Woke up to beautiful weather - clear blue skies and a hot sun - perfect! I talked Stacy into putting off her packing and she, Windy and I finally fot to walk to Kepirohi Falls. We got there just as the morning sun was clearing the trees and lighting up the falls. Even though I'd been here before (last year) I was still surprised at how perfect they are - so symetrical it almost looks like it had been built for a Vegas casino. We hung out for an hour and I was pretty bummed that I couldn't swim - the water looked so nice.
Back at PATS Stacy and I rushed around to get stuff together to drive into Kolonia - there's a new volunteer ariving today and I've got a doctor's appointment (hopefully I'll be Ok'ed to swim / dive). Stacy had sent a letter to one of her old bosses at NOAA asking advice regarding diving after surgery. He forwarded it on to a diving doctor who replied that ten days seemed way to brief and suggested four to six weeks might be more appropriate. So now what do I do - two authorities, two different answers. Rather than panic I decided to hear what my doctor had to say and then think about it myself.
Eleanor drove in to town with us and we met up with Sue and Tomo (the new volunteer) at the airport. Stacy had to deal with customs agents to try to pick up a package for PATS, and I had a doctor's appointment. So I had the others, who were on their way back to PATS, drop me off at the hostpital. Doctor Hedson (my surgeon) had been called into the OR for an emergency so I was told to come back Friday. It was hard for me to be irritated as I probably was responsible for the same thing happening to someone else last week.While I was waiting for Stacy to come find me I decided that there was a good chance that the same thing would happen Friday - even if I could arange the transportation. So when Stacy showed up I suggested that I go see Dr. Isaac and see if he could clear me. The right front wheel of the truck was really over heating (water would sizzle on it) and seizing so we decided to let it cool off and take taxis. Stacy dropped me off and went back to the airport to try and figure out the shipment - it hadn'tmade the first flight, but due to the storm problems in Chuuk there was a second flight coming in. Dr. Isaac said that everything looked good. He didn't even charge me, and prescribed a course of Keflex in case there was any sign of infection while I was away from a doctor. He also suggested that with a small incision like mine it would be Ok to dive three weeks after surgery. Thinking about it I decided to go to Palau and Yap. If we wait to do our diving at the end of our stay in Palau then it would be about three weeks after the surgery - I can take the first dive very conservatively and make an informed decsion after that.
I took a taxi to the airport to meet stacy. The plane had arived, but we were told that the cargo department would not open until the plane had departed - there weren't enough workers - unfortunately the plane was running late. We waited for the cargo department to open and worried that the plane might not leave until after quitting time. They finally openthe door, but then tell us that the package didn't make it on the plane. This is a bit of a problem since Stacy is supposed to fix some dive gear for The Village and the parts are in the package - and our time on Pohnpei is almost over. Somewhat discouraged we started walking down the causeway back into town. A few minutes out a car pulls over and tells us that they've found the package and that they are staying open waiting for us! Sometimes the lack of organization works in your favor. After picking up the package we caught a taxi back to the hospital to get the truck. We had a little extra time so we drove to Kapinga village to check out the carvers. We both ended up doing some shopping - last year when I was coming from Thailand things seemed so expensive, this year they seem cheap. We swung by The Village to drop everything off then met with Eileen at her house. We had a beer at Eileen's (my first since before I got sick), then went to Charlie's Hideway Bar for a couple more (a placed I've been hearing about for over a year - it was as divey and fun as I had imagined). We had a late Sashimi diner, then went back to The Village to crash.