Have you ever gone to Mass (church, temple, mosque) when the homily (sermon, teaching) was directed specifically at you? As if God said, “Hello, Marrie. Glad you made it this morning.” Well, this was one of those days.
The morning started off kind of rough. I had two patients I needed to see at 1000. I decided to go in at 0830 to get caught up on a couple charts and finish a presentation for the command. When I got to work, my office had no electricity. This makes updating charts and power point presentations challenging. Deciding not to be thwarted by this unforeseen roadblock, I posted a sign for my patients to go to the CASREC (ER equivalent) for their appointment and I trotted off to the hospital to at least update my charts there.
I was able to complete my records and see my patients. The lack of air conditioning made the process a bit uncomfortable, but I finished. At least they had electricity to power the computer and slit lamp.
After a quick stop at the DFAC, I made it to Mass on time.
Mass started off as most Masses do. Sign of the Cross, prayers, creeds, readings, and then came the homily. The Priest starts off, “Many of you wear glasses or contact lenses. They help you to see things in the distance and up close. They help you to see where you are and where you are going. God is the same.” And he continued, weaving this theme throughout. “So the next time you put on your glasses or contact lenses, or when you see other people wearing their glasses, remember how God helps us to see our lives and our path to him as clearly as our glasses sharpen our surroundings. You would never want to go anywhere without your glasses. This is also true for God. He is the glasses for our lives. ”
Hmmm. ..My first Sunday that I was able to attend Mass in Kuwait. Do you think He was trying to tell me something?
Yes God, I missed you, too.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Coffee
Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE coffee. It is one of life’s simple pleasures…a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Nothing’s better. In an environment without friends and family, without many of the comforts we are accustomed to having, “simple pleasures” become the things we look forward to and what puts a smile on our face.
Today I received a cup of coffee from a complete stranger in the States. Green Beans Coffee Company has a program where folks back home can buy a cup of coffee and send it to someone deployed. It’s called “Cup of Joe For A Joe” program. I’m not writing this to convince people to go out and buy a cup of coffee for the troops. But what I am asking is if you pass by a Green Beans Coffee, and you are in the mood for a cup of java, stop in and support this company…because they are making an effort to support us and they (with the help of their customers) are putting smiles on our faces.
Today I received a cup of coffee from a complete stranger in the States. Green Beans Coffee Company has a program where folks back home can buy a cup of coffee and send it to someone deployed. It’s called “Cup of Joe For A Joe” program. I’m not writing this to convince people to go out and buy a cup of coffee for the troops. But what I am asking is if you pass by a Green Beans Coffee, and you are in the mood for a cup of java, stop in and support this company…because they are making an effort to support us and they (with the help of their customers) are putting smiles on our faces.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Schedule
Folks have been asking me what my “typical day” is like. So here it goes…
I’ve been getting up around 0500 (unless I go to water aerobics or run, then it is about 0430). I try to be at work by 0630. I have walk in patients between 0700-0800 which generally consist of sick-call and follow ups. But don’t let that fool you, I have walk-ins all day long. Patient appointments begin at 0800. Lunch is 1200-1300. Most days, I’m finished with patients around 1600 (that’s 4pm for the non-military folk) and work on records until close to 1700. At 1700 a group of us meet in the supply tent and do an exercise program called P90X. It lasts about an hour. We then mosey on over to the DFAC (that’s Hooah for chow hall**translation**that’s Army speak for the dining facility.) I then go back to the clinic to finish up records and work on a couple of my collateral duties. (Collateral duties are the assignments one has in addition to their “real” job. I am the Dashboard Chair and the Chair of the Medical Record Review Committee . Both are great collaterals, but time consuming.) I’ve been getting back to my rack (cubicle) by about 2100.
We have been averaging near 30 patients a day in our clinic. I don’t actually put “hands on” each one of them, some things my technicians can do, but I have to review and code the encounters in the computer and sign the record on every patient that passes through our door. We do physicals, routine exams, referrals from the TMC (Troop Medical Clinic), acute care (injury, trauma, infection, inflammation, etc), and we can make glasses, too. We are one of the most productive clinics here.
This cycle of events is repeated Monday through Friday. Saturdays are supposed to end at noon. P90X starts at 1200 sharp. Both Saturdays so far, I have had to return to the clinic to see follow ups or was called into the CASREC (Casualty Receiving = Emergency Room). The first Saturday I left at 1800, last Saturday it was 1400, so at least we are trending in the right direction. I have gone in on my “off” day both Sundays for patients requiring tight monitoring and patients in the CASREC. I am hoping this is an anomaly to my schedule and not a weekly event. (I have not added it to my Outlook calendar. ;o)
Luckily, I have fit in a couple movies and a camel ride….mostly during the left-over part of my Sunday. Unfortunately, both times I was called into the CASREC it was right before the beginning of Mass, so I haven’t made it…yet. Let’s hope I can add that to my “typical week” soon.
I’ve been getting up around 0500 (unless I go to water aerobics or run, then it is about 0430). I try to be at work by 0630. I have walk in patients between 0700-0800 which generally consist of sick-call and follow ups. But don’t let that fool you, I have walk-ins all day long. Patient appointments begin at 0800. Lunch is 1200-1300. Most days, I’m finished with patients around 1600 (that’s 4pm for the non-military folk) and work on records until close to 1700. At 1700 a group of us meet in the supply tent and do an exercise program called P90X. It lasts about an hour. We then mosey on over to the DFAC (that’s Hooah for chow hall**translation**that’s Army speak for the dining facility.) I then go back to the clinic to finish up records and work on a couple of my collateral duties. (Collateral duties are the assignments one has in addition to their “real” job. I am the Dashboard Chair
We have been averaging near 30 patients a day in our clinic. I don’t actually put “hands on” each one of them, some things my technicians can do, but I have to review and code the encounters in the computer and sign the record on every patient that passes through our door. We do physicals, routine exams, referrals from the TMC (Troop Medical Clinic), acute care (injury, trauma, infection, inflammation, etc), and we can make glasses, too. We are one of the most productive clinics here.
This cycle of events is repeated Monday through Friday. Saturdays are supposed to end at noon. P90X starts at 1200 sharp. Both Saturdays so far, I have had to return to the clinic to see follow ups or was called into the CASREC (Casualty Receiving = Emergency Room). The first Saturday I left at 1800, last Saturday it was 1400, so at least we are trending in the right direction. I have gone in on my “off” day both Sundays for patients requiring tight monitoring and patients in the CASREC. I am hoping this is an anomaly to my schedule and not a weekly event. (I have not added it to my Outlook calendar. ;o)
Luckily, I have fit in a couple movies and a camel ride….mostly during the left-over part of my Sunday. Unfortunately, both times I was called into the CASREC it was right before the beginning of Mass, so I haven’t made it…yet. Let’s hope I can add that to my “typical week” soon.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Movies
Only on a military base will you see the audience stand when the Star Spangled Banner plays across the big screen before a movie begins…even when the technician forgets to turn on the sound.
No talking, no whispers, no wriggling.
Everyone in the theater standing at attention in complete and total stillness watching scenes of wars, planes, tanks, ships, heroes, and finally our flag, flapping in silence.
No talking, no whispers, no wriggling.
Everyone in the theater standing at attention in complete and total stillness watching scenes of wars, planes, tanks, ships, heroes, and finally our flag, flapping in silence.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
I-Bay
We FINALLY moved out of the tents and into a brick and mortar structure. It’s not that the tents were all that bad, it was more an issue of convenience. In the tents we had to walk outside to a porta-potty trailer type thing that was located about 200yds away. This trek in the middle of the night was not fun. Due to the need to hydrate during the day, at least one trip per night was unavoidable.
The trailer itself was nice enough, but the problem with its out-sidedness was two-fold. 1. After showering, you were only able to remain clean and sweat –free for about 5 minutes until you started the journey back to the tents. 2. The pipes to the trailer were not buried very deep so the water heated up during the day. Showering in 110+ degree water (and that is with only the cold water faucet turned on) is not very refreshing…in fact, it was a challenge to get soaped up and rinsed off before the scalding water removed your skin along with the dirt.
Now we have our own place in the I-Bay. Our spaces are separated by cubicles and our doors are made of shower curtains. It is small, but it is mine. AND there is in-door plumbing. It is still not necessary to turn on the hot water faucet throughout the showering process but at least the “cold” water is warm, not hot. Afterwards it is now possible to stay clean and sweat-free for an entire evening, unless of course you need to go outside…then all bets are off.
The trailer itself was nice enough, but the problem with its out-sidedness was two-fold. 1. After showering, you were only able to remain clean and sweat –free for about 5 minutes until you started the journey back to the tents. 2. The pipes to the trailer were not buried very deep so the water heated up during the day. Showering in 110+ degree water (and that is with only the cold water faucet turned on) is not very refreshing…in fact, it was a challenge to get soaped up and rinsed off before the scalding water removed your skin along with the dirt.
Now we have our own place in the I-Bay. Our spaces are separated by cubicles and our doors are made of shower curtains. It is small, but it is mine. AND there is in-door plumbing. It is still not necessary to turn on the hot water faucet throughout the showering process but at least the “cold” water is warm, not hot. Afterwards it is now possible to stay clean and sweat-free for an entire evening, unless of course you need to go outside…then all bets are off.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Copy that...
Plagiarism is the greatest form of flattery, right??
The below excerpt is from Danika, she is one of the girls from my sea hut and a dentist assigned to one of the outlying clinics. She did an excellent synopsis of our journey so I figured I would re-post it on my blog, giving her credit, of course. Our experience was very similar, except my journey ended at Camp Arifjan rather than continuing on to Camp Virginia.
Thanks Danika!
“July 12-17: I arrived in Port Hueneme California for in-processing. This place really tested my patience as each day I was there we had about an hour of things to do stretched into a whole day. This site is to make sure the women aren't pregnant, that everyone is fit for the deployment and take care of any administrative things before going to training. The great news was we stayed in an awesome hotel for 5 nights.... not a good way to prepare us for what was to come.
July 17-22: Took a 2 hour bus trip up to Camp Pendleton to a sight called NEMTI. Naval Expeditionary Medicine Training Institute. The first week we broke our group of 160 sailors into four platoons, decided the leadership organization for the next 3 weeks, and adjusted to our berthing (living quarters). The place we slept was called a sea hut and it was open bay with 10-20 other people. We slept on cots with sleeping bags, and kept our sea bags under the cot and a footlocker at the base. It took some adjustment but I was sleeping well in about 3 nights.
July 23-July 30 : This was a busy week. We had classes, figured out how to get 160peoples laundry done, and had some lab portions of training to do. It was starting to get sort of fun as we got to know each other, after all, we were comprised of endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, surgeons, nurses, dentists, PA's, optometrists, internists, family practice doctors, health care administrators, etc.... so our dinner conversations were, well...... usually pretty gross!
Our classes consisted of:
- Land Navigation
-Use of the SINGARS radio (single channel ground to air radio system)
-Basic Dari Language
-General Orders : no alcohol, no pornography, no feeding or trying to domesticate/capture wildlife, no buying foreign currency, no taking of weapons, uniforms etc as "prizes"...and some others I can't really remember.
- What to do if captured as a POW
- IED detection
For the "hands on portion" we did the following:
-we took a 5 vehicle convoy through a fake town and simulated mortar fire, and IED explosion (real sound effects here)
-Identified 10 IED's on a pathway
- Gas chamber exercise (went into a room with CS gas and put on our masks and made sure we knew how to work them) Of course you get some gas on you and it burns your eyes, throat and makes you salivate and your nose runs.
-HUMVEE roll-over (almost like a fair ride, except you are wearing 45 pounds of protective gear and you are holding a M16 that you have to make sure stays squeezed between your legs as the vehicle rolls....not so easy)
-Weapons Qualification on the M9, some people also had to qualify on the M4. I did not, however I did get to shoot about 30 rounds on the M4 which was fun.
- MOPP gear training ( Mission Oriented Protective Posture). Shows us how to put on boots, gloves, pants, gas mask and top that you would have to have if you had a biological contaminant.
July 22- Aug 6 : Basically had some more training (some of the above hands on portion was done during the beginning of this week) and then we just cleaned up camp and got ready for our long plane ride.
Aug 6-8 : It took us about 24 hours until we touched down in Kuwait. Had 3 layovers in between and got into Camp AJ at about 4 am on Sunday August 8. We did not go to bed, we put our gear in tents and waited for our CO to come and brief us about what was to come.
Aug 8 5:00 pm: After the CO's brief, they wasted no time. I took a bus with about 10 other up to Camp Virginia. You can imagine by now I was exhausted. Almost 36 hours of traveling. We traveled in buses with the curtains closed so I couldn't see much of anything. I arrived at about 9 pm in Camp and was shown to my little hut..... I laid my head down but had a lot of trouble sleeping despite my exhaustion... thoughts: " WHERE THE HELL AM I"!!!”
The below excerpt is from Danika, she is one of the girls from my sea hut and a dentist assigned to one of the outlying clinics. She did an excellent synopsis of our journey so I figured I would re-post it on my blog, giving her credit, of course. Our experience was very similar, except my journey ended at Camp Arifjan rather than continuing on to Camp Virginia.
Thanks Danika!
“July 12-17: I arrived in Port Hueneme California for in-processing. This place really tested my patience as each day I was there we had about an hour of things to do stretched into a whole day. This site is to make sure the women aren't pregnant, that everyone is fit for the deployment and take care of any administrative things before going to training. The great news was we stayed in an awesome hotel for 5 nights.... not a good way to prepare us for what was to come.
July 17-22: Took a 2 hour bus trip up to Camp Pendleton to a sight called NEMTI. Naval Expeditionary Medicine Training Institute. The first week we broke our group of 160 sailors into four platoons, decided the leadership organization for the next 3 weeks, and adjusted to our berthing (living quarters). The place we slept was called a sea hut and it was open bay with 10-20 other people. We slept on cots with sleeping bags, and kept our sea bags under the cot and a footlocker at the base. It took some adjustment but I was sleeping well in about 3 nights.
July 23-July 30 : This was a busy week. We had classes, figured out how to get 160peoples laundry done, and had some lab portions of training to do. It was starting to get sort of fun as we got to know each other, after all, we were comprised of endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, surgeons, nurses, dentists, PA's, optometrists, internists, family practice doctors, health care administrators, etc.... so our dinner conversations were, well...... usually pretty gross!
Our classes consisted of:
- Land Navigation
-Use of the SINGARS radio (single channel ground to air radio system)
-Basic Dari Language
-General Orders : no alcohol, no pornography, no feeding or trying to domesticate/capture wildlife, no buying foreign currency, no taking of weapons, uniforms etc as "prizes"...and some others I can't really remember.
- What to do if captured as a POW
- IED detection
For the "hands on portion" we did the following:
-we took a 5 vehicle convoy through a fake town and simulated mortar fire, and IED explosion (real sound effects here)
-Identified 10 IED's on a pathway
- Gas chamber exercise (went into a room with CS gas and put on our masks and made sure we knew how to work them) Of course you get some gas on you and it burns your eyes, throat and makes you salivate and your nose runs.
-HUMVEE roll-over (almost like a fair ride, except you are wearing 45 pounds of protective gear and you are holding a M16 that you have to make sure stays squeezed between your legs as the vehicle rolls....not so easy)
-Weapons Qualification on the M9, some people also had to qualify on the M4. I did not, however I did get to shoot about 30 rounds on the M4 which was fun.
- MOPP gear training ( Mission Oriented Protective Posture). Shows us how to put on boots, gloves, pants, gas mask and top that you would have to have if you had a biological contaminant.
July 22- Aug 6 : Basically had some more training (some of the above hands on portion was done during the beginning of this week) and then we just cleaned up camp and got ready for our long plane ride.
Aug 6-8 : It took us about 24 hours until we touched down in Kuwait. Had 3 layovers in between and got into Camp AJ at about 4 am on Sunday August 8. We did not go to bed, we put our gear in tents and waited for our CO to come and brief us about what was to come.
Aug 8 5:00 pm: After the CO's brief, they wasted no time. I took a bus with about 10 other up to Camp Virginia. You can imagine by now I was exhausted. Almost 36 hours of traveling. We traveled in buses with the curtains closed so I couldn't see much of anything. I arrived at about 9 pm in Camp and was shown to my little hut..... I laid my head down but had a lot of trouble sleeping despite my exhaustion... thoughts: " WHERE THE HELL AM I"!!!”
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Travels
Our journey began in Camp Pendleton. Reveille was at 3am. This was followed by camp clean up, continental breakfast, and gear loading. We traveled from Camp Pendleton to March Air Force Base by bus; it was about a 3 hour ride. We waited at March AFB terminal (which was more like a converted hanger bay) for four and a half hours before we boarded our plane. We had stop-overs in Illinois, Newfoundland, and Germany; each lasting about 2 hours.
We arrived in Kuwait on Aug 8 in the wee hours of the morning. We boarded a bus that took us just off the airport grounds and stopped for about an hour. We were able to de-board, get some water, and use the porta-potties. (Note: porta-potties are not a great option in an extremely warm environment. Even at 3am it was 97 degrees.) A working party had been assigned to unload all our gear onto a truck so we were waiting for them to finish and join us. When we were all back together, our buses headed towards Camp Arifjan. I can’t tell you much about Kuwait City, the desert, or even the highway because I didn’t see anything. We were required to keep the window curtains closed.
After going through all the check points, we arrived at tent city. The working party unloaded our massive number of sea bags and equipment into huge piles. Once we identified our belongings, we lugged them to our tent. Thank goodness one of the girls in our hut had bright pink duct tape that we labeled and placed on each of our bags.
We had about 2 hours before Orientation began. My sponsor (the guy I’m replacing) met me at my tent, took me to the DFAC (dining facility) where he introduced me to the “omelette on Sundays” ritual. (Omelettes can actually be ordered every day, but he made the self imposed rule to only eat them on Sundays). We then went to the Starbucks for a coffee before orientation (yes, they have a Starbucks!).
Orientation was somewhat painful. I think the theory is that if they keep us going and don’t allow us to sleep until evening, then the adjustment to the new time zone will be easier. I don’t know if I actually believe this or not, but I managed to stay up until 2030 (8:30pm for the non-military folk). By the end of the day, I was a walking zombie. I fell blissfully asleep and managed to stay that way with the help of some pharmaceutical aids.
Morning arrived at 0500. Started work at 0700. No time for jet lag!
We arrived in Kuwait on Aug 8 in the wee hours of the morning. We boarded a bus that took us just off the airport grounds and stopped for about an hour. We were able to de-board, get some water, and use the porta-potties. (Note: porta-potties are not a great option in an extremely warm environment. Even at 3am it was 97 degrees.) A working party had been assigned to unload all our gear onto a truck so we were waiting for them to finish and join us. When we were all back together, our buses headed towards Camp Arifjan. I can’t tell you much about Kuwait City, the desert, or even the highway because I didn’t see anything. We were required to keep the window curtains closed.
After going through all the check points, we arrived at tent city. The working party unloaded our massive number of sea bags and equipment into huge piles. Once we identified our belongings, we lugged them to our tent. Thank goodness one of the girls in our hut had bright pink duct tape that we labeled and placed on each of our bags.
We had about 2 hours before Orientation began. My sponsor (the guy I’m replacing) met me at my tent, took me to the DFAC (dining facility) where he introduced me to the “omelette on Sundays” ritual. (Omelettes can actually be ordered every day, but he made the self imposed rule to only eat them on Sundays). We then went to the Starbucks for a coffee before orientation (yes, they have a Starbucks!).
Orientation was somewhat painful. I think the theory is that if they keep us going and don’t allow us to sleep until evening, then the adjustment to the new time zone will be easier. I don’t know if I actually believe this or not, but I managed to stay up until 2030 (8:30pm for the non-military folk). By the end of the day, I was a walking zombie. I fell blissfully asleep and managed to stay that way with the help of some pharmaceutical aids.
Morning arrived at 0500. Started work at 0700. No time for jet lag!
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