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