Rocket Attack!

I'll start this entry with a pretty funny story that was told to me by our ortho surgeon Sonya. She said that the other day the fire alarm went off in the chow hall, which is a common occurrence and everyone usually just looks around to make sure we don’t have to evacuate the building. Well this particular day I assume the building was full of new arrivals to the area, the alarm went off and she said that about 70% of the personnel hit the floor and climbed under the tables thinking that it was the rocket attack alarm! She said what was funny about the whole situation was when a guy with a strong southern accent said, “Hey dumb_ss_’s, that’s the fire alarm” and everyone slowly got back to their seats, a little embarrassed! I don’t know if that’s funny to any of you, but I think that it’s hilarious.

Pictured is me driving the ball at Doha Resort Golf Course, and the second one is of me on a C-17 Aircraft in darkened out conditions on our way to Qatar for R&R.

It’s official, we destroyed the record of 155 set in July. We completed 201 surgeries in August, busiest month ever! The new Dutch team said that now we need to break another record, the least amount of cases completed in a month, and we all agree. Haha.

I’m writing this from the R&R in Qatar. I’ll first apologize to those reading this in Bastion and other places that aren’t able to leave due to op tempo and staffing issues. Sorry guys, I’ll drink a beer for you! Haha. It’s now day 3 in Qatar and so far it’s been fantastic! Day 0 we hung out, drank a couple of beers and rested. Day 1 we worked out, ran and then went on the inland sea beach picnic. The trip to the small resort was a blast. We loaded into 3 SUV’s and hit some huge sand dunes after letting some air out of the tires. So now that I know what a Chevy SUV is capable of, can I borrow your SUV for a while when I’m home to visit mom? Haha! After the roller coaster ride through the dunes we swam in the Arabian Gulf and had a bbq complete with some local foods, hummus and other things that I didn‘t want to know what it was. Day 2, today, Aaron, John and I went golfing at the Doha Golf Resort with the Chaplain who is stationed here, absolutely beautiful (not the Chaplain, the course!). I haven’t golfed in 2 years but still shot a 56 in 9 holes, when I usually averaged 100 - 105 on 18 holes, kinda rusty! Tonight the group is going to a local mall for 5 hours to shop, that is the equal to a trip to hell for me so I’m going to pass on that trip and just do laundry and relax. Tomorrow I’m going to workout, run and hit the pool for some sun, hopefully I’ll be able to hold the tan for you Shayna until November! Haha.

Shayna is doing great after getting her external fixator off of the right leg. She should be back in Wisconsin today after spending a couple of days with her friend Irene in Manhattan. Thanks again Irene for opening your door to my hunny and being such a great host. Her next surgery, to remove the left fixator, will be in mid-October, then done with that mess! I know that she is looking forward to that day, as I am for her. Hang in there gorgeous almost done!

Hours worked:

29 AUG 09: 3 Hours (called in for two mass casualties)
30 AUG 09: 16.5 Hours
1 SEP 09: 9 Hours
3 SEP - 8 SEP in Qatar for R&R, woohoo!

# CAUSES OF SURGERY AS OF 1 SEP 09

100 GSW
94 IED
7 SVBIED
9 SUICIDE BOMBER
8 ROCKET ATTACK
39 NBI
6 MINE
8 AIR STRIKE (SAME PATIENT 8 SURGERIES)
4 MVA

Well that’s about it for this week, it’s been a great break but I’m looking forward to getting back to the grind and excitement of Kandahar. Shayna I love and miss you very much, everyone else take care and keep in touch.

Dave