LILLIAN:  I know I don't know what else, is there any other things? 

KAREN:  Well, were there ever times when you were doing your health aide work when you wanted to quit, you've said this is -- I've had enough? 

LILLIAN:  Was there.  I don't think so.  I -- I -- I always enjoyed working there.  You know.  When the new clinic came, I was there. 

That -- they -- now, they have another clinic there, but the first new clinic, first real clinic, in fact, I worked in a little room, it wasn't very big.  We had a -- all the cupboards on one side and the -- they called it -- I can't even -- those stretchers that you -- the tables. 

KAREN:  The examination tables? 

LILLIAN:  The examination tables.  We had one of those.  And it was very -- very little space.  But we managed.  Yeah.  I thought about it. 

And I used to have to weigh the kids, take their weights and do all kinds of.  And then if they needed shots, I'd give them their shots.  And I was -- it was easy for me to do, I thought. 

KAREN:  Uh-hum. 

LILLIAN:  I -- I mean, I was confident in myself that I could do this. 
I did one draw -- blood draw, and I was all alone.  I didn't have a nurse or doctor looking to see if I was doing it right. 

I had to do it because I had orders to draw blood because they said I could do it.  But to do it without somebody supervising you, I didn't let that man know I was pretty shaky.  I was pretty nervous.  But after it was done, it -- it was -- I was okay.  But that was the one and only one I had to do. 

KAREN:  Hmm. 

LILLIAN:  Yeah.  I don't know what, they got orders to get blood draw on him.  I don't know where he was from, but -- I mean, where he worked before that, but they were suspecting syphilis going around.  And he didn't -- he didn't have any.  But they wanted to make sure. 

KAREN:  Well, yeah, it sounds like you had a number of scary times, and you somehow just did it. 

LILLIAN:  Yes.  I did.  But there was always somebody there to help if I needed them. 

KAREN:  Uh-hum. 

LILLIAN:  No matter what, it seems that I had always someone to help me.  Which I was very happy to.  I could depend on. 

KAREN:  How did you deal with issues of privacy and confidentiality? 

LILLIAN:  It was easy.  If you had a patient come in, you had to chart their illness and stuff and -- and your findings.  And then report it to the doctor.  It -- there was never anyone around when you use the phone or the radio.  Too small to be in there anyway.  And --

KAREN:  And people in the village couldn't listen in on the radio? 

LILLIAN:  No.  This was on a different radio band, you know. 

KAREN:  Oh, okay. 

LILLIAN:  Uh-hum.  Yeah.  And on the phones, I didn't have any phone. 
Now, I take that back.  When we got the new clinic, yeah, we did.  Uh-hum.  Yeah.  I liked talking on the radio -- on the phone better than I did on -- on the radio, though.  It was easier.  The other one you never knew if you were going to get through.  On the phone, you could. 

KAREN:  Right. 

LILLIAN:  Uh-hum (affirmative). 

KAREN:  Well, what about also in terms of privacy, just knowing all these things about everybody in the village, was that ever a problem? 

LILLIAN:  No. 

KAREN:  No? 

LILLIAN:  Not with -- not with me, it wasn't.  We had locked chart cabinets and lock for our medicine.  And so... 

Whenever they came to us, it was in privacy.  They didn't -- there was no one around to be there. 

KAREN:  Did you ever find it difficult treating or caring for close friends and family?  Being from a small village and being --

LILLIAN:  Huh-uh.  I didn't.  I had to give shots to my own grandchildren and treat them for strep throat. 

And then I discovered, why were they having strep all the time?  I cultured the whole family, they all -- the one that was carrying was their dad.  He -- the one that thought he never get sick, he had the strep germ. 

And when I told him I had to give him a shot, a Bicillin shot, why?  And I told him why.  I am -- I'm not sick.  I said, you're not sick but it showed up in your culture.  Gee. 

And he said -- I told him, you have to come to the clinic so I can give you that shot.  He didn't want to come down there, so I brought it up.  And I told him, okay, now, let me give you that shot.  And I said, that was not that hard, was it? 

And I told him, this is why your children were getting strep all the time.  I said, you know, if one has strep in the family, the whole family has to get cultured to make sure they don't have it.  Using their same towels and stuff, it's pretty easy to, you know, spread. 

KAREN:  Yeah. 

LILLIAN:  Yeah.  Uh-hum.  That same thing in the school, if there was a student that came down with a sore throat and was -- it was positive, I'd -- I'd have to send the -- the culture to Aniak and they -- there they had it, and he'd call me and tell me within a few hours if, you know. 

So I'd have to treat him, bring -- send him home for the day.  He can go home -- go back to school tomorrow.  But I -- there was a lot of that. 

And then, one other thing, there was in the spring would be impetigo. 

KAREN:  Okay.  You were talking about impetigo? 

LILLIAN:  Uh-hum (affirmative). 

KAREN:  Which is what? 

LILLIAN:  I cultured it and it was strep.  Strep germ.  That's from -- strep comes from uncleanliness, you know. 

KAREN:  Uh-hum. 

LILLIAN:  And I told them that they had to wash with soap and water at all -- all the time, in order not to get that, because it spread fast.  Especially in schools.  And I was so shocked that -- that impetigo was strep. 

KAREN:  Hmm.  Is impetigo a skin thing? 

LILLIAN:  Yeah, skin lesions in the skin.  But they get these about the time the gnats come around, and you know how when they are playing outside and they are scratching. 

KAREN:  Right. 

LILLIAN:  It's in the fall time when you get -- well, that's how it developed.  It hurt.  That -- that was kind of not so common after some time, after they learned how to take care of them. 

KAREN:  Yeah.  Did you have to deal with patients of yours dying and not making it? 

LILLIAN:  Did I?  I don't think so.  I don't believe I ever had anybody that died while I was -- I -- before they get too sick, you ship them off to the hospitals, you know. 

KAREN:  Uh-hum. 

LILLIAN:  I never -- no. 

KAREN:  All right. 

LILLIAN:  I was fortunate enough not to have that. 

KAREN:  Or during an accident? 

LILLIAN:  Uh-hum (affirmative).  No.  Not that --

KAREN:  You couldn't save somebody? 

LILLIAN:  -- many accidents. 

KAREN:  Okay. 

LILLIAN:  That accident I had, I think, was the biggest accident they ever had there.  Aside of my son when he got run over. 

KAREN:  Uh-hum. 

LILLIAN:  He was six years old.  And that was when the mission was there.  They moved out of there after that.  But --

KAREN:  So you weren't health aide at that point? 

LILLIAN:  No.  I was -- I was having babies. 

KAREN:  Yeah. 

LILLIAN:  Yeah.