Los Angeles,CA and Keystone,CO

I am visiting with Frank Jr in LA for a week and we have made a 4day trip to Keystone, CO where he is attending an Emergency Medicine meeting. We rendevoused in Colorado with Margaret(San Jose,CA) and Frank Sr(Atlanta,GA). The airlines should send us a thank you note for making them profitable this year.
People say that it takes about 5-7days to get over the jet lag. Sure hope that is the case or it may be that Frank Johnston's(you know which one I am talking about) schedule is part of the slow recovery. Frank wants to be at the lift line when it opens, make the most ski runs and get the price per run/ride down to a penny. I twisted my knee a little yesterday and am taking the day off from skiing. Plus I wouldn't want to slow down the man in the Superman ski suit....
We will ski tomorrow and head back to LAX, SFO and ATL tomorrow.
Oh.... it has been snowing like crazy for the last two days.

March 4, 2011
Jan’s Journey 2011
Monday, Feb. 28 –Wednesday, Mar. 2
Returned from Keystone, Colorado with Frank Jr. while Margaret headed back to SF and Frank Sr. flew back to Atlanta. We went by Frank’s favorite donut shop for a warm just made buttermilk donut. Ummmmm! I think by blood sugar shot up to about 350. It was definitely a glucose tolerance test. We were the only ones in the donut store because the rest of the town was somewhere over in Hollywood picking up their Oscars. We did not realize it was Academy Awards night until Monday morning. What nerds we are. Jamie Monk and I got together for dinner at the beer and burger place, My Father’s Office.
Granny arrived from Florida on Tuesday. We bought Frank and Margaret a birthday present and drove up to north LA(Sherman Oaks) to pick up Frank from school. He then escorted his sainted mother and sainted grandmother to dinner at Chicken Café.
Wednesday- In anticipation of the big cruise we went all out and found a combo mani-pedi for $20. Then the “girls” went to the Getty Museum for the afternoon. It was a little embarrassing and mildy uncomfortable wearing flip flops with a ski jacket, but a girl’s gotta do what a girls gotta do to make those nails look good. OK the feet went into shoes after the museum and we found a cute little natural organic lo-cal no-fat no carb trendy café by Rodeo Drive. I really enjoyed the piece of arugala with a light mist of dressing. We did not see any leftover movie celebs while we were there.

Visit to China February 12 - 20, 2011

We had a delightful week in China with Larry and Monica Wang. We divided our time between Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou- three large and flourishing cities. We caught the last part of the Chinese New Year period so we experienced some impressive fireworks displays. We met four of Larry and Monica's childhood friends from Taiwan who now live in Shanghai. I am pretty sure that the delicious Peking duck dinner was authentic. I spent the last day shopping with Monica and her friend Patricia at Pearls City. That is where I saw the most tourists-me included. Frank and Larry headed out to see if Frank could purchase an electric scooter! Turned out that the scooter doesn't cost much but the shipping will knock your socks off. Stay tuned re: The Scooter Project...watch out GM, Ford and Harley-Davidson.
We met the Wang's brother in law, CH, for our last night dinner-great meal. We headed back to the US on Sunday.
Now I am still trying to figure this out- I left Shanghai, China at 11am on Sunday morning and got into Los Angeles, CA at 9am Sunday morning!! How does that happen??? And by the way, where is that Thursday that I lost two weeks ago on the way to the Philippines?? Final tally- one missing Thursday and one extra Sunday. My poor camera and computer are still confused....

February 16, 2011, Suzhou, China to Hangzhou, China

Wednesday-

First site to visit was the Lion Grove, a famous rock garden where the rocks are said to resemble lions. It takes quite an imagination to see the lions so our guide said that actually the monk that inspired the garden had a middle name of Lion. That makes a lot more sense. Lions are a favorite animal since they are the King of the jungle. We had a boat ride on the Grand Canal in Suzhou- kind of like Longboat Key….Chinese style.

In the afternoon we visited a silk factory and saw the process of making silk from silkworm eggs to weaving looms. Frank the Senior and Monica engaged in hard bargaining for a silk tie. The vendor had tears in her eyes as they walked away with the tie in hand. Tears of sadness or joy??  The rain picked up but fortunately we were on the way to Hangzhou in the van.

February 15, 2011, Shanghai, China to Suzhou, China

Tuesday-

After breakfast we checked out of the “Wang Hotel” and boarded our minivan for our out of town journey. With seatbelts fastened we sped off to Tongli and visited the ancient water town- a World Heritage Site. The town was quaint and we enjoyed walking and snacking on chestnuts and peanut brittle. The afternoon tour included a visit to an early 16^th century garden- our third rock garden. The Ming dynasty folks were really “into” rocks(big ones found in nature) while DaVinci was chipping away on those marble slabs. Both are unique and beautiful. Ah yes-- beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

We stayed at the Garden Hotel of Suzhou- Five star- very nice.

February 14, 2011, Shanghai, China

Monday-

Frank the Guide met us early and we went to the World Expo China Exhibit. We loved the experience. Frank the Senior’s favorite part was the Go Green like Al Gore presentation. My favorite was the ancient Chinese mural that was digitalized and animated. After lunch we visited the Shanghai Museum. Now we’re talkin’ OLD! They have bronze and ceramic pieces that are older than Frank and myself! Seriously these things are thousands of years old. After the museum we sent the guys home for a nap and the “girls” went shopping along the famous Nanking Road. We had a brief snow shower but we were not deterred. We met the “boys” for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner at New Heights restaurant. We had a lovely meal and enjoyed the lightshow that is made by many of the skyscraper’s light displays.

February 13, 2011, Shanghai, China

Sunday-

Frank the Guide picked up Larry, Monica, Frank the Senior and me and showed us the city of Shanghai via minivan. Our very able driver, Yao, might think about a career with Nascar or some other death defying occupation. As best as I can tell, the biggest and fastest vehicle wins. Stoplights are generally obeyed by large motorized vehicles but are only a suggestion for bikes, trikes, scooters and motorcycles. There is no such thing as pedestrian right of way but that doesn’t stop anybody from crossing right in front of moving vehicles.

We visited the Old Temple of Town God, Yuyuan Garden from the Ming dynasty. The Chinese dragon has the body of a snake, head of an buffalo, feet of an eagle, ears of a ?bear- all together I think it is about seven creatures rolled into one. Cool huh?

During the afternoon we rode to the 88^th floor of the Jinmao Tower for a great view of all of the many skyscrapers of Shanghai and enjoyed a boat ride on the Huang Pu river that flows into the Yangtze river and into the East China Sea. I expected to see the very old (Ming dynasty) and the old (early 1900’s) Shanghai but it was quite phenomenal to see the very new Shanghai. The new city is vibrant, bustling, cosmopolitan and very capitalistic- bottom line – it is booming!

We ate dinner at a trendy restaurant (like Virginia-Highlands). Great meal.

February 12, 2011, Roxas City, Philippines to Shanghai, China

The flight from Roxas City to Manila was quick. We hugged Lorna goodbye and knew that she would follow up with the remaining postop patients. Lorna and Pat were staying several more days to visit with her family and then they were heading to Korea for a visit. They will be cold shocked because the weather man said it was frigid and snowing!

Monica and Frank the Guide(that’s right- Frank!) met me at Shanghai Airport and we made our way to the Wang apartment. Very nice but a wee bit chilly. It reminded me of the Lake Rabun cabin when we would go in the winter. My new best friend is the space heater that Monica bought for us. It warmed our room very nicely.  Frank’s plane was 8 hours delayed so we picked him up at midnight.

February 11, 2011, Roxas City, Philippines

Friday-

Last day of the Georgia Surgical Expeditions mission was a very busy one. We made morning rounds early so that we could get the surgical cases started and hopefully finish at a reasonable time and have a little cushion of time to trouble shoot any problems that might arise on the last day. The cases were just as challenging as they had been all week but surgeries went well. Dr. Beldia demonstrated excellent technique with a difficult vaginal hysterectomy (we think the plastic surgeons slipped that case in without us knowing). The sixteen year old girl who had intrabdominal TB and a huge cyst (26cm) diagnosed last year turned out to have an even huger cyst that we removed. It was benign, there was no active TB and hopefully she will be able to have children in the future. Gyn had the last case finished around 4:30, we made postop rounds and headed for the-you guessed it- the pool and a cold beer. 

Georgia Surgical Expeditions, Philippines

Wednesday and Thursday, February 9-10, 2011
We are still on full OR schedule at Roxas City Hospital. All of the post op patients seem to be recovering well. The cases are challenging and it is great to see the team work together to get the work done and with best outcomes. The patients get preop preparation in the hallway. There is no such thing as disposable surgical anything. There is nothing fancy and nothing wasted here. Our post op ward holds about twenty non-electric cots and the hallways hold as many cots- all filled with patients who are cared for and brought food by family members. The nurses station is a folding table covered with a clean cloth and they use some antique form of communication-- I think it is called paper and clipboard. Doctors orders are given face to face with the nurses rather than a piece of IT equipment.
We work hard each day and enjoyed another meal by Sonie on Wednesday night that was catered at our hotel and followed by local dancers, singing and more dancing.
Thursday started out with a trip to view a fish harvest from the fish farm before breakfast. The OR worked the smoothest today and most us were finished by mid-afternoon. Of course we HAD to sit at the pool and soak our feet.  We were hosted by the Rotarians of Roxas City for dinner at a lovely park. Speeches, certificates of appreciation and photos.
Over and out
jj

Photos from February 6-8, 2011

Enjoy a few photos from Roxas City

February 6 & 7, 2011 Roxas City, Philippines

Sunday-
We should have just stayed up all night because the wakeup call came at 2:15am!! We had a 5:30am flight from Manila to Roxas City. The flight was less than an hour and we stepped off the plane to see a beautiful tropical island. We were greeted by a lovely welcoming committee and local rhythm. The LaHacienda Hotel is a short drive from the airport but I noticed that the main transportation is a colorful painted tricycle with a motorized bike attached to it. We were given coconuts with the top cut off and a straw to drink the coconut milk- that is probably where Danny and Ann Caroline picked up that nasty little GI bug : (  Everyone else hurriedly took a Cipro prophylaxis tablet Sunday night.
Preop clinic all Sunday afternoon. We filled up the OR schedule for three rooms for the week and had to send patients away. The hospital is a short walk from the hotel or a very short ride by a volunteer Rotarian.
Sonny hosted us for dinner at her home/compound. She owns half of the town and has fish farms for export. Now I know where Publix gets its shrimp.
Monday-
The first cases on the first day are always slow to get going but we had three rooms going by about 9:00am. John David and Fouad and Chris were fixin' a cute kid with a cleft lip.  Julie, Dewayne and Danny got to work on a woman with a huge thyroid goiter. Dick, Kelli, Lorna and I saved a woman in the nick of time by removing a gigantic soccer ball-sized ovarian cyst. We saw a few more patients in the clinic, made post-op rounds and happily returned to the hotel poolside for a foot soak and beer ( no more coconut milk for us).
We will sleep well tonight.
jj

February 5th -- What happened to Feb 4th??!!

After a quick breakfast Frank Jr took me to the airport- Thursday Feb3rd. What a beautiful day in LA. Sunny, cool ahhh another day in paradise. Korean Air was on time and efficient - a big Boeing777-300. Of course with a 13 hour flight the crew had plenty of time to do whatever they needed to do. We were watered and fed regularly throughout the flight and I enjoyed a Korean lunch - bimboboc or something like that. I have two new best friends- Jin, a 25 yr old from Seoul and Carmita a Philippine-American from San Bernadino.
Met up with Lorna, Pat, John David, Blake and Chris at Gate 30. We had a "quick" 3hr flight to Manila and met the rest of the medical group at baggage claim. The Hotel Dusit Thani is very nice. We checked in and met in Lorna and Pat's room for a snack. My body is totally confused about what day or time it is. It is a good thing that we have Saturday, February 5th to reset our body clocks. Frank will be happy to know that all of the shops are happy to accept our credit cards and there are lots of places to shop! :  )
jj

February 2, 2011

Frank and I were up early today and heading in two directions. Frank is on his 115th Old Guys Ski Trip with about a dozen ol' guys. They are going to terrorize (as long as it is before 7:45pm) Steamboat Springs for about four days. Hopefully everyone will return with intact ACL's and only mildly elevated LFT'S. Whatever they will have a great time.
I am heading to Roxas City, Philippines, with Georgia Surgical Expiditions. We have an excellent medical group from Atlanta organized by Dr. Lorna Beldia and I am sure that we will have more fun than the "Ol' Guys".
The first (of many) legs is to Los Angeles and an overnight with Frank Jr.  But I couldn't leave Atlanta without a little excitement. Just before takeoff the Delta flight attendants called for a doctor to help with a passenger who had become unresponsive (no, I did not call for a STAT C-section).  While administering expert medical care we taxied back to the gate and sent him to the hospital...... and then we restocked the emergency supplies and took off.
Frank Jr. is doing well and thanks to Margaret for the basket of goodies.
Tomorrow is LAX to Seoul to Manila.
Jan

February 2, 2011 The Journey Begins!

Frank and I were up early to head out in two directions today. Frank is going on his 115th Old Guys Ski Trip with about a dozen ol' guys. They are going to terrorize(as long as it is before 7:45pm) Steamboat Springs for four days and then hopefully make it home with intact ACL's and only minor hangovers. I heard one of the old guys suggest going directly from breakfast to the hot chocolate break and skipping the skiing!  Whatever, they will have a great time.