update from afghanistan...

posted by: emilie

well, it's been a while since a post was made from this side of the world. it's been a busy last few weeks. as the only doc at the aid station, i have been functioning as the "OIC" (officer in charge). basically that title means i am the go-to person for any and all issues from the trivial "We're out of bedpans", to the more serious "there is only one R.N. to cover the entire inpatient ward, and she can't work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week". Thankfully, one of the P.A.'s has returned from his mission at a more forward operating base, and soon the other doc (the REAL OIC) will be back, and we will be operating with a full staff...at least for a couple of weeks.
In FOB Fenty news, about 2 weeks ago we started having problems with our shower heads. One thing i can't complain about (or i should say one thing i COULDN't complain about) is our shower setup. Yes, it is a bit of a walk through the dust in flip-flops. and yes, there is about a 30% chance of a cold shower...BUT, the showers are in an actual building, not a trailer, and there is (or rather there WAS) excellent water pressure. Over the last 2 weeks we have slowly been losing our showerheads. every day there was one less shower head in the bathroom, until we were down to fighting over one shower with a functioning shower head, and now we have none. So our showers are more of a "mist", and for those under 5'5", i would say it is actually more of a vapor by the time the water gets there. so....that's the big drama around the FOB these days (by the way, FOB stands for "Forward Operating Base")

I had Cris upload a few pictures for me....the internet is too slow for Blogger to understand what i am trying to do.
ahhhh......teaching....i love it but i hate it. I love to help the medics learn new skills, but my impatient side wants to just do it, rather than making the 15 minute suture job a 1 hour suture job.
anyway, here i am helping PFC Dave with his very first attempt at suturing. It was actually a huge gash an Afghani guy got from broken glass, and it took quite a few stitches.

We celebrated Christmas Day by running a 5K "Jingle Bell Run" around the flight line. Santa was there, and ran in full Santa Gear and beard (and still finished a good bit ahead of me!) Reminds me a little bit of when my friend Kenya ran a marathon and was beat by 2 japanese men dressed as bowling pins....

On Christmas Eve we had our own little celebration outside the aid station. Complete with a fire pit of sorts (faithfully tended to by the FOB Fenty Fire Dept), and smores! Santa was there too, this time singing Christmas Carols with his guitar. He's quite a talented fellow.

Running the Jingle Bell Run with my new buddies. "The Grandmas" (an occupational therapist, and our hard working sole R.N.), and The Dentist.

My internet was down all evening, but right before i went to bed, it popped up, and so i wanted to take the chance to update everyone back home. i did get a chance to skype for a minute with my mom, the girls and cris. i love getting to "be there" for naptime. which consists of a regular kiss, an eskimo kiss, and a big squeeze hug. Then i heard Juneau request a Group Hug, then someone (not sure who) asked for a hug for "each sissy", then the other one said "that's not a group hug!" Apparently this is a daily conversation before naptime!

In tragic news, we lost a brave hero today on the surgical side of the Aid Station. I don't feel much like writing about it, but i do want to be able to look back on the experiences i had during my deployment once i am home and this all seems like a distant dream. This young soldier was flown in after being blown up by an IED while on his patrol. His right leg was destroyed from the thigh down, but he was still alive when he arrived. He deteriorated rapidly, and the team worked so hard to resuscitate him. Eventually they ended up doing CPR, but after 25 minutes there was no response, so they made the decision to open the left side of his chest right at the bedside and do a manual cardiac massage. After 10 more minutes there was still no response, so they opened up his entire chest from armpit to armpit, but by now he had been gone for almost 45 minutes, and there was really nothing left to be done. There were plenty of surgeons working on him, so i was not part of his resuscitation, but i stayed in the room just to be an extra pair of hands if needed. My heart is broken for the family of this soldier. In a similar manner to the other wars in history, the next of kin is notified by a uniformed soldier in person following the death of their family member. Please say a prayer for this family who has probably already recieved the news.