BZ
Monday, August 24, 2009
Three letters
Sorry for delay in posting letters but I've been on vacation. Three of Angie's letters follow.
Baby Steps
Hi Everyone,
I am now half way done, 13 weeks down. I hope this second half goes by even quicker than the first! We continue to be very busy here; with each month we are setting records for the largest number of trauma admissions seen at this hospital since it opened. August is looking like it will not be any different. We had 17 traumas yesterday...of those 6 were intubated (on a ventilator). We had one Marine with burns to 90% of his body, the only areas not burned were the back of his head, the bottoms of his feet and a part of his leg. His birthday is today...29 years old, he was flown to Germany this morning.
Maryam enjoyed her birthday last week, 4 years old now. While we were chatting on the computer she opened the doll house that I had bought and wrapped for her before I left home. Of all the nights, the webcam wasn't working so we couldn't see each other, we had to settle for just hearing one another. She loved the gift and has been playing with it every day. She cut a piece of her cake and had my mom put it in the freezer for me...I have a feeling I'm going to have to eat a lot of cake when I return! A few of the neighbors came over with their little boys, Maryam seemed to like the attention. It was very hard for me not to be there with her as she was preparing little goodie bags to give to her class and as Ashraf was decorating the house for her birthday...but it's one more milestone down and one step closer to me returning home.
In 2 weeks I'll go through all of the emotions again as Layla celebrates her 1st birthday. Yesterday she took 5 steps by herself. I wish I could say that I was thrilled to hear that she took her first steps, but once again, it was very painful to not be there to see it myself. I feel very selfish to say that I had hoped that she'd be a later walker like Maryam and that those first steps would happen closer to when I came home. But I'm also glad to see that she's developing normally and is not slowed down by my absence. I guess she'll be running by the time I return.
A week ago Ashraf, very bravely, took the two girls camping...tent, s'mores and all. They all loved it and I think Ashraf was very proud of himself. Maryam told him that she had a great time and that it was a lot of fun, then she added, "but not as much fun as when Mama is with us". Glad to know I'm missed.
I've attached some pics...the girls camping, Maryam's birthday and me with the medical evacuation helicopter (the female with me is an Army neonatologist that was sent here as an adult intensive care unit doc, the guy with me is the afternoon ER doc).
Take Care,
Angie
Ground Hog Day
Hi everyone,
I'm slowly approaching half way but it is not soon enough! I'm really looking forward to passing that mark as it signifies more of Afghanistan behind me than in front of me! The days are just dragging on, one merging into the next. The patients are starting to blur into a few big blobs of patients...the multitude of young men with nausea vomitting and diarrhea in one clump, the many kidney stones and appendicitis patients in another clump, and the IED (improvised explosive device) blown up patients in the third clump. If I added up those three categories I would have 90% of what I see here. It truly is "Ground Hog's Day" over and over...played out now for 81 days straight.
The time is starting to wear on Maryam too. She had been doing pretty well most of the time up until this past week. She's really been missing me and it's shown. She's been acting out more and much more emotional. A few days ago she fell and hurt her hand, she ran into the house crying that she just wanted "Mama". She laid on my sweater stuffed with a pillow, sucked her thumb and cried herself to sleep. The next day Ashraf walked into the room and found Maryam dressed in my clothes chasing after Layla (who was probably a bit scared) saying, "but don't you recognize me? I'm your Mama, I've come back from being far away! I've missed you so much baby let me give you a hug!" The next day she asked her dad if she could take his cellphone with her to school in case I called so that I could reach her at anytime. Finally, this morning she told her preschool teacher that she was very sad today because she was missing Mama. I'm talking to her every night and she seems to enjoy it. But she is still having a hard time and is acting out much more as well. I'm really hoping that it's just a phase and that it will pass...we still have quite a ways to go! Knowing that Maryam is having such a hard time makes it harder on me as well. Layla, on the other hand, seems to be doing fine. Maybe the excitement of her birthday next Tuesday will make it a better week for her, we'll see.
Not much else to report here. Hopefully I'll have some new pics with my next update.
I hope everyone is well!
Angie
Hi Everyone,
I've now got 10 weeks behind me! 72 days down, about 114 to go. I still don't know when I'll be leaving, but I do know that my replacement should be here around November 16th (one of my good friends at Andrew's will be coming). There will be an overlap of 3-6 days before I can leave, then it will take me 2-5 days to get home. So assuming there are no major delays, I could be home anywhere from the 21st to the 27th of November...I would LOVE to be home for Thanksgiving, we'll see. After a while here you start to obsess over exactly when you might be leaving. I guess I've got a while to go either way.
My mom's birthday was a few days ago and we talked over skype while everyone in Maryland ate cake and ice cream. Maryam asked my mom to cut me a piece and put it in the freezer...she said we would do this with everyone's birthday (my mom's, Maryam's, Layla's, Ashraf's and mine) so that when I came home I could eat a piece of cake from all of the birthday's that I missed. She offered that she would help me to eat them all of course. I ordered online some decorations for Maryam's birthday, 2 weeks from now. Ashraf and my mom are just having a small party at the house and inviting a couple of little neighbor boys that she plays with, she's very excited. Maryam has found a new partner in crime....her little sister Layla. She loves having this little baby who will copy everything she does, the more dangerous the better. Layla now can make it up the stairs in a few seconds; Maryam will follow behind her then later tell Ashraf not to worry, that she is prepared to catch her if she falls. My mom found the two of them last night in their room, Layla standing on the seat of a small rocking chair, Maryam on the seat of the large rocking chair, both holding on to the top and rocking back and forth laughing and laughing. God protect them both...luckily I'm well connected to the ER on base!
Work's been steady, the trauma picked up again for the past three nights (after a week long slow down.) I've also seen a major bolus in the number of non-trauma medical patients. I guess that is inevitable as the numbers of troops in Afghanistan keeps growing and growing.
I've grown so tired of the same food day after day...I haven't eaten in the cafeteria for the past 4 days. For dinner last night I ate beef jerky and mixed nuts from my stash. For lunch I feasted on some Indian food that my brother sent me for a change of pace. It felt like a gourmet meal! It has been quite hot here, about 100 degrees for the past few weeks. It's also very windy and dusty...but at least not humid. Every Sunday I walk 8 miles with "the girls" as a stress break, on Fridays we have "Surf and Turf" at the dining facility and if we're lucky they serve up Lobster Tails (usually overcooked but who's going to complain, it's Lobster in the desert...can't beat that!) Those are my two big days of the week, the only thing that differentiates one day from the next..."what day is today?" "Well we ate at 'Red Lobster' yesterday so it must be Saturday".
The big news here is that our main gym is being moved to "the other side of base"...everyone is upset about that. We have 3 gyms here...The Clamshell (known as "Venice Beach"-it's in a tent that is open at the ends and all of the huge body builder guys work out there...you can hear the free weights clanking together when you walk by), The Rock (known as the "Communist Gym"-they're very strict there, if you shirt becomes untucked while exercising you get yelled at to tuck it in, you get kicked off the cardio equipment right at 30 minutes, God help you if you forget to wipe down your equipment...just picture the Seinfeld Soup Nazi episode..."No Stairclimber for you! Come back 1 year!") and finally the North Gym (known as "Average Joe's"-it's for the average person, a bit soft in the middle, that just wants to firm up a bit). So they've closed Average Joe's which means I now have to go to the communist gym. That's about all for major news here. Like I said, the same thing day after day so you look for the little things to talk about or make your day different.
I hope you're all doing well, stay tuned for next weeks update on my exciting life at Bagram!
Angie
I've now got 10 weeks behind me! 72 days down, about 114 to go. I still don't know when I'll be leaving, but I do know that my replacement should be here around November 16th (one of my good friends at Andrew's will be coming). There will be an overlap of 3-6 days before I can leave, then it will take me 2-5 days to get home. So assuming there are no major delays, I could be home anywhere from the 21st to the 27th of November...I would LOVE to be home for Thanksgiving, we'll see. After a while here you start to obsess over exactly when you might be leaving. I guess I've got a while to go either way.
My mom's birthday was a few days ago and we talked over skype while everyone in Maryland ate cake and ice cream. Maryam asked my mom to cut me a piece and put it in the freezer...she said we would do this with everyone's birthday (my mom's, Maryam's, Layla's, Ashraf's and mine) so that when I came home I could eat a piece of cake from all of the birthday's that I missed. She offered that she would help me to eat them all of course. I ordered online some decorations for Maryam's birthday, 2 weeks from now. Ashraf and my mom are just having a small party at the house and inviting a couple of little neighbor boys that she plays with, she's very excited. Maryam has found a new partner in crime....her little sister Layla. She loves having this little baby who will copy everything she does, the more dangerous the better. Layla now can make it up the stairs in a few seconds; Maryam will follow behind her then later tell Ashraf not to worry, that she is prepared to catch her if she falls. My mom found the two of them last night in their room, Layla standing on the seat of a small rocking chair, Maryam on the seat of the large rocking chair, both holding on to the top and rocking back and forth laughing and laughing. God protect them both...luckily I'm well connected to the ER on base!
Work's been steady, the trauma picked up again for the past three nights (after a week long slow down.) I've also seen a major bolus in the number of non-trauma medical patients. I guess that is inevitable as the numbers of troops in Afghanistan keeps growing and growing.
I've grown so tired of the same food day after day...I haven't eaten in the cafeteria for the past 4 days. For dinner last night I ate beef jerky and mixed nuts from my stash. For lunch I feasted on some Indian food that my brother sent me for a change of pace. It felt like a gourmet meal! It has been quite hot here, about 100 degrees for the past few weeks. It's also very windy and dusty...but at least not humid. Every Sunday I walk 8 miles with "the girls" as a stress break, on Fridays we have "Surf and Turf" at the dining facility and if we're lucky they serve up Lobster Tails (usually overcooked but who's going to complain, it's Lobster in the desert...can't beat that!) Those are my two big days of the week, the only thing that differentiates one day from the next..."what day is today?" "Well we ate at 'Red Lobster' yesterday so it must be Saturday".
The big news here is that our main gym is being moved to "the other side of base"...everyone is upset about that. We have 3 gyms here...The Clamshell (known as "Venice Beach"-it's in a tent that is open at the ends and all of the huge body builder guys work out there...you can hear the free weights clanking together when you walk by), The Rock (known as the "Communist Gym"-they're very strict there, if you shirt becomes untucked while exercising you get yelled at to tuck it in, you get kicked off the cardio equipment right at 30 minutes, God help you if you forget to wipe down your equipment...just picture the Seinfeld Soup Nazi episode..."No Stairclimber for you! Come back 1 year!") and finally the North Gym (known as "Average Joe's"-it's for the average person, a bit soft in the middle, that just wants to firm up a bit). So they've closed Average Joe's which means I now have to go to the communist gym. That's about all for major news here. Like I said, the same thing day after day so you look for the little things to talk about or make your day different.
I hope you're all doing well, stay tuned for next weeks update on my exciting life at Bagram!
Angie
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