Captain's Log StarDate -313251.02739726024

I got promoted today to Captain! Whoopee!!! I am pretty stoked. (Even more so about the pay raise that comes with promotions.) Major John Scally is the Cardiologist that is deployed with us and is one of the Docs that I get to work with back at Walter Reed. So I was stoked when he agreed to pin me (velcro the new rank on.) There were a whole group of people getting promoted. We had 5 new Captains, 3 new Staff Sergeants, and 5 new Sergeants.

Another familiar Walter Reed face was also there for the promotion. Staff Sergeant Michael Bryant who is also stationed on Speicher was there. I was really excited to see another friendly face from home.

A Taste of Walter Reed in Iraq

I got a fun surprise yesterday when I showed up to work. We had just completed change of shift report when in through the doors of our unit walked MAJ Biever, the CNS from my home duty station. She has been in country for about 6 months. It sure was a nice surprise to see a friendly face. She has had a busy 6 months touring throughout the combat zone helping to track our trauma patients and ensuring the highest level of care that we can give.

Homemade Treats

I must confess that I am a sucker for homemade food that family members of my friends have sent while we have been in Iraq. While watching the Iowa versus Penn State football game we chowed down on some amazing homemade salsa that Kristie's mom had sent her. It was soooooo delicious! Too bad we did not have enough for every game night. Yum, yum!!!

Learning to Read

Growing up I was not a huge fan a reading. I think it would almost be safe to say I hated it. The books that were required reading for school never interested me and I was never a fan of textbooks. (This might explain my not so great grades...)

Now that I am out here in the middle of the desert with nothing else to do, I am learning to love reading. In the last month and a half I have read 4 1/2 books (one did not really keep my attention so I gave up on it).

Who would have thought that I would learn to read again and actually enjoy it? Maybe deployment is not all that bad...

Weapon Cleaning

A new chore that I never thought I would have. A weekly weapon cleaning. Every week I have to take a part my weapon to clean out the dust that has accumulated from the mild dust storms. Who would have thought that I would be carrying a handgun everyday...?

Pediatric Cardiac Clinic Day

Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to participate in a once in a lifetime event. The 47th CSH participated in a Pediatric Cardiac Clinic. Twelve children from Tikrit Teaching Hospital and their families were pre-screened then invited to the CSH to been seen by our Pediatricians and Cardiologists. While I do not know and probably cannot give out all the details anyway I can say that we are not planning treatment here at the CSH. I believe there is an outside party who will soon be playing a huge role in this event.

I saw some amazingly beautiful children whose lives have been physically hindered by some very serious cardiac issues. Yet these kids were all smiles! We had a blast hanging out and playing with them while they waited their turn to see the doctors. The actual assessments were painless and thankfully we were able to keep the kids pretty calm throughout the event. Our Cardiologists played a huge role in keeping everything running pretty smoothly. Hey Nurse Friends, the kid in the pic on the left is having a Tet Spell. Remember that one?

I spent as much time as I could with the Doc who was preforming the actual Echocardiograms and asked a lot of questions. While he was pretty focused on finding the best images he could he take some time to explain some of what he was seeing. I am amazed at what I was able to see. These kids are all amazing for what they are surviving with.

I wish I could tell you more, just know that that day was one of the most rewarding days of my life knowing what may lie ahead for some of these kids.

Still Working Very Hard...?

I have learned that my Guitar Hero skills are not that great. At least I am learning something at work, right?

Lives Changed Forever

It takes a split second to make a decision. I would hope that we make our decisions to better society and ourselves. But this week I once again was shown the devastating impact of the decisions we make.

We lost a civilian contractor earlier this week. He was going about his business when he was fatally shot by a US Soldier. The US Soldier had woken up that morning and decided he was going to kill someone. The innocent contractor was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

One split second decision made that morning. One life lost. Unknown how many lives changed forever.

What are we doing to each other?!?

Read the LA Times story here

Reality Check

A few days ago we, the medical and nursing staff of the CSH, were called upon to respond to a MASCAL. It was in the middle of the afternoon and I was asleep. A fellow staff member came and knocked on all our doors simply stating "MASCAL". We all quickly grabbed our gear and ran over to the hospital. We were assigned beds that we would be responsible for if a patient were placed in it. The ICU beds were at the front of the Unit giving us easy access to our ICU supplies. Once we all finished our prep we stood around and waited to hear the helicopters arrive.

When we heard the incoming MedEvac helicopters arriving we all got ready.

Not long after the helicopters took off from our helipad our Deputy Chief of Clinical Services came by and told us to stand down as the three soldiers that would be coming to us had been killed in action. By the nature of the attack they did not have a fighting chance.

The sinking feeling we all had when we heard the news was like none I had had before. And one that do not want to have again.

Not everything we do here is fun and games. While we hear gunfire daily, this event was the reality check that we are in a war zone.

Whatever you are doing today, remember that it is September 11. Remember the troops who are away from home and may never get to come home again.

Sacramento Kings' Dancers

Tonight's entertainment was the Sacramento Kings' Dancers. While I look forward to attending as many of the shows that are held on Speicher, this one I could have done without. My two battle buddies and I lasted about as long as it took for me to get a picture of the event. But the guys loved it (shocking, I know!) Any chance for them to mentally escape from what we are really doing out here is worth it I guess...

Flying Back to Tikrit

Thankfully there was space available on a random AM flight today that took myself and 1LT Robertson back to COB Speicher in Tikrit. We both got to sit right behind the flight crew so we had an amazing view of the area we were flying over. There was a bit of a training exercise as the two gunners began firing their massive weapons. I was sitting so close to the gunner that his spent cartridges were hitting me as he was firing. I am not going to lie, it was pretty cool. We made it safely back to Tikrit and I am hoping to get settled into a new routine soon. Darn night shift strikes again...

Hello Azusa Pacific University

Look top left for the APU sign.

Touring Around in Mosul

On our days off we often in Mosul we usually went over to FOB Marez to walk around and to simply get away from work. (Our living quarters are roughly 40 feet from the hospital.) We were able to climb up into a guard tower and get an amazing view of the city of Mosul. It was interesting to see such a large city and to know that there are so many similarities to the US. There are the wealthy that dominate the commerce and set the standard for everyone else to follow. And then there are the poor that are struggling to place food in their children's mouths or put a rough over their heads. In the far distance there is even a mountain range that we could barely make out through all the dust in the air (think of Southern California on its worst smog day, that is what it looks like). This is probably as close as I am going to get to actually seeing Iraq.

MMA Fight Night

Huge thanks to Xtreme Couture GI Foundation for coming out to Mosul and hosting a Fight Night. A handful of our soldiers got a chance to "show off their moves". (It was very obvious who has formal training and who just thinks they are good.) Either way, I had a blast. There were two fighters that I thought bought themselves a Head CT, but I have no idea what eventually became of them. While there were some fun fights of course the women's fight drew the most cheering from the soldiers. (Plus, I think they were far more evenly matched which made the fight more fun to watch.) And no, this is not something that I would probably go see at home, but when in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do...

There were far more soldiers in attendance than the pictures show. It was standing room only for most of us.

Hard At Work

Sure, I work...

Good Food in Mosul

I know we all hear warnings about avoiding local food when traveling to different areas...but if Preventative Medicine friends eat there it can't be that bad right?

I am sure going to miss this place when I get back to Tikrit.

Late Night Trauma in Mosul

I am still up in Mosul working the night shift. The upside of night shift here is that I sleep through the hottest part of the day. Now that the staff changeover is complete it is far more relaxed around here and people seem to get along much better than the first group. There is a good chance I will be back in Tikrit this weekend...

Trauma Training in Mosul

Our primary mission here in support of OIF is to prepared for the worst that our soldiers may face. To prepare for that unfortunate occurrence we regularly run through drills to make sure we are ready. The EMT (Emergency Room) takes the biggest hit as the most critical will be sent there.

Once patients go through surgery or have been through some sort of stabilization procedure they come to us in the ICU and/or ICW (Intermediate Care Ward). One aspect of this make it a little more realistic for us as Doctors and Nurses is being able to use fellow soldiers as patients. While mannequins are great, nothing compares to a live body.