Almost There!

I have been reading other peoples blogs and realizing that I really should update my own. Part of the problem is that I have gone so long without writing that I don't know where to start. I'll try to remember some of the more interesting stuff that has happened...

About three weeks ago I finally made it onto an A/E mission (aeromedical evacuation). This involved going to a class titled "high risk of isolation" and getting the Operations Group commander to sign a letter saying I could go. I also had to get a physical done but since I know the flight surgeon pretty well, he said he would do it whenever I was close to taking my flight. I met up with the flight crew (a pilot, co-pilot and 2 loadmasters). We went to get all of their equipment and then we went to an intel briefing. Since we were flying into Iraq, they talked a

bout all the activity going on around the bases that we were landing in. It was going to be a 12 hour mission with 41 patients and 4 stops in Iraq. We went to Tallil, Baghdad, Kirkuk and Balad before returning to Qatar. It was a long night but very exciting. I got to wear body armor while we were in Iraq which may not sound great to most people but it made me feel like I was actually a part of the war. I was exhausted by the end because we didn't get back to Qatar until 4 am and I had worked all day the day before. I also had to work 5 hours after we landed but I didn't care because it was an amazing experience. I think I am definitely going to apply to

flight nursing school when I get back. I might as well do it while I am young and single. I took along "the Terrible Towel" since it is pretty important to my squadron commander. I left a ransom note that said "the Terrible towel is on vacation, will return soon. Or will it?" He pretty much knew it was me who took it while it was gone but I think it was cool for him that his towel took a trip to Iraq and back. Then one of the nurses blurred my face and sent a picture of me holding the towel on the aircraft at one of our stops and sent it out to everyone in the med group.

I played Texas Hold'em for the first time in a long time last week. Our anesthesiologist arranged for med group poker and 13 people played. I hadn't played for a long time and surprised everyone by coming in second. They didn't expect me to play so well because I hadn't played in a long time and some of the others had been playing at base events. I lost to our respiratory tech but he was really good and had me guessing what he was up to the whole time.

I started packing a couple days ago because I was bored and I figured I will be moving out of my room into the tents in a couple of weeks when my replacement gets here. I only have 12 days left or so, I haven't gotten my plane ticket so I still don't know for sure.

It is 1115 pm and I can't go to sleep but since I worked on Christmas, tomorrow will be my second day off in a row and my third morning to sleep in. Sleeping in is only 7 am since I am so used to waking up early. Christmas was terrible even though I got some really great gifts. We admitted two patients in addition to the two we already had and were busier than we have been since we got here. One patient was an older retired man who had a small bowel obstruction but was really nice. The other was a patient who just got here on her way down range and tried to commit suicide. It was pretty upsetting because she made Christmas suck and she only took Motrin so really she just wanted attention and to go back to the states. They were pretty worried about her for a while because she was really unresponsive and we didn't know what she had taken. We were minimally manned that day but luckily a few extra docs were hanging around and we called in two of our nurses to come in for a while. While the older man was in the hospital I got to talking to him and he told me I should date his son. Seeing as how his son lives 1000 miles away from SA I didn't take him seriously. Then the next day before I discharged him, he reminded me if I ever made it to Scott AFB, where he and his son live, dinner for us both was on him. It was very sweet and then Dr Swasey, the anesthesiologist over heard that and later told me I should go for it because it would be a great story in the future. Ha. If I do end up at Scott (it is one of the bases where A/E nurses get stationed) I would look up my patient just because he was a nice guy and told me his son was the best man he knew.

I really should be getting to bed and stop talking (typing). Thanks for reading and I hope to see most of you in the very near future.

Love, Megan

Kid Rock Live

That's right, Kid Rock came to Al Udeid and put on a show. But before that, he graced us with his presence at the Med Group. He was actually really nice. He shook everyone's hands and posed with us for pictures. The other girl in the picture with me and Kid Rock is Lt Dockery. She got here about three weeks ago to replace one of our nurses who had to leave early. She is really nice and I have had fun working with her.

The show was good, definitely rated R- but he said during the show he could be sure there weren't any kids present. He had Carlos Mancina on before him who is a comedian. His show was pretty raunchy but funny. He made fun of the reflector belts we have to wear everywhere- even with our already highly reflective PT uniforms. He said it would take an idiot to get run over by a car you could see coming for 8 miles. He actually didn't phrase it as nicely as that though.

It's almost Christmas and the Hospital is decorated from top to bottom. We have already experienced an onslaught of packages full of candy and gifts but it is nice to know people are thinking about us.

I recorded a radio interview for a radio station in Iowa with 6 other med group people. It has yet to be posted on-line but my name is listed on their website and if you google Melody McTaggart (according to my mom) the radio's website shows up. I will post the link when I get it.

Hopefully two posts right in a row makes up for my lack of communication but I plan on taking a lot of pictures in the next few weeks as I get closer to leaving.

Megan

Abundant food and green green grass

Things have been moving along pretty well over here. I had a great Thanksgiving. The people who run the dining facilities went all out decorating and had all kinds of food displays and so much food. The picture to the right is just the desert display.

I went downtown a few

weeks ago and had a lot of fun with a few of my co-workers. We did a lot of shopping. This picture to the left is me in the Old Souqs (market). Amazingly enough they had

a Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins but they also had

a lot of venders selling things from spices to rugs.

These pictures are of the Doha skyline. Most of the skyscrapers have been built in the last few years and are largely empty. The people of Qatar have a lot of money and are building like crazy, they are hoping to build their tourism industry.

We managed to find a park that we later found out only allowed families to visit but not before we laid around for an hour on the grass. It was wonderful seeing grass for the first time in 4 months so we took of our shoes and relaxed. The weather was finally beautiful (in the high 70s).

No need for Noah's Ark or even an umbrella

I'm watching last weeks Grey's Anatomy episode and they have a new doctor who just finished serving in Iraq. It starts raining in the episode and the doctor goes out to dance in the rain. Another doctor explains her behavior by saying "she's been in the desert a long time." I know exactly how she feels. I think I will dance in the rain when I see it again. It has been over 4 months. I was walking across the moonscape- the sandy field that separates the chow hall and the hospital when I came across a little weed surrounded by a ring of rocks. I had to laugh in understanding as it is only living thing within site. Turns out one of the night shift nurses put the ring around it and he takes half drunk abandoned water bottles to water it.

Not much else is going on around here. I will be meeting a four star general after he tours the base at an hour long social at the DEL (the bar). Don't really know how I got selected but it is me and one other nurse going. For the last 2 months we have had so many Generals and Colonels here, but they finally left. There was one particular brick path that no one wanted to walk down because it went from the chow hall to where all the big wigs worked and you practically had to walk with your hand to your forehead in constant salute.

Only 51 days left (plus or minus a few days).

Love,

Megan

The Med Group over here had a visit from Maj Gen Siniscalchi, the Chief Nurse of the Air Force and the Deputy Surgeon General. She had just been touring the AOR (Iraq and Afghanistan) and she came by the hospital to get a tour. We were able to host a dinner for all the nurses on base including the A/E nurses and

the nurses that work with the units that plan all the A/E missions (about 30 people). My chief nurse told me I had to meet them in the conference room after she toured the hospital. She wouldn't tell me why. When I got there, 4 enlisted people from the med group were there as well and didn't know why. Our Hospital Commander brought in the General for a briefing and prior to the briefing, the 5 of us got coined. Our commander explained to her some of the extra things that we do at the hospital. I think I got coined because I have taken on a lot of extra duties and it stands out because I am the youngest and lowest ranking officer (the only Lt in the hospital). I just do it to keep from being really bored at work. When my Group Commander got to me, Gen Sinischachi said "You look just like your mother."
I had helped plan the dinner and talked to protocol and set up the flags and the placards on the DV table. Prior to the dinner starting, someone rearranged the name placards and I couldn't figure out why. When the dinner started my Hospital Commander stood up and said that the only Junior Officer should sit at the head table in his spot next to the General. It was very embarrassing but cool to get to sit next to her. General Sinischachi said I should start off the buffet line but prior to that, she told the story of how a few months ago she had retired my mom.

One other cool, small world kind of thing is that my Squadron commander is a physical therapist and his younger sister is one as well in the AF, but right now she is working as the General's Executive Officer. It was interesting seeing the two Maj Lyons' together.

Over all a very fun evening.

Patients follow us where ever we go...

Today was a very interesting day as I got to see first hand how great our EMTs are. Our chief nurse/deputy commander started out the day by ruining our diets with a box of Krispy Kreme donuts for the nurses. They were wonderful and tasted just like they do back home.

I convinced one of the other nurses to go out to the flight line festival that they were holding on the flight line. They had all of the aircraft out on display and were letting us go up inside them. In addition to that, the Army's Air Defense Artillary was out there as well. They are the ones that are going to protect us if any missiles are lobbed our way.

We had gotten a chance to see almost all of the aircraft and were on the last one. A C-17. This is the
medium sized cargo plane- considered the cadillac of A/E

missions but most of the time our

patients go out on the plane to the

right----> The C-17 is the first picture with me hanging out of the cockpit window. Capt Riggs and I were inside facing the back of the aircraft when we heard a shout and a bunch of curse words behind us.

We turned around just in time to see a man falling like a limp rag down 5 steep stairs from the cockpit. Picture to the left shows the stairs <-- When he didn't get up I heard Capt Riggs say "Oh S***" and we ran over to him. His knee was facing one direction and his right foot was facing another. You could just see how much pain he was in- if he could have seen what his leg looked like he would have probably passed out. Riggs shouted out the door of the plane for EMS- which was on the flight line. I tried to keep him calm until the EMTs showed up. They couldn't splint his leg because of the position his foot was in. They took him back to the hospital and we followed behind a few minutes later. Too much excitement. Turned out he tore both ligaments on both thighs holding his knee caps in place and tore some tendons holding his right ankle in place, and somewhere in his ankle was a broken bone..

The base Public Affairs people were on the plane taking pictures while we were getting him stabilized and they interviewed me afterwards. Maybe I will be in the public affairs e-mail that gets sent out every day.

The last picture shows a B-1 Lancer. This is a really cool bomber that I got to sign a bomb on last month and go up into the cockpit. The picture of me in front of wheels up above is in front of the B-1 just showing how enormous this plane is.

Time is passing

I just received a card from my grandmother (I love getting mail). She said she loves to read my blogs and I started feeling bad that I haven't written in a while so here goes...

I have approximately 74 days left and I have completed 58.8% of my time here (yes I keep track). It is called the "donut of misery," an Excel program that tells you all your stats about your time here. It if finally cooling down, usually in the low 90s but today has been more humid than normal.

My trip off base last week was okay, we drove through Doha which is a HUGE city; I couldn't believe how many skyscrapers there were. We went to the biggest mall in the city which wasn't as nice as the one that we went to before. We ate in the food court at a Qatari fast food restaurant. The food was really good, lots of kabobs and hummus. We also stopped by the souqs, which are the markets where you can buy a lot of jewelry and barter to bring the prices down. Not really my kind of thing but the girls I went with had fun. I thought we would have the whole day but the two guys who took us had to be back at work early that evening and one of the nurses is on nights so we didn't meet until noon.

We got wifi internet in the hospital which is really great for the patients. I think we give less pain meds and since our patients never have family with them they can Skype with their family and friends. I got to talk to my mom and Rick on Skype at work yesterday and they got to meet some of my co-workers.

I hope everyone is doing well and I miss you.

Love,

Megan

Today has been a pretty emotional day. It started out like a typical Sunday- no patients on the ward, no surgeries scheduled. I was running our Wounded Warrior Clinic so I went over to the other side of base where they stay and did muster (roll call) and to check and see if they had any issues. It was quick and easy. When I got back, my supervisor asked if I wanted to go to the Fallen Warrior ceremony in a few minutes. I didn't write about it before in the blog- but I've been to one and it is such a moving experience. It is a way to honor and pay tribute to our fallen soldiers as they pass through this base and on to Germany and ultimately to their families. While none of the Wing leadership has to go, almost all of the group and Wing and Vice Wing commanders go even on their day off. Today it was my Commanders day off and he came and picked us up at the hospital to go out to the flight line. Everyone goes and boards the Cargo plane that they arrive on and the Chaplain says a prayer. Then we form up in two single file lines and as the pall bearers bring each casket off the plane we salute them. Then as the vehicles carrying the bodies drive away, we turn and face them and salute them. Today it was one American and two Coalition forces.

When I got back from the ceremony, two of the nurses I am working with were starting a movie. It was "Taking Chance." This movie is based on a real story about a USMC Lt Col who volunteers to escort a fallen PFC (E-3) home and how all along the way from Dover to Montana, he is moved by how people respond when transporting this marine. The beginning of the movie showed a fallen warrior ceremony that was nearly identical to the one I had just attended. I cried almost the whole way through the movie. I definitely recommend seeing it, just have tissues.

On a lighter note, my Grandmother sent the best chocolate chip cookies. And she is 2for2 on getting them to arrive intact- no one else has gotten intact cookies. She also sent homemade apple sauce which I don't think I have ever had before and is much better than the store bought kind.

Thanks to everyone who has sent packages, I have gotten several from Erin and Sara and my mom and Rick have sent me two. It is a lot of fun and feels like Christmas every time.

I will have to write after I go downtown again on Tuesday. I get to spend more time there and will get to see more of Doha.

Love, Megan

Freedom felt at last

I got to take a trip off base last week with one of the other nurses I work with and a couple of civilian contractors. We went to one of the off base malls in the capital city of Doha. Doha is only about 25 min from the base and is an easy drive down highways that look very much like American highways. The mall we went to is not the biggest one here but it was very big and beautiful. The ceilings were all painted to look like the sky and looked almost 3D. The first two stores I saw in the mall were a Starbucks and Sephora. I was so excited. We only had a few hours as we went in the evening and curfew is 10pm for the medical group. We ate at a South African steakhouse that was very good and not too expensive. We wandered around the mall and watched all the people. Lots of Europeans vacation in Doha so there were a variety of cultures. Maybe 30% of the people were wearing traditional Muslim clothing- the males in white "mandresses" that look like dress shirts that go to their feet. The women were wearing all black over regular clothing and most had their faces completely covered with a burka. They would walk around in groups of just men and groups of just women. I couldn't help but feel bad for the women, especially since their are so many Western people walking around. An ice skating rink was located in the mall so we sat and had Cold Stone ice cream and watched the children ice skate. The Carrefour is a French store very much like Walmart located in the mall. You wouldn't know the difference between this store and a typical Walmart except some of the products are from Asia or Europe. They did have plenty of American brands there as well. I have a picture of me and my friend posing with Bathing suits that cover everything from your wrists to your ankles. A muslim woman walked up while we were posing and I felt bad, like we were making fun of her culture.

It was a breath of fresh air to wear civilian clothes after 75 days of PT uniforms or ABUs. We joke though that we were in our civilian uniform- collared shirt and khakis. You can only wear certain things off base. I am very much looking forward to going again and getting to spend more time shopping. I also want to go to the museums as well, I hear they are very cool. I'm planning on getting my hair cut today, I got it cut last week but I was nervous about letting them take too much off and so she only took an inch off. It is barely short enough to wear it straight with my uniform so I am taking a picture in of how I want my hair cut- we shall see what happens. I guess I can always pull it back until it grows out if it doesn't work out.

100 days today left of my deployment. I am starting to get homesick although I am still enjoying myself. I am getting to save a lot of money because there isn't much here to spend money on.

Megan

Definitely a good week

I did it! I completed my first half marathon this morning. I came in at 2h22m which is just under an 11 min mile. After taking some Motrin this afternoon, I'm feeling pretty good. There were a lot of people out there but most just participated in the 10K that they held at the same time. I got a nice medal and t-shirt out of it as well. They took a lot of pictures that I need to get my hands on; Iwill try to post them when I get them.
We took care of a patient last month who is a Weapons system operator on the B-1 Bomber. We asked him if he would give us a tour and he took 3 of us out to one of the planes. It is a very cool jet that isn't much more than 4 engines, fuel and bombs. All of the bomb storage bays were open in the plane and we got to get up on a ladder and sign a bomb that will eventually get dropped in Afghanistan.
The other great thing that happened this week was finding out I won the CGO Desert Medic of the month. Now my picture is hanging just inside the front door of the hospital.
Altogether, this week was a pretty great week. This was following on the heels of a crazy busy week where I was the A/E nurse running two of our largest missions where we brought in 10 patients and filled all of our outpatient beds and then turned around a few days later and sent 10 patients either on to Landstuhl or to their forward operating base (FOB).
We also said good bye to one of the nurses who had finished his 6 months. We had a fun going away get together in which the CC and Vice CC showed up. It is really cool knowing everyone in the hospital and having the group CC know your name. Our entire hospital is smaller than my unit back home 86 vs 100.
Check back for pictures of both the B-1 tour and the half marathon.
Love, Megan

Happiness is a rotator plane headed West...

Don't worry, it's not me worried about going home it is the 3 suicide attempt patients we had this week that will end up being Airevac'd to the States. 2 of these were a Romeo and Juliet scenario except both are doing fine now. We are giving them this disgusting medication that smells like rotten eggs that is supposed to save their liver and kidneys from the meds they overdosed on but I don't really feel sorry for them since they did it to themselves. It's been a crazy week as we've had many more patients than usual, one of these was a Aussie who had an emergency appendectomy.

I decided I was eating entirely too much junk food and sugar so I have cut it off completely. I have gone two days without sugar and am hoping that it will help me lose weight. I will of course have to lift the ban when my Grandma sends me the Chocolate Chip Cookies she promised. I have to get stricter on my training for the half marathon- I took a class last week that took me a week to recover from so I haven't run much this week.

I don't have much else to say tonight and I am pretty tired so I am going to bed early.

Megan

The wet bulb says 99

I still distinctly remember, even though it has been 13 years, leaving the airport after first arriving to Guam and feeling like I was in a Sauna. That doesn't even compare to the last 2 days here. I have never felt anything like it; my sunglasses fog up as soon as I walk outside and I am drenched in sweat after only a couple minutes. The wet bulb normally hits 85-89 degrees and today it reached 99. This takes into account the humidity level and the actual temperature which was probably in the 1teens. It being my day of today, I felt the heat more as I walked around base going between the pool and movie theater and the gym.

I was supposed to see Star Trek today but they hadn't gotten it in yet, so everyone in the theater voted on Wolverine. I hadn't seen it yet so I stuck around to try it out, but after 20 minutes the pool was calling my name. At least I had already seen Star Trek.

If you haven't heard, the Air Force Marathon is coming to Al Udeid on Sept 11th and another nurse at work convinced me to run it with her. I have been trying to train for it so yesterday I managed to run 8 miles. I was feeling it today and then I went to this class called Body Pump led by a British guy. I am hurting, I have not worked my whole body this hard ever. A few weeks of this class and I should be much more toned. I hope.

Tomorrow is a base wide exercise and the next two days after that are full of Wingman's week activities. It will be a busy next three days.

Good night!

Sorry everyone that it has been so long since my last time writing.  While my actual work (taking care of my patients) doesn't take all that much time, it is my extra duties that have been keeping me busy.  I was asked by my Squadron commander if I would be the Medical Group's representative for Wingman's week and I said sure.  At the time I didn't know what I was getting myself into and since then it has been crazy.  This is wing level project which means that it involves the entire base and I am the coordinator for the medical people of the base.  I have been planning activities and sporting events and breakfast for the med group with the commander and such.  I have also been involved in writing OIs (operating instructions, which are guidelines for everything we do, from our visitation policy to our PCA pumps (Patient controlled analgesia).  All this extra stuff got started because I wasn't busy with my patients so I would read my book or work on a puzzle book and feel guilty about it (Not that anyone else was working any harder).  So I would volunteer to do something and finish it and then help with something else, it has been a great learning experience.

I got nominated by my Squadron Commander for the Desert Medic Award, which I am not entirely sure what it is, about but I have to go in front of a board and answer questions.  These questions are picked from current events, both non-military and military, base rules and off base policies.  Such random stuff and I will have to read the "Stars and Stripes" which is the newspaper for the region to be able to answer the questions.  They will also see all that I have been involved in and then judge. I guess I shouldn't complain but it is just more stuff I am working on.  After next week, when wingman's week is over, I will feel much better.

I was trying to join one of the off base trips this week but I got busy with other stuff today and never submitted my paperwork and now it is too late.   Ramadan starts on the 21st and after that we can't go off base during the entire period which lasts a month.  So I will have to make up for my lack of visits off base in October.

Hope everyone is doing well and I will write more soon.

Love, Megan

My LIfe in Pictures

 This is the gym closest to my dorm that I work 

out at.  It is really new and nice and has an indoor pool.

 

This is the "BPC."  It stands for Branford-Preston Complex which is the area of base that I live on but in this building is the BX, movie theater, Starbucks, free wireless internet, and the game room.  It is a great place to hang out on my day off when I want to get out of my room.

Sorry this picture isn't very close up, but it is my dorm.  Somewhere around 200 people live in the building and it feels like an apartment complex.  Just off to the right of my building is dining hall and behind me about 1/10 of a mile is the hospital.  I always walk across this dirt area to get to work. 

Just another picture of the dirt field I am always walking across.  In the picture off in the distance is the BPC.

This is a closer picture of my dorm from the "Talivan."  One of the nurses I work with took it while I was driving us to get meals for us and the patients.  Along the very top of the building, you can just make out the row of windows.  Since I am on the second floor, the windows are right above the rooms across from mine and make it pretty bright in my room.  Makes it feel like I have an outside window.

This is the hospital/clinic where I work.

The first picture is of the ICU, it has 3 beds and so far we have had one ICU patient.  Thankfully if they are sick enough to be in the ICU, they either go downtown really quick or they get airevac'd out quickly.   The next is of the ward, it has 8 beds, 4 on one side and 4 on the other.  In the closest spot a bed has been removed because that patient is in surgery.

This is a picture of the teeny, tiny nurses station.  We have 4-5 nurses on day shift so it gets really crowded.  One of the nurses is the element chief and she has an office and sometimes someone hangs out in the ICU and uses that computer to give us more room.

This is a Jersey Barrier.  Someone painted it to represent the 379th EMDG (expeditionary medical group).  It says Force Sustainers, Health Maintainers along the sides and across the bottom, Desert Medics.

Sorry about the week long absence

I feel like around this place the day to day tends to be the same, so there hasn't been much to write about.  I went to church on Saturday night after work and attended the longest service ever.  It was an hour and 45 min, all about adultery and not succumbing to it while deployed.  Definitely not applicable to me.  Thankfully the chaplain said most services are just over an hour.  After church I went to "the Bra" which is a place to hang out and where they serve alcohol.  A little weird going out for drinks after church but I was with one of the other nurses I work with and she hadn't eaten so we stopped for food and drinks.  

Work has been getting easier and I am working with a good group of nurses.  The two majors who are our element leaders have vowed that once everyone learns their job, they will make it a priority for us to get workouts in.  Including them, there are 4-5 nurses on the day shift which is plenty to take care of our usual patient load.  The last few days we had  Brittish soldier as the only patient in the ward.  He was pretty sick and they had to do an emergency exploratory surgery to see if he had a small bowel obstruction.  He didn't and the surgeon couldn't tell what was really wrong.  He was airevac'd out last night back to England.  I got pretty mad at the surgeon though because this guy was in so much pain and the surgeon blew it off at first.  He thought maybe in OB, we didn't expect our patients to feel pain- Ha!  These women have had major abdominal surgery too, I told him of course I expected my patient to feel pain but not as bad as he was going through.  Finally he upped his morphine dose but this guy will not accept any ideas from the nursing staff and I thought he needed something stronger and longer lasting than morphine, which he finally wrote for the next morning. 

I had today off but I had to get up early to go to a 7am commander's call.  After,  I went and saw a movie at the theater and then  lounged around all day.  It is amazing how tired I am after six days of work.  There will be pictures coming soon as I got my camera in the mail and will take pictures of all the places I go to.

Love, Megan

Lazy Days Off

While I had great intentions to get up at a reasonable time, I woke up much later than I had planned.  Unfortunately this means I probably won't be able to go to sleep at a reasonable time tonight.  I laid around all morning and watched Charmed on DVD in my room and then went up  to the BX and had some Starbucks.  I figured since it was my day off I could indulge.  The coffee over here is like $2 more expensive though.  Ugh, good incentive to not get starbucks very often. 

 I had to go into work today because I told my flight commander I would give a tour of our unit to the vice wing commander.  I then realized it was on my day off and I was only on his schedule if there ended up being time.  I spent an hour reading my book in the staff lounge just in case he had time, even though I had been told it would be very unlikely there would be.  Oh well, all I would have been doing anyways was reading my book somewhere else.  In fact after the vice commander left the hospital I went to the "hang out" spot that the chapel runs and read my book.  I had to rest up for the Commander's Cup dodge ball championship.  My team one our first game but lost our second.  I had a couple good plays in the second game and it even went into overtime but we still lost.  It was a lot of fun. 

 It is hard having a day off here because everyone else I work with on my floor is at work.  I need to meet other people who's day off is Tuesday as well.  Looking forward to 6 more days of work.  It's not as bad as I thought it would be.  Hopefully I will have a chance to work out during my shift tomorrow.  I have not been going to the gym as much as I thought I would because I am so tired for working so many days.

Thanks for the cookies grandma.  They were delicious and I will be taking them into work tomorrow to share.  

Love, Megan

work, eat, sleep

Working six days a week isn't so bad as there isn't all that much else to do.  I get up and go to the chow hall, go to work, go to the chow hall for lunch, and dinner, go home and go to sleep.  I got all settled into my new dorm and it is amazingly nice.  I have a sink and mirror in my room and I share a bathroom that has a bathtub and a kitchen with a dining room table with a roommate.  I have yet to meet the person I share a bathroom with, but my sponsor, who lived here before me, said she should be leaving in a couple of weeks anyway.  

All of the other nurses that I will be working with have finally gotten here.  They all arrived about six days after me, but because I had those six extra days of one-on-one orientation, I am pretty far ahead in the orientation process.  In fact, my sponsor left yesterday so I have been working on the ward on my own.  However, there are still a few nurses who are on slightly off rotations and will still be here for a few months.  They do this so that not everyone is new at once.  I have been taking care of same day surgery patients the last two days; yesterday we had 4 same day surgeries.  Today my patient had a case of appendicitis.  He has only been here in Qatar for 8 days and ended up in the hospital.  It has been hard getting used to the way things are done on the ward here, often I am told "that's how it is in the AOR." AOR: area of responsibility.  

I know that pictures would be fun to see but I cannot find my camera cable  and my roommate can't find it for me at home.  I will have her send me my other camera, I think.   I want to thank all my readers especially my grandparents.  My mom says you two are faithful readers and it makes it fun to write this blog knowing that you are reading it.

Hopefully something interesting happens to write about for my next post but until then I hope that everyone is doing well.

Love, Megan

I am enjoying my first day off of work.  Each week I will be off on Tuesdays.  I got to sleep in until almost 9:30 but it was on accident.  My room has a window that is covered in foil and heavy curtains, probably to keep out the heat, but it means that it is pitch black without the light on.  I am hopefully moving over to my permanent dorm today since they made my sponsor and all the people leaving this week move into tents.  I feel bad for them, I would have stayed where I am a few more days if it meant they could avoid tents, but I didn't have that option.  

It seems to be even more hot today than usual and much windier than it has been.  It is still really bright outside but there is a constant haze here which makes the sky and horizon this tan color.  It is very odd to look outside.  There is hardly any color here; everyone wears some version of tan or grey, all the buildings and tents are some version of tan and there are no trees, grass or even weeds.  It is all sand or rocks.  I was wondering why they have pebbles covering all the areas that don't have sidewalks or asphalt and today I realize it is probably to keep the dust blowing around at a minimum.  I need a shower after all of my walking around, I am covered in grit.  

I am taking my flight line driver's test tonight.  I have to do it in the day and night so we are going around 1830 so I can drive around when it is still light and then be driving as it gets dark.  I am pretty excited, this will mean that I can go get patients off of the C-130s by myself soon.  

Tops in Blue are performing tonight.  For those of you who don't know, they are the performing arts group of the Air Force and they put on a musical production. From what I remember, it is a great show.  They have been walking around base and working out in their special PT uniforms for a few days here at Al Udeid.

Hopefully once I move later today I will have better internet access.  Right now I have to go sit outside my trailer and can only do that in the evenings when it is cool but I am so tired then and that I just want to go to bed.  The other problem is that the wifi gets really bogged down in the evenings with everyone on.  Right now I found great access just outside the BX.  They have tables and a fountain and it is nice and cool.  And as an added bonus, this is the fastest internet speed I have found yet.

Off to the gym...

Love Megan

Wow- I went to open the page to post a new blog but everything on my screen was written in Arabic and I had to reopen the page to get English (for a while I didn't think I was going to be able to post).  My face book page has a paragraph in Arabic when I open it but everything else is in English.  Over here on base everything is written in both Arabic and English.  Probably for the third country nationals who work here, however, all of which seem to speak excellent English.  I haven't had any problems talking to them and they have also been very nice.

I was going to open this posting with my excitement over getting to go to the flight line this evening to pick up 2 patients off of a C-130.  Flight nurses seem to have the coolest jobs, although both of these patients needed no care as they took their own meds and walked on and off the plane.  We took the ambulance out there because we had heard one would be on a litter.  I have gotten to drive the "Talivan" all over base so that I could get to know where things are and because some days I will be driving it to get patients off the flight line and check on our patients staying in billeting.  I passed the computer and written tests for flight line driving and tomorrow I will probably get the flight line tour and test on actual driving at both day and night at the flight line.  

I am heading off to bed now; I finally got six hours of sleep last night and tonight I am aiming for 8hours.  It isn't fun waking at 3:30am when you know you have to work all day.

Megan  

 

I'm Lovin' It

Amazingly, after 24 hours of travel time over who knows how many thousands of miles and only a few hours of sleep here and there, I'm doing great.  We left Norfolk about an hour late because it was determined that we could make it to Germany without stopping in Maine because the plane wasn't full, but they had to add more fuel to the plane first.  I spent about 4.5 hours in Germany in a city called Liepzig in what had to be their military terminal.  They fed us free lunches and most of us laid across rows of chairs and dozed because at that point we had been up all night.  Thanks to earplugs, a face mask , benadryl and a great reclining seat in first class, I think I slept for about 3 hours while going over the ocean on a 7hr flight.  After leaving Germany, we had a 5 1/2 hour flight to Qatar; we used the same plane with a new crew of civilians from North American Airlines.  I am kind of disappointed that I didn't get to ride in a C-130, but I know it was much more comfortable this way.  

It took about 2 hours to in-process the base and go through Customs but I have a great 1st Shirt who had already gotten me a room in billeting and handed me the key right there.  Then she loaded my luggage, and the 4 other medical people who came in, on a truck and van and drove us to the dfac (dining facility).  I loved just swiping my ID card and getting to pick out what I wanted (I got an omelette and banana since it was 3am).  I finally made it back to my room just before 4am after stopping off in the Cadillac (the bathroom and shower trailor) to try to go to sleep.  It is easier said than done!  I have a tiny little room in a trailor with two beds and two storage cabinets but no roommate as of yet.   When my sponsor leaves on or about the 15th, I will take over her room which is right across from the hospital and gym.  So far I haven't had to walk anywhere because it seems there are vehicles everywhere and people have to offer rides.  I will be driving one of the hospital vans (nicknamed the "Talivan") to get patients off of the flight line.  Thankfully I can drive a manual!  My sponsor had to run over to the flight line side of base and I got to tag along and see the base.  It is huge!  You have to take the shuttle or drive to get to the different sections of the base.  They have 11 inpatient beds where they recover OR patients (there is only 1 OR).  Three of these beds are ICU beds, which they hardy use as such but use them for isolation rooms instead.  I am the first of the new group of people arriving, most will come next week.  I have a lot to learn to get spun up on my jobs but it is exciting to be doing something different than Labor and delivery.  They also have about 25 outpatient beds for military members throughout the AOR (African Horn, Iraq, and Afghanistan) who need to have care or minor surgery but can be expected to return in to duty in less than 30 days.  

I got to go the gym during the duty day today and they say most days you can do this.  I went with my sponsor, the chief nurse, and one of the physicians, as the chief nurse teaches a spin class.  It was my first spin class but it was a crazy workout and I did make it all the way through it.  

Right now I am sitting outside my trailer with about 10 other people on the sidewalk because you can't pick up the wifi from inside the rooms.  They temperature now is great, weather.com says 102 and feels like 101 but the breeze is great and I was surprised to see what the temp was.  Earlier it was hot and windy with dust flying so much it looked like it was snowing.   

I will post pictures as soon as I find my cable for my camera; hopefully I didn't leave it at home!  I know this is a long posting and most won't be like this but so much has happened in the last day and a half.  I am about to go to the cadillac to get ready for bed and then take an ambien so I can actually fall asleep.  I have to be at work at 0645 in the am.  

  You'll hear from me soon.

Love, Megan

Hurry up and wait and wait some more...

    The last 24 hours have been a real test of my patience, especially considering my severe lack of sleep.  I left San Antonio on Monday morning around 0930 on  a commercial (Jet Blue) jet after having to be at the hospital at 0400.  My wonderful friends Erin and Sara took me to breakfast at Denny's at 3am- it was crowded considering it was essentially a Sunday night.  Then they hung out with me for an hour at the hospital until they were kicked out and my briefing started. We eventually were driven over to the terminal at Kelly Air Base.  Even though it was a family day on base, the wing commander came and so did my Squadron commander.   There were only about 30 of us on a plane that probably seats around 200 however, that only lasted to Dallas as we stopped at the Carswell Field, a Navy Base to pick up more people.  We sat on the tarmac for over two hours waiting for who knows what.  All I know is they didn't let us off the plane.  Then we flew to Little Rock where we picked up a few more people at the Little Rock AFB.  We sat on that tarmac for about two hours there as well.   Grrrr.  Then we finally flew into Norfolk where we landed just after another plane full of people and I stood in a 90 minute line to recheck my bags for my flight out over the Atlantic to find out that I actually don't leave for another 48 hours.  It took another 2 hours to get checked into a hotel room but I have not appreciated a bed so much in a long time.  

    I plan to enjoy the next 48 hours relaxing and enjoying myself until my long flight tomorrow night.  I went to the gym this morning and will look for a place to eat after my shower.  Not too bad, but I am still getting used to not having a car and walking everywhere.  

Megan

Flexibility is the key to Airpower

I found out yesterday morning that I am going to depart San Antonio from  a military aircraft instead of a commercial flight and that it will be on Monday instead of Tuesday.  I have been so excited about going and then all of a sudden it was one day sooner than planned.  The good news is that my friend found out that she is leaving on Monday as well instead of today, so we will get to travel together to Qatar (at least we hope that is what will happen).

Yesterday was my last day at work and I unexpectedly got teary.  I got a rose and chocolate from one of the airman who is doing the sunshine fund and that set me off and then a couple other times I got to crying for no good reason.  Wilford Hall gave me a day yesterday that would make sure I wouldn't miss it too badly; it was so busy and hectic that I was ready to go and do something different. 

I'm almost done packing, all I have left are a few things that I need until I leave.  I will spend the weekend hanging out will friends and going to the gym.  Saturday we may go to Six Flags for the 4th of July.   Just trying to spend the last few days as a normal American before life does a complete 180.