So, the week has started out great.  Yesterday, I had a transfer board made by the local carpenter in Chernivtsi.  He did a fantastic job and was able to make 2 transfer boards in less than 6 hours.  It cost 50 hyrvna for both boards (about $5 a board).  He sanded them down beautifully and one of the groups visited my patient from last week to take him the transfer board.  With scheduling, it worked out best for another group to see him.  I wish I could have gone back for the follow-up, but days have been so busy!  I will let you know how it all went after I hear from the other group.

Yesterday and today, my group visited the Children's Hospital here in Chernivtsi.  It is a 250-bed pediatric hospital providing care to infants and children throughout the Bukovina Oblast, which is the region where Chernivtsi is the capital city (southwest Ukraine).  We were able to see patients in the NICU (with conditions very similar to what we see: necrotizing enterocolitis, respiratory distress, asphyxia, other difficulties due to prematurity), the Neuro unit (we visited a 5 month old little boy with what appeared to be symptoms of shaken baby syndrome...he was brought in by the parents after having episodes of spacticity and seizures, he is unable to regulate his body temperature, and he only exhibits a generalized response to sound; plus, he has significantly increased visual deficits which we will probably assess further tomorrow or Thursday), and the Respiratory unit (where nurses use massage with children having pneumonia or bronchitis).

Tomorrow, the local news may visit the Children's Hospital to record some of our work to show to the public.  They may also record the group that is visiting the man at home who was a Chernobyl liquidator.  Each year, we seem to get a spot on the local news which is great for Vira's organization for children with disabilities, as well as great for the profession of OT.  Last year, people recognized us on the streets of Chernivtsi after seeing the news broadcast..."hello...you are the therapists from America, yes?" 

I think everyone is having a good experience.  Donna gave a lecture today at an Oncology Hospital on the purpose and significance of Occupational Therapy in the care of patients with cancer.  I haven't seen her yet today so I'm not sure how it went, but I'm sure she did great.  I will post more after I hear.  Hope all is well with you. 

We left Kiev last night on our 15 and a half hour train ride to Chernivtsi.  The week in Kiev was a good one.  Vira, Susan, and I got a lot accomplished as far as scheduling, planning, and organizing for the next group.  Susan and I took off for a day and went to a Ukrainian outdoor architecture museum "sight" outside of town.  It was basically an outdoor area of restored Ukrainian villages from centuries ago.  Very beautiful...with lots of giant, old wooden windmills.  Susan and I managed the transportation around Ukraine fairly well...taking the metro and bus to get where we needed.  Only rarely can you find a person that speaks or understands English, and many people weren't even really familiar with the subway or bus routes (even when shown a Ukrainian map).  But we got around pretty well.  We didn't have the opportunity to visit any healthcare facilities or orphanages in Kiev, but this week will be a busy one so it was nice to have a couple of quiet days.

The second group arrived safely and with all their baggage.  I forgot my treasured Ipod (trivial maybe, but I love my music), and Donna was able to pack it and bring it to me so I am SET.  Plus, my brother let me borrow this Ipod Touch and put movies on it, so I am psyched.  I watched half of Braveheart, half of Romeo and Juliet, half of Homeward Bound (yes, with the dogs), and all of Family Guy Star Wars movie (Blue Harvest)...all in the last 2 nights.  So that's a complete treat and I'm very excited to have a bit of music and movies around.

We will be split into 3 groups, as we did last week.  This group is different because we have a lot of experienced OTs with us who all come with a lot of expertise.  There are patient visits scheduled daily, as well as lectures.  This week we have a few follow-ups from last week (for example, I am having a transfer board made by a local carpenter to bring to one of the pts I saw with a spinal cord injury last week).  We also have several new patients who have a history with the Chernobyl accident.  For instance, we will be visiting a young man (he was in 10th grade in 1986 when the Chernobyl accident occurred) who has medical conditions related to the exposure.  We will also be visiting a man who was sent in to Chernobyl immediately after the explosion to help "bury" the radioactive material released after the accident (these young men were called liquidators, and were paid a lot of money by the government to enter Chernobyl and dig trenches to try to contain the radioactive debris...which obviously did not work). 

On Tuesday, we will be visiting the long-term care facility, and I hope to see some follow-up patients from our previous visits.  Each day, we will be spending some time at the Chernivtsi Children's Hospital which is in the process of expansion.  The Director is very interested and excited for OT services to be provided, especially in the NICU environment.  One of the OTs that is here from Findlay University is a recently retired OT specializing in pediatrics and OT in the NICU.

So it will be a busy week.  I will try to get pictures up again, as I know I owe you more photos!  This computer has an excellent looking flash drive port but I guess maybe it's just for show because it does nothing. Tease!  Anyway, we are back in the same hotel in Chernivtsi, Hotel Kiev.  I am rooming up with a student from Chicago State who is very cool.  She has a classmate that is here with her, and the three of us are the only students.  I hope everyone is doing well.  I finished up two classes this week and I just received my grades today, and I did well...in case anyone was worried.  It was really tough to keep up with the work, but it all worked out.  Miss everyone and hope times are good back at home. See you soon!