Another Week Down

That’s it, I guess I’m officially Dutch! Thanks to Linda DeJager and team NOODLES for sending out the Dutch wooden clog slippers, they don’t quite go with my Army ACUs though! They are actually coming in handy, it’s getting pretty chilly in the rooms now that the weather is cooling off outside, it’s only 85 degrees during the day now, brrrrrr. Thanks again Linda from Jere and I both, the candy is great!

The second picture this week is of the second Dutch team that I’ve worked with while deployed. We have our heads in the middle of the CT scanner, no it’s not a giant doughnut! Haha. The white swirly things on the picture could be one of two things. 1) could be ghosts of CT patients past, or 2) could be the reflection from the flash on the glass ring in the CT scanner. I’d like to think that it’s the previous, because that would be just way cool! The names of everyone starting with me and working clockwise is, Me, Mike, Sanne, Esther, Jere and Jolanda. It has been a great team to work with, as with the first Dutch team and the Danish. I’ll certainly miss all of them, they’ve taught me a lot and made me laugh.

I was sitting with Mike, our Dutch anesthesiologist, and he asked me if I could name all 50 states that the stars represent on our flag. I said sure, so he challenged me. I got 47 and he got 43 correct! It really made me feel bad because not only did he get 43 correct, he also got a majority of the capitals correct also. I was really embarrased because I couldn’t even tell him where Netherlands was located on a map! I have always been terrible with geography and it definitely showed during that conversation!

Bengals in first place in their division, wow! It’s been quite a while since we were able to say that, go Carson Palmer, you rock! Sorry to all of you Steeler, Ravens, and Browns fans, well not really! Haha. Hopefully we can hold out until we make it to the playoffs. We’ll see.

22 days left. That felt pretty good typing that, I think I’ll do it again, 22 days left! It’s been a great ride so far, hopefully everything continues to go smoothly for the remainder of the time. We have been getting a little busier, which is bad for the patients but good for us because time is flying by. I’ve been spending a little more time in the horizontal time accelerator (the bed)! It seems to work really well, I actually stole that name from Chad Deaton who I was deployed with to Ramadi. He was the master of the accelerator!

Shayna gets her left external fixator off on 23 OCT, and she is really excited with a little nervousness thrown in there. She hopes that the surgery will do the trick and help her get around a little better. I just told her that there will be some aches and pains associated with the surgery but they will pass over time, especially with her working out so much. She’ll probably be able to bench press me soon!

Hours worked:
11 OCT 09: 12.5 Hours
14 OCT 09: 17 Hours
16 OCT 09: 12 Hours

# CAUSES OF SURGERY AS OF 16 OCT 09
111 GSW
126 IED
7 SVBIED
13 SUICIDE BOMBER
13 ROCKET ATTACK
48 NBI
6 MINE
9 AIR STRIKE (SAME PATIENT 9 SURGERIES)
6 MVA

Well that about does it for this week in exciting Kandahar. I can’t wait to see you Shayna, everyone else take care!
Dave








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