading to do for it.  I also have to complete 800 hours of direct patient diabetes education...yet another reason I really like when clients show up, so I can get my hours in!

I also used the hospital gym for the first time today!  I was disappointed to be honest. The machines are ancient and kind of useless and they don't have any possible place to do seated row. I know this sounds like a lame reason to be disappointed in the gym but it's one of my favorite exercises and we used to do it quite a lot when I was training.

The Hospital Gym...note the machine in the back corner...it definitely would have been in a infomercial featuring Chuck Norris if television had been invented when it was.

So anyways, the gym here is a bit of a bust.  You can't really tell in the picture but it's old school.  The saving grace is that it's cheap.  There is apparently a second gym in town that is better but I have yet to find it and I also hear that it gets really busy and it's expensive.  I might go find it to see if it's worth the extra money.  But until then I'll be paying my 10 bucks a month and making this little gem work for me!

Footloose, Finally!

The buzz about the Firemen's Ball was not unwarranted! The hall in the legion was done up all swanky  and there was a beautifully catered meal and everything!  The DJ even played "Footloose" !  Footloose is such a crowd pleaser every single time it gets played at a bar or club or dance.  Obviously the entire crowd got up and busted some mad moves as soon as the song came on. It was fabulous.  While I was at school in PEI, I would request Footloose quite frequently and the DJ always refused to play it.  I considered it a small personal victory last night when at last my footloose request was appeased.

On a semi-related note, last year at school I was at the gym when the girl on the treadmill in front of me started dancing.  Full out, flailing arms and singing out loud dancing.  On her treadmill, while running.  It made me so happy because she was clearly loving her life and didn't even care that the entire gym was starring at her. I told myself at that time that one day I would have the guts to do that. Anyways, this story is actually related to footloose.  A friend sent me a video the other day of this guy who puts his ipod in his ears and dances wildly in public.  The difference between this dude and treadmill girl is that he is purposely looking for attention.  But regardless of his motives, the video is pretty funny and in the video he happens to be dancing to footloose.  See? Eventually it all ties together!

While I was out and about this weekend socializing, I met a lot of awesome people, and learned that pretty much everyone knows everyone else.  While this is one of the charms of small town living, it does worry me a little.  As a dietitian, I will be seeing clients about a wide variety of different medical conditions and personal concerns that they have.  I have access to their medical records and charts and tend to know a lot about the people I see.  People divulge personal information to me and there are obviously strict client confidentiality standards in place.  I wonder if my clients will feel awkward to see me in the community? I am also aware that it is a small community and everyone knows everyone so I need to be careful when out with friends to ensure that I am representing myself in an appropriate way. It's not as though I was planning on going out and being crazy every weekend but it's definitely something I'll have to be somewhat aware of.  There is also a possibility that it's all in my head and that no one will actually care.  I suppose that if the nurses in town don't have the same issue than I shouldn't either. Well, either way I will definitely find out soon!

I'm going be booking my own clients starting this week and will begin to see clients on my own too!  I'm still going to be primarily shadowing for the first half of the week but by this time next week I should be doing things solo! I'm not sure why I'm sooo excited considering these are all things I've done before during internship - it's not as if I've never seen a client before.  I'm excited to go to work tomorrow morning. Hopefully 20 years from now I will be sitting in my house somewhere excited to go to work on a Monday morning.

Perfect Snowflakes!

The snowflakes in Hay River are perfect!

There is definitely never a shortage of things to do here!  It's incredible how many activities and clubs and social opportunities there are in such a small town.  I have to admit, I have misrepresented Hay River a little bit.  It's a small town, but it services a fairly large number of people.  There are about 3600 people in town but the area that uses it's services is about 6000 people.  A lot of people drive in from the reserves surrounding the town to grocery shop and use the pool and library.  So it's a pretty bumpin' little town!

Before I got this job I had never even heard of Hay River, but now that I am here everyone I know seems to know someone from Hay River or who has been to Hay River.  Just yesterday I went to the Bank to open an account and the bank manager went to UPEI and we had an english class together in my first year! What a small world!  The 6 degrees of separation theory can definitely be proven here!

Last night I went to the Legion for a few drinks with the girls and it happened to be Karaoke night! What was intended to just be a beer or two ended up resulting in a night of dancing and socializing until the bar closed. Since I'm new to town and the town is fairly small, I stick out quite a bit.  Everyone knows I'm new and everyone wants to know who I am, why I'm here, what I do, where I came from and how I like Hay River so far. It was nice to have people approach me and talk to me for the first little while but by the end of the night it became a bit exhausting!  It's almost like being a mzungu in Kenya all over again!  Regardless it was a pretty good time! It's nice to feel like I'm making some friends and being welcomed into the community!

This morning was Hay River's Family Christmas Day and they had a free breakfast with Santa! Stacey and I went for pancakes this morning and then to the craft fair at the high school.  I bought a coffee-table book full of photographs of Hay River taken by the librarian here. The photographs are gorgeous and I can't wait to get to experience all the different things that are represented in the book!  I'm hoping to have personal stories to go with many of the images in the book by the end of the year.

Tonight is the Firefighter's Ball!  So we're getting all glammed up and heading back to the legion for a fancy dinner and dance party.  It's the buzz around town and apparently quite the event! 

Always an Intern, Never a Dietitian

It's a winter wonderland here in Hay River!!

Today was my first day in my new job!  After interning for 40 weeks I was incredibly excited to finally get to do work as a Registered Dietitian and have my own patients / clients, my own office and to be earning a pay check. As an intern, you do a lot of shadowing, you get to see patients and clients but you're pretty much always in the presence of your supervisor and everything you do has to be read over and approved. I finally get to make my own decisions regarding client care! Well, turns out that my first day was slightly anti-climatic in that regard.  I spent the day shadowing Stacey.  I know I should have expected this, but it would have been nice to get to do at least something on my own!  I will essentially just be an intern again for the next week.  But on the bright side I'll be getting paid for it, and I'm sure I will learn a lot over the next week!  I also go my new @gov.nt.ca e-mail address and all my login info for the computer systems and charting programs.

Hay River Ice Road!

Despite being an faux intern for the day, today was still pretty fun.  I went into the office for a few hours this morning for some general orientation and then Stacey and I went to the treatment center just outside of town to give a presentation on Healthy Eating. I spent the afternoon seeing a client for diabetes and diabetic nephropathy and in a HR meeting filling out forms, signing my life away and learning about my benefits etc.  To get to the treatment center we got to drive on the ICE ROAD!!! Ok so I should clarify...there are 2 ice roads in Hay River.  One goes from Hay River to Yellowknife across Great Slave Lake.  The second one goes from one shore of Hay River to the other shore. To put this in perspective, the point in which the road crosses the river is only about 100m wide.  The ice road we took today was the short one, but it was still really exciting!  Its one more thing I can cross off my list of must-dos while in Hay River.  I'd also like to apologize for how fuzzy and blurry all the pictures I take on my phone seem to be.  Ice roads are not the smoothest of roads and I took this one while driving.  I'm also thinking that maybe my pictures wouldn't be so fuzzy if I started wearing my glasses.

Tomorrow should be another fun filled day at the office!  Friday's are admin days so we won't be seeing any clients and I'll be learning the ropes in terms of charting protocol. Plus it's already FRIDAY!! Woot Woot!