HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year to all! I wish all of you a wonderful 2012. We had our own New Years Eve Party here in Kandahar, which has been going on since last night and is continuing today, over 8 hours later until it is also New Years in the US. Celebration here is just like back home- complete with party hats, balloons, horns, food, and yes, champagne and beer and food. Well, ALMOST champagne and ALMOST beer:). As you can see, I am celebrating New Years 2012 with the 3 food groups: Champagne (sparkling wine), Coffee, and TAB, of course! I wish I was up in Greer skiing with Benjamin and my nephews Colin and Cameron. I also had to add the picture of the Boardwalk here. It was during a sandstorm and I thought it looked like snow so I figured I would put it in.

Happy New Year and Godbless to all back home who have loved ones over here and all over the world defending our freedoms. You all have the truly tough jobs and we salute you!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from NATO Role 3 ER Kandahar, Afghanistan!

THANKS FOR ALL THE PACKAGES AND CARDS!

To all- thanks to all my friends and family for sending all the packages, cards, gifts, snacks, "stuff," well wishes, and prayers my way. It is really uplifting to us when we come to work to look at the mail call and see that you have something waiting for you pick up. I really do appreciate it very much, as do all service members who are deployed during the holidays away from family and friends. It has especially ramped up, obviously, during the Christmas season.

Throughout the month of December, coming in for a call day is almost like waking up Christmas morning and coming down the stairs to see what Santa has left you. One day was especially "bountiful," as you can see from the picture. My trauma team had to take a cart out to the mail tent to get all of our boxes, packages, cards, and letters! Like Christmas morning, we open up the packages together and see what everyone has gotten. It truly is a lot of fun. Some of the things we hoard for ourselves, but much gets shared among the team and the rest of the ER (especially the food :)! Now, I will have to admit, some of the stuff we get is a little "different." Not sure what I am supposed to do with the chicken-loofah thing but it did make an interesting hat. My corpsman Will enjoyed being Rudolf for the day with the blinking nose and Santa antlers he received!

Again, my heartfelt thanks for remembering me and my fellow service members during this holiday season so far away from home!

GROUNDHOG DAY

Man, as I was walking to the hospital for morning report today, I realized just how Bill Murray felt. So much for the excitement with the USO tour a few days ago. After being here for almost 2 months, my days off are definitely starting to feel that way! Many of you have been asking what I do on my days off. Well, I have no days "off," as I am always on call for mass casualties, but at least on my days where I am not in the ER for 24 hours straight. Here's a glimpse at my groundhog day schedule: 0500- alarm goes off. Work out until 0645. Shower and get to hospital by 0730. Check email, get coffee, and eat breakfast (one hard boiled egg). Got to morning report and rounds. Have a cup of Chai Latte in the ER and chat with current team for a few minutes. Return to barracks. Work out until 1300. Go to DFAC (Dining Facility) for lunch (turkey, tomato, and provolone sandwich without the bread- I know.... weird:). Back to barracks. Read. Nap. Get up and go to dinner. Go to spin class or movie night. Go to bed... Alarm goes off.......

Thank God for the call days and the Stars and Stripes newspaper (see headline) to break it up! I did, however, catch a couple of interesting headlines on our newspaper's front page (The Stars and Stripes, which we get 1-2 days late on a regular basis, so we are a little "behind the times."). Mr. Walter Pincus must have graduated from ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism to come up with THAT headline. I mean really! Titles should give you actual insight to the article, not mislead you. (OK, since you can't see the article, it was about cuts to the program aimed at curbing casualties from the IED's. Duh. But I still think the headline was funny). However, Mr. Leo Shane III gets the award for most entertaining headline in one of last week's papers! (Actually, I decided not to include that one in my blog, but feel free to email me if you are curious what it said..........;)

HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY DAD!

USO Stars in the ER

I got to meet Jordin Sparks and Robert Horry. They were on a USO tour that came through Kandahar. Jordin Sparks was very nice and I got my picture taken with her. We talked about the "west side" of Phoenix, and I told her I still live in Phoenix, work at Thunderbird, and was born at Maryvale. A family friend was her dad's high school football coach in Phoenix. She gave me grief about my UofA scrubs (thanks Amy, I wear them every day on call!). Jordin even sang for us and told us about her new movie coming out in August. It is a remake of 1976's "Sparkle" that she stars in with Whitney Houston. I told Robert Horry I was from Phoenix. He was not impressed;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BENJAMIN!

Working Out

I took my workout addiction to a new maniacal high today- 8 hours, capped off with 2000 meters on the row machine followed by a grueling two hour spin class! I was feeling pretty impressed with myself during the spin class, until I looked up and the guy in front of me had a t-shirt that said "2010 Jalloween Javelina Jundred (mile) Race" from Aravaipa, AZ. Wow, now THAT is a workout! I am beat, though. 3 hours of spin (two sessions), 90 minutes of running, 60 minutes of elliptical, 60 minutes of P90x, 30 minutes of lifting, 20 minutes of rowing, 10 minutes of abs, and 30 minutes walking to and from the hospital completed my workout. It began at 0500, and finished at 2000 (8pm). It was broken up with a couple of hours at work, including an hour of teaching, a movie, and some time on the computer. I am lookking forward to my 24 hour shift in the ER tomorrow, as I get a day off of working out. I don't think I will repeat this day very often, especially when I return home:)

TRAINING

During our downtime, we are expected to “train.” This can take many forms. One day, the Veterinarian came in and gave us a talk about taking care of the canines. I did not realize how many canines (not “dogs”) were in theater, and how many military vets there are to take care of them. There are hundreds of canines in Afghanistan, and they are increasing it all the time. To take care of them, they have a whole cadre of vets and vet techs. They are all Army, but they serve all the forces. I figured they would just be stationed in the big military bases, but the vets are spread throughout the theater, including many FOB’s (Forward Operating Bases- much smaller than where I am at, by a magnitude of a hundredfold). At our base, we have a few vets, including the one pictured talking to us. They have their own clinic behind our hospital, and their own OR. For some cases, they will actually bring the canines in to our OR’s to operate, including taking care of gunshot wounds to the canines. They even brought a canine in under anesthesia to use our MRI which revealed a slipped disk in it’s back! Hilarious!

We also do regular training. We had a couple of Army medics up with us from a nearby FOB, who were training with us. Here I was giving a talk and demonstration of putting a breathing tube in a patient, using a scope that has a small video camera built in to make it easier to make sure the tube goes in the right place. Training keeps everyone sharp, and is a nice break from taking care of the wounded soldiers and civilians that we see. It fits in well with what I do back home perfectly, and hopefully will make a difference in taking care of our warriors when they do come in.

Kandahar Airfield Gets A Football Field and Track

Even in Afghanistan, the military must have its diversions. Just in time for Thanksgiving football, our new artificial turf field was finished. The rubberized track was finished soon thereafter. I figure the Air Force must have had something to do with it, as they always have the best amenities. They were probably turned down by DoD for a golf course here, so they settled for a football field, complete with track. In all seriousness, I am glad that taxpayer money did not go to this project, and it was completed with MWR funds that come from commissary/PX sales and the like.

It is, however, kind of nice to have. It definitely makes the boardwalk interior more colorful and useful. Besides, if the Canadians can have their hockey rink, the least that we can do is build a football field, right????? It was entertaining the other night walking along the Boardwalk after dinner, watching some hockey, soccer (played on the basketball court of all places:), and flag football games all going on. It is just another way to get at least a LITTLE taste of home while serving over here.......

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home. I got to celebrate eleven and a half hours earlier than all of you. Today we should be thankful for all the blessings we have in our lives, that we often take for granted. Looking around where I am right now, we all have much to be grateful for!

Shelter- a real roof over our heads, a solid floor, running water, and indoor plumbing.

Food- turkey and all the trimmings today, and not worrying if we will have some tomorrow, too.

Freedom- in too many ways to list.

Safety- that we don't have to worry while going about our daily lives.

Opportunity- to succeed as well as to fail, but opportunity nevertheless.

Health and healthcare-we enjoy the best system in the world to help us when we need it most.

Family- the most important of all, and what I am most thankful for!

On this Thanksgiving in Kandahar, it was a beautiful day at the Boardwalk. In many ways similar to home. People off work, enjoying themselves before a turkey feast. Playing volleyball and flag football (on our new artificial turf field that you can see in the background!). Spending time with friends. Our hospital group (spearheaded by my two corpsmen), decided to give back by organizing a "Turkey Day Tire Flip" to raise money and awareness for the Wounded Warrior Program, which helps take care of our wounded soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines after they transition out of the hospital, both here as well as back in the US. We flipped a 275lb MRAP tire a total of 3500 times, or over 5km! We raised almost $2,000 to donate to the program. It was an awesome time to give back as we realize all too well here just how lucky we are. I was happy just to "flip it" more times than my age (I did 50 flips, or one "lap.") My corpsman HM2 Maher did it over 300 times! (However, he is going to Marine Recon (special forces) training after this deployment and is just barely over half my age). As is the norm here, my trauma team got called in to the hospital just a little over halfway through the event. Our job here is never done, even on Thanksgiving........

Love, hugs, and kisses to all back home! I miss you all!

UofA beats ASU 31-27!

Even in Afghanistan, a world away, I can't be stopped from following the Cats! Despite a miserable season, they manage to end on a high note for me to bring a little sunshine my way! A nailbiter to be sure, and despite 2 missed field goals, we pulled it off. I am sorry to have been unable to witness it in person, but following it closely over the internet on a sunny Sunday afternoon was still a treat. Maybe "Flat Brad" made it in person, though...........

The Canadians Are Leaving:(!

The Canadians are leaving this month. They are not leaving Afghanistan, but are moving their resources to another area. It is strange being able to have a celebration in a TGIF’s in Afghanistan. Outside, on the Boardwalk, it is not your usual TGIF’s. But inside, you would never know you were thousands of miles from the US, if it were not for the NA beer and “virgin” drinks served at the “bar” and with dinner (oh yeah, and the fact that almost everyone is ARMED). Pictured is my trauma team, including the former leader, Doug, an active duty Canadian ER doc and our active duty Canadian nurse, Tammy. They will both be sorely missed by the rest of us.

Reality hit hard a few days ago. A young soldier, barely out of his teens, came in to the trauma bay with a gunshot wound to his chest, just outside the protection of his vest. Despite heroic attempts by six physicians as well as multiple nurses and corpsmen, we were unable to save his life. My first “dignified transfer,” which is the name given to the ceremony as we transfer a fallen soldier out of the hospital to the flight line, was an experience I will never forget. To see over 50 people from throughout the hospital come down and line the hallway from the trauma bay to the door leading to the flight line to pay their respect for the fallen warrior was awe inspiring. It is hard to stand at attention as the flag draped soldier goes by and keep focused with tears welling up in your eyes.

As is the modus operandi in any ER, however, our team had to focus and get right back to the job at hand and prepare for the next patient coming in….

11/11/11 VETERAN'S DAY

111111. Interesting number and date this year. Veteran’s Day. Armistice Day. Remembrance Day. It is called my many names throughout the world. It is known by many names throughout our coalition here in Kandahar at the Role 3 Hospital as well. Our hospital is actually called “NATO Role 3, MMU.” The “MMU” stands for “Multinational Medical Unit,” which truly describes us. It was amazing this morning, to commemorate (I won’t say “celebrate,” as it is really not a day to “celebrate”) this day we had a ceremony outside the hospital, with many nations represented. To see all our flags together was impressive. Both our XO (a Canadian Colonel) and our CO (a US Navy Captain) spoke at the ceremony. A US Navy petty officer sang our National Anthem. A Canadian officer read the poem “In Flanders Field,” which was written by a Canadian during WWI. It was moving and brought tears to my eyes.

Later in the day, appropriately scheduled for Veteran’s Day, was the unveiling of our new Remembrance Wall at the Role 3 Hospital. It was a pictorial of the history of the hospital here, from the original tent/wood sided facility to the modern hospital that it is today. Many dignitaries and representatives of the seven coalition countries were present. To be a part of this was a very moving experience on this Veteran’s Day. It was a time for all of us to reflect upon those who have served and died around the world to make sure we have the countries and the freedoms we all enjoy today. It reminds me of the quote: “all gave some, and some gave all.” That truly sums up what our military is all about. I am proud and honored to be able to be here doing my part. God bless our veterans, both current and past, and God bless America.

UofA Homecoming, the 26 year streak goes on.....

Amazingly, thanks to my brother and sister-in-law, I was able to pull off a “Hermione” and actually be in two places at once. While getting ready to staff one trauma bay for a mass casualty event (in my UofA scrubs of course in honor of UofA Homecoming), I was able to simultaneously stand in line with my brother, Del Kyger, and Mike Myers outside the Buffet Bar at 0600 to have a beer. While I was in Afghanistan sleeping later that night, “I” (or as I was known in Tucson “Flat Brad”) was enjoying Homecoming in Tucson with my family and friends, and even got to enjoy a ride on the Sigma Chi float during the Homecoming parade! I heard many other stories of what “I” did and where “I” went, but I will have to see the pictures myself to believe it (contact Kelli or Mike Myers if you want to see the pictures). Thankfully, I guess my streak of making it to 27 UofA Homecomings in a row is alive and running!

Steph's Birthday pt. 2

I guess "I" was able to make it to Steph's birthday after all! Thanks to Ben and Kelli for making it possible to join Steph, my parents, my family and friends to celebrate!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPH!

Happy birthday Steph! I wish I could be there with you on your birthday celebrating and enjoying UofA Homecoming this weekend. I know you will be surrounded by our UofA family and friends, however.

This is the closest I could get to "Top Gun" for you for your birthday. Unfortunately, the Army is not quite like the Navy aviators when it comes to "Top Gun" volleyball:)!

Have fun this weekend and "GO CATS!"

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Once again, it is a dichotomy here to be having a halloween costume party in our ambulance bay/courtyard of the hospital, drinking (near) beer, eating food and candy, and having fun while ambulances role by with trauma patients.

It was, however, a fun party, complete with a costume contest, a haunted house, and "scary-oki." Some departments, such as mental health, came as a group (the Wizard of OZ). It was truly a great time and brought us a little closer to "home."

It continues to amaze me how great the medical staff is here. I took care of a little Afghan girl who was shot by the Taliban (accidentally or on purpose it was not clear) in the chest. The bullet entered above her collar bone and lodged behind her sternum (breastbone) near her heart. She lucked out that it did not hit any vital structures and the surgeons here were actually able to operate and remove the bullet. It was found sitting on her heart and millimeters away from significant blood vessels. I would put my life in their hands any day. They are truly amazing!

Role 3 Hospital

My job in Kandahar is to be a “trauma team leader” (or TTL for short) in the ER. As a referral trauma center for a large part of Afghanistan (and for all of Afghanistan for some needed specialties), we are considered a “Role 3 Hospital.” We function like a Level I trauma center back home. However, since our priority is trauma, we get to turf almost all non-trauma illnesses to the urgent care. Patients with heart attacks and other serious illnesses still come to us, as well as POI (or point of injury) trauma patients and trauma transfers from other places. We get locals as well.

I knew it was going to be a great work environment when I got my first trauma and the translator shows up in an Arizona Wildcats T-shirt! What are the odds of that?? I don’t think he even has a clue where Arizona is, but I figured it still had to be a good sign. (I only showed the shirt as I did not want to show his face since the local nationals helping us are not exactly well thought of by the Taliban.)

The staff decided since were on for 24 hours and could not get to the DFAC for Taco Tuesday, then we would bring Taco Tuesday to us! When the XO started to bring a group through the ER on a tour, I quickly jumped up and pulled the curtain around our little “fiesta” going on.

I realize that my job will not be like this most of the time, but it certainly was a great welcome and a great way to start!

On to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan

This flight was not quite like the flight to Kuwait. First of all, we were in full “battle rattle” (the term for our Kevlar helmets and Kevlar vest with ceramic plates). Next, as we walked up the plane’s rear end, I realized the accommodations were not quite “business class.” I was told to sit along the side as it was the most comfortable. Wow, if that is comfort, I can’t imagine what the center seats were like. Actually, I can and did as I was facing row after row of large men in helmets and Kevlar vests with backpacks and weapons squeeze into 5 middle seats with less leg room than a commercial airplane. My seat was basically web netting over a steel seat with a small pad for your head. After being up already for almost 20 hours, I tried in vain to sleep during the flight. No use. So I tried to read under the red lights on in the vast fuselage, also no use.

When we arrived in Kandahar, we were again blasted with hot dry air. I thought Kuwait was dusty, it was nothing like this. I was greeted by a Petty Officer assigned as a sponsor to me to get me through orientation. So while the rest of my group was languishing in the terminal, she quickly whisked me out to a waiting vehicle. The day was spent touring the hospital (right off the flight line), the NATO barracks (about a half mile away but 20 yards from the NATO gym!), and the various DFAC’s: Niagara (American), Luxemburg (or just the “Lux”- European), the Cambridge (British), and the Asian. Then she took me to the famous “Boardwalk.” I swear it is a weird combination of old Wild, Wild West and modern war. As I walked up the wooden steps onto the wooden boardwalk, I looked down at my M9 in the thigh holster which easily could have been an old Colt six-shooter slung low on my hip. As I walked around the boardwalk everyone was armed to the teeth with automatic weapons. Shops lined the outside and a hockey rink (cement, not ice obviously), volleyball courts, basket ball courts/dodge ball courts, and a small soccer/cricket field. The shops and restaurants were just like Dodge City, except it was Green Beans Coffee and TGIF’s serving coffee and N/A beer instead of whiskey and real beer. Finally, my sponsor drove me by the infamous “poo pond” where all the sewage goes. At the edge sits a chair with “Life Guard on Doodie” painted on the back. Between the dust and the poo pond, I will definitely become a treadmiller instead of an outdoor runner here. I don’t know how much truth there is to it, but the rumor is that someone who ran all the time during their year-long deployment had a biopsy of their lung revealing 16% fecal matter! Don’t want to go to that extreme just to get VA benefits!

This is truly a multi-national and multi-cultural place. We are surrounded by various “camps” within the wire. The Brits, the Danish, the Slovaks, the French, the Germans, the Singporians (sp?), the Australians and more. The Canadians even have their own little “compound” with a Tony Horton’s (their version of Starbucks), a recreation center, a gym and a PX. Contractors abound as well as local nationals. The uniforms are interesting as well. The Aussies look like something out of a cartoon with their camouflage resembling PJ’s with brown and tan balloons on them and their rifles resemble something out of a Buck Roger’s episode. Actually, even our own new “in country” cammies look like comfortable green pajamas. The locals even put on a bazaar on Saturdays selling all sorts of local merchandise.

This should prove to be interesting!

KUWAIT

Landing in Kuwait at sunrise was an interesting site. The sunrise was beautiful but the scenery was a cross between the sandunes near Yuma and the last 20 miles to Rocky Point. The heat immediately blasted us at 0530 as we walked off the plane. After passing multiple security points, we finally arrived at Camp Virginia in Kuwait. I tried to picture 1 million US Marines, Army, and Air Force personnel, planes, tanks, and other vehicles massing here preparing to push north into Iraq back in 1990-91.

Our barracks consisted of a large tent, housing almost 20 commanders and lieutenant commanders in ours. The toilets were 50 yards away and had no lights. The showers were over 100 yards away through the dirt and sand, but they did actually have lights and hot water. The dining facility (or DFAC as they are called), was over a half a mile away through the fine sand. They did, however, have first-run (well, almost first-run) movies so I proceeded to see 5 movies over the next 3 days. They did have some other perks in Kuwait as well, such as O’douls served in the DFAC, a Starbucks, a McDonalds, and a Panda Express (there was no way in hell that I was trying a Panda Express out here!)

We had been up for 36 hours after the flight to Kuwait so most of us crashed the first day. The next 2 days consisted of paperwork, movies, reading, eating, sleeping, and travel plans. My group would fly straight to Kandahar.

As we piled in the bus to leave, I noticed the Chief Petty Officer sitting next to me in the front had a loaded clip of ammo for his M4 as he was our designated security. Between the full clip of ammo and him sternly telling our driver to “please put the cell phone down and do not touch it again” made it all too clear that we were now actually in a war zone and potentially dangerous area.

Flying to Kuwait in Military "Style"

After waiting all day in the USO for the buses to arrive (I was planted in a recliner for over 8 hours minus 30 minutes for dinner and potty breaks), we walked out to board the buses. To our surprise, a cadre of local bikers and police were lined up to escort us to the airport. Amazing! Then, upon our arrival at the airport hanger, we were greeted by over 100 locals and volunteers to wish us a safe trip. There were flags and volunteers and boyscouts and girlscouts giving away books, cookies, snacks, pizza, soda, coffee- incredible. Brought tears to my eyes as they created a long line to see us off to board the plane. Shaking our hands, wishing us a safe deployment, and offering hugs as we passed. I have never witnessed anything like it.

As we boarded the plane, I was glad to be an officer. We got to sit up in business class. It seemed like first class to me as the seats had individual entertainment systems and could recline fully. So much for FTA regulations and the TSA as we were all fully armed with our weapons.

A stop in Germany for refueling enabled us to enjoy our last beers for 8 months. We savored every drop and a few of the enlisted folks actually got quite hammered. People were singing on the plane when we boarded again and two of our more theatrical officers decided to play flight attendant and did our preflight brief before we took off. As we took off just after dusk, I watched the lush green fields of Frankfurt drop away and knew I would not see such lush foliage again for over 7 months.