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.