At War

I'm very tired. I just got off work from a rather busy night, but I just have to write about some of theses experiences.

Since I'm rather new here, I still have a few inprocessing things to check off on my laundry list. This includes going to briefings about this, that and the other. These briefing, of course are during the day, so while I work nights, that means little sleep. We had a mid-day briefing yesterday and the day before so I was working on rather little sleep. Granted I could have gone without some of the stuff we were briefed on, but some of the safety and OPSEC (operation security) stuff was important. Like yesterday we were thoroughly briefed on IED's to include suicide bombers. Well, what do you know?! Last night we received 4 of the 6 wounded, but not killed from the suicide bombing at Camp Chapman. We also received one of the Canadian's from the IED explosion. It really brought it home. All, I can say are still alive and soon to be on their way to Germany for further care. While I hate to see those kids, and I say kids because, most have been much younger than myself, hurt, it has provided me with some clinical experience I would never get otherwise. A guy with shrapnel traversing his brain and lodging itself in the back of his brain has a good prognosis all because of lots of medical support teams and a neurosurgeon who I saw remove a portion of his skull, clean out the damaged brain tissue and remove further bits of bone. It was amazing.

What is frustrating and confusing to me is how I want to react to all this mess. We not only treat our service members at our hospital, but we treat local nationals as well. There are local nationals who translate for us and work in housekeeping. There is the sweetest little Afghani boy who is recovering from a brain abscess who thinks he is just the most special thing when 15+ people come to round on him each morning. He just laughs and giggles and points which is followed by everyone else in the room smiling and laughing as well, including the other Afghani patients in the 8-bed. I just can't imagine one of these Afghanis aiming an RPG at our MRAP's when they KNOW we're trying to help, that we've saved this kid's life. We're trained to be very cautious around the local nationals, that anyone could be a threat and that makes sense, but I feel like I'm forced into becoming prejudice, that I can't treat them the same for the single reason that they are Afghani. It is so contradictory in what we attempt to do at a hospital.

Alright, enough of my soapbox. I really should get some sleep.

Oh and Happy New Year to all. I'll be working tonight (hopefully without casualities).

All I want for Christmas is a B Hut

Finally, connected again. After 5 days without internet access, I'm back online. And so much has happened since then. I arrived in Bagram at 0430 on 24 Dec after flying for 2 hrs in a C130 with all my body armor on and hot air blowing in my face. I was about to pass out from the heat on my upper body, but I had to stay awake to keep moving my cold feet and my numb butt. It was such a fun ride.

Tired and crabby, I was ready to hit a nice warm bed, but found myself assigned to a room with 5 other females and only one top bunk available. I don't mind roughing it, I really don't. I love camping and I don't need all the amenities of a 5 star hotel, however, sleep would have been nice. The bunk was metal and rather rickety meaning every time I moved so did the bed. There was no ladder either, so it was a bit of a challenge to hoist myself up. Needless to say, I didn't catch up on my sleep. There is here, however, another type of accommodation available here called a B-Hut. These things are made out of ply wood and contain 6 tiny rooms, but they are separate rooms with separate beds. There is no indoor plumbing which requires running to the port-a-potty or modified connex shower. I was told it was not likely that I would get one if I requested as things were tight when it came to the female accommodations, but I could at least ask, right. This was my sanity at stake. The dear SSgt in charge of room assignments confirmed that I was a provider (physician) and said that one was opening up. Merry Christmas. I am now the proud resident of number 101 B-Hut which is not 25 yds from the dorm I had been staying in and right behind the hospital. I actually use the shower and toileting facilities of the dorm as it truly is the closest and now that I have internet, I'm quite a happy camper.

On another note, I did want to comment on the patients we've been taking care of in the ICU and inpatient ward (called ICW). As I had been warned, most of the patients are actually Afghani. Any active duty folks are shipped out to Germany usually within 24-48hrs. Several patients are victims of IED's (improvised explosive device) or other explosions, military-related accidents. There are a couple amputees. There is a enemy combatant, abbreviated EOP for enemy of peace, who is not allowed out of room without blinders and headphones. There is a 6 yr old little girl who accidently picked up a grenade and ended up losing a few fingers, her right eye and has some serious frontal head damage requiring neurosurgery and plastics involvement. There was also the kid who came in after an unsuccessful game of flaming soccer; yes, these kids poured kerosene over the soccer ball and lit it on fire. Not real smart, eh? Oh, but there was the group of 3 active duty kids who attempted to get high on dramamine and overdosed on the stuff. Scary to think that they carry guns. I think that's all the interesting stuff. I start working nights tonight, so I'm sure there will be more to tell in the morning.

Delirious in Manas

First I'd like to preface this posting with the fact that I'm sleeping on the top bunk of a rather rickety metal bunkbed and woke up about every 2 hours last night, so I'm hoping that what I write will make some semblance of sense.

We arrived in Manas, Kyrgyzstan yesterday afternoon after a never-ending day of travel from Norfolk, VA to Bangor, MN to Leipzig, Germany and finally to Manas. For those of you who like a little information about the places I stay (Mom), I cut and paste this from Wikipedia:

The ethnonym "Kyrgyz", after which the country is named, is thought to originally mean either "forty girls" or "forty tribes", presumably referring to the epic hero Manas who, as legend has it, unified forty tribes against the Khitans. The 40-ray sun on the flag of Kyrgyzstan symbolizes the forty tribes of Manas.[6]

A few other tidbits include Russian being the most common language and the official language along with Kyrgyz. The writing is Cyrillic which is used in the Slavic languages like Russian. The currency in the Som which I've never seen and probably won't. The population estimated at 5.4 million and the time zone is 11 hrs ahead of eastern standard time.

That said, my experience here has been a bit cold and dark and smelly. It isn't as cold as Leipzig was thank God, because I left my fleece and gortex in my checked luggage which I now have, however, it (the weather) isn't warm. I picked up my chemical gear and my cold weather gear last night then proceeded to a meeting to find out that they have no plan yet for me and my fellow family doc colleague headed to Bagram. I have visited the latrine outside the women's tent twice now and plan to avoid it as much as humanly possible as I've been close to passing out from the smell and have become a bit more adept at breathing through my mouth when necessary. There is a much less aromatic facility near the Pete's Place (common hangout with constant sports on the big screen, lots of tables, wi-fi, and a small bar - I plan to partake of that tonight). And after a fitful night sleep and feeling guility about disturbing my poor bottom bunkmate from the need to visit the restroom at 0100, I found myself walking to the nearby DFAC (dining facility) in a still dark Kyrgyzstan at 0730. Hoping now that most everyone in my female tent is up and there are at least a few lights on, I plan to head back to my bunk for some light reading and likely a resultant nap to fill my time for at least part of this cold, wet, wintery day.

I know this all sounds very dreary, but it actually isn't all that bad. The food is plentiful, the coffee is good, and the people are friendly.

I think that is about all my tired brain can handle at the moment.

Not being very adventurous today. I'm stuck at Norfolk Naval Station waiting for my plane to Afghanistan to fly out. I've got a nice room here, but the weather sucks. It is not snowing, though just a bit north they have about a foot, I'm told. It is just windy, rainy and cold here. There is also a good chance we won't fly out as planned as we are waiting for some army troops to arrive who will also be flying with us and who have yet to arrive because of the weather. Not surprised. I was told to be flexible. I honestly don't mind another night under the nice, warm, soft, down comforter on my full bed.

Alright back to knitting, endless sappy Christmas movies and email.

I'm new to blogging, but I thought, since I'll be away from home for awhile with likely lots of thoughts to share, I might start a blog. I know I'll have lots of photos and videos to post especially over the next couple of months and I feel this might be the best way to share with family and friends.

I'm headed to Afghanistan in just a few days. I've gotten lots of advice from those who have been in my place before, but I still not sure what to expect especially with the recent increase in troops. Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to the clinical opportunity, as I'll get to see things many family physicans would never imagine. And I'm always up for an adventure as my poor family will attest to.

Here's to new experiences whatever they may bring.