2020- the CORONAPOCALYPSE (.....the ENDING)

Home!  After being gone for nearly two months, including fully three weeks in quarantine, I finally got to go home!  Back to family.  Back to our house.  Back to friends.  Back to work.  Back to our life.  Back to running in my wonderful, sunny, hundred degree heat along the canal in Phoenix (instead of laps around the hotel in San Diego).  Back to some degree of normalcy. Admittedly, two months is relatively "short" by most deployment standards to be sure. 

It was humbling to be returning home on Memorial Day, after serving our country helping to combat the "silent enemy" in New York City, which was a solemn reminder to keep those service members who made the ultimate sacrifice in our thoughts and prayers, as well as their families.  Despite the current Coronapocalypse still going on, we still have the honor and privilege to live in the greatest country in the world! Today is a reminder of that fact, and for us to remember those who have come before us, serving our country, and paying the ultimate price to defend our freedom and democracy and our way of life that we enjoy in the United States. To them, I salute you and thank you from the bottom of my heart.....

Steph kept up the tradition and had tied the yellow ribbon around the tree in our front yard.  Upon our return from the airport, I was able to untie it and take it down.  At least for now...

 

2020- the CORONAPOCALYPSE (the QUARANTINE.....)

No, for those of you who keep asking (and/or assuming), I am still NOT back home.....yet!  Although our mission ended over 2 weeks ago, I have been in extended quarantine since then.  Originally, we were going to be allowed to leave NYC for quarantine so I was packed and ready to go!

However, the decision was made that we are required to test (twice) prior to getting to go home. It took us a few days to get organized and get the testing set up.  After waiting two days for our results, we found out our tests were damaged (the tops popped off in flight we heard :) so we had to retest and wait another 3 days for results.  Then we had to wait for travel arrangements.  All the above  =  a week in quarantine already.  While waiting for test results, we were restricted to our hotel rooms in NYC, except to go downstairs to pick up our delivery food. No more runs :(  I did finally have some great NYC pizza, though, as recommended by Steph's lifelong friend Susan who has lived in NYC since we graduated from UofA.  Thank you Susan for the recommendation of Joe's Pizza!

Unfortunately, the week in quarantine in NYC awaiting our test results did NOT count toward our mandated 14 days of Restriction of Movement or "ROM" (which is essentially quarantine to hotel) that is required after leaving a "hot spot" before we can return home.  I did test negative, so I was allowed to travel on to San Diego on Mother's Day to complete my 14 day ROM.

 

 

After a 24 hour, painful travel day, we finally arrived at our hotel in San Diego, our home for the next 14 days of ROM.  Unfortunately, as part of ROM we are restricted to within 100 feet of the hotel, even for exercise.  Needless to say, running 20 laps around the hotel daily is NOT an enjoyable way to exercise.  I did decorate my room again, with both UofA as well as my "gym" for P90X (i.e. a chin up bar:).

 

They did realize, after a couple days, that we were no longer deployed and finally relented to allow us to have a glass of wine or beer with our meals or while relaxing (in a very socially distanced manner) on the patio at sunset.

Lots of working out, lots of reading, What's App'ing with family and friends, working on my Navy "Joint Professional Military Education," watching a few movies, attending teleconferences, keeping up with the news (switching between FOX, CNN, and MSNBC so I don't get too much of the same perspective :), doing interviews for Navy recruiters, and answering emails is how I am trying to occupy my time.  Starting to get old, however, and making me a little stir crazy after over 2 weeks already in quarantine.  Almost done, though! Glad to hear my gym and movie theaters and restaurants are opening up back home.  YEA! Can't wait! See you all soon!

 



 

2020- the CORONAPOCALYPSE (MISSION ACCOMPMLISHED!)

Our mission was accomplished last week in NYC!  Despite some of the press complaining that we did not "fully utilize" all the beds available in the Javits Center as well as on the USNS Comfort, we DID make a huge impact on the CORONAPOCALYPSE in NYC.  See the article below for a great perspective from a local hospital leader at one of the hardest hit hospitals- Elmhurst.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/national/new-york-javits-center-usns-comfort/2020/05/02/55abfe54-88af-11ea-8ac1-bfb250876b7a_story.html%3foutputType=amp


As the USNS Comfort left the dock nearby on the Hudson River on its way back to Norfolk, VA, we were finishing our mission at the Javits Center (JNYMS).

It was amazing to see the crowd gathered outside of the Javits Center, awaiting the discharge of our last patient from the our field hospital that I had helped to staff for the last month.

As every COVID19 patient would leave the Javits Center, 24/7, we would celebrate their success with cheers and clapping by the staff at the exit.  It was truly an awesome experience to take part in and behold.  The smiles on the patients faces will forever be etched in my mind as one of the true highlights of both my military as well as medical career!

My team of dedicated ER providers that served as the DMO's (Director of Medical Operations) at the intake of the Javits Center.  Army and Navy standing together in front of the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier docked at the pier on the Hudson. In all sincerity, thank you very much for my Army brothers that served with us over the last month! Go Navy Beat Army! 

 

2020- the CORONAPOCALYPSE (the injuries.....)

No, the "invisible enemy" did not get me.  However, both my n95 mask as well as the corner of the shelf in my hotel room did!

When we were taught how to "don" all the PPE that we would be required to wear during our shifts, it was suggested to me to try applying moleskin to my nose underneath both the n95 as well as surgical masks that we would be required to wear for 8-10 hours straight (the nurses did so for 12 hour shifts).  After having moleskin on my nose for 10 hours with an n95 and surgical mask and my glasses/eye protection on top of all of that, the moleskin was VERY firmly attached to my skin.  Needless to say, it peeled off some layers of skin when I puled it off!  This, followed by 4 more straight days of a tight n95 mask, surgical mask, and glasses wearing my nose skin down gave me a good start on the classic "COVID scar" on the nose that is so commonly seen on all our hospital workers.

 

 

Another few days, and some spreading inflammation and redness around the blistered and abraded skin, made me start worrying that I would go to the epicenter of the CORONAPOCALYPSE to take care of COVD19 patients only to end up dying of MRSA! How would that be for irony??  Luckily, I have some Bactroban antibiotic ointment with me and cleared the redness/infection(?) and started the healing of the skin....

 

Not to be outdone by moleskin and an n95 mask, the corner of the shelf above my desk attacked me one day when I stood up after working on my computer. I was worried that I would have to go to some urgent care in COVID central for stitches, but luckily, as I looked in my mirror, it was only a fleshwound that responded to pressure to (mostly) stop the bleeding.  However, it was not fun explaining to everyone that saw me and asked just how I received my deployment injury, which was quite obvious with my shaved head...…

 

 

 

 



 

2020- the CORONAPOCALYPSE (the thank you's.....)

Thank you New York City!  It was truly our honor and a privilege to come and lend our skills, our determination, our patriotism, and our compassion to assist you in your time of need.  Despite the fact that we did not need to utilize all of our vast military capabilities and bedspace (thankfully), we were, I believe, able to help unload  a significant portion of your overwhelming burden from your emergency departments and your hospitals during the peak of the CORONAPOCALYPSE.

Likewise, thank you for showing us your generosity, your welcoming demeanor, your hospitality, and the appreciation you showed us every night at 7pm, just at dusk, when your citizens, your first responders, and even your vehicles showed your appreciation for your healthcare workers on the front lines, including my military brothers and sisters and me!  While the video below does not do the in-person reality we were witness to on a nightly basis, I will never forget this experience and feel such a deep appreciation to have played a small roll during these trying times.

 

 

Not only did your general populace show us their appreciation on a nightly basis, but you lit up your skyline in our honor as well....

 

 

 

 

Even our military honored all those on the front lines battling the CORONAPOCALYPSE, including your own military medical brothers and sisters!  Thank you to the Navy's own Blue Angels as well as the Air Force's Thunderbirds, who blazed overhead, throughout and around the city....

 

 

 

 

 

New York City even sent us THANK YOU cards to our hotel!  The decorations brought a smile to my face every time I went to poor myself a cup of joe (quite often, usually 5-6 times a day :).

 

 

THANK YOU NYC!  I will truly never forget this experience. I look forward to returning in the not so distant future with my family, when you are back on your feet with your classic hustle and bustle lifestyle.  I plan on supporting and staying in my hotel in Hell's Kitchen and having the opportunity to show my family the Javits Center and my runs along the Hudson and the restaurants where I enjoyed takeout; where I experienced the opportunity of a lifetime to play a small role in your recovery, truly at ground zero in the epicenter of the CORONAPOCALYPSE

 





 

2020- the CORONAPOCALYPSE (the city)

The peak of the CORONAPOCALYPSE has, thankfully, passed in New York.  Between the hospital ship USNS Comfort, the Javits Center (JNYMS), and those military members out in the community, thousands of COVID 19 patients have been cared for during the last three weeks by our military healthcare workers in NYC.  While we are still caring for patients, our mission is starting to wind down.  Hopefully, we will be turning the mission at the Javits Center over to the city soon.

While I have been working many shifts, I have also had the opportunity to get out in the city during my runs.  New York City is certainly a different New York now during the CORONAPOCALYPSE.  It is strange to be out and about running with little traffic and few people.  Running along the Hudson River by the carrier Intrepid always reminds me of the opening scene of I Am Legend, where Will Smith is hitting golfballs off the ship into the city...

If you are wondering how I got such a "long distance selfie" during my run, it was taken by one of my trauma surgeons from my Iraq deployment.  He is deployed on the Comfort and was off the ship on the pier and happened to see me running by and snapped a pic!  To the south of the Intrepid, while running along the Hudson we have views of the Statue of Liberty as well as the new tower at ground zero. Both are poignant reminders to me of why I joined the Navy in the first place...

 

While the weather has often been rainy here, occasionally the sun comes out (or at least peeks out from behind the clouds) and I was able to have some "picnics" to get out of my hotel.  With social distancing here, we have no place to eat our take out food so we end up eating in our hotel rooms.  Not very appealing :(  However, during my runs I found some picnic tables near the Chelsea Pier to have a picnic. Amanda Zucker, a classmate of Ben and Jen from both Arcadia High School as well as UofA, is an art dealer in New York and was kind enough to bring some awesome food for a picnic, complete with table cloth!  I even got to take home the leftovers.  Thanks Amanda!

 

 

My roommate from my 2018 deployment to Iraq, orthopedic surgeon Chris Allison is also here in New York with the Navy, helping at a hospital in Harlem that lost half their orthopedic coverage due to the CORONAPOCALYPSE.  We were able to picnic at Chelsea Pier as well...

 

 

 

 

 

The sun finally came out yesterday, and it got up to a "balmy" 60 degrees!  Yes, I realize Phoenix hit triple digits, but it was (relatively) nice here in the sun and New Yorkers were finally out and about (with masks and still "somewhat" socially distant).  It was encouraging to see that here in New York, where they have been so devastated over the past month.  I was able to have picnic number three and meet Amanda's boyfriend and her dog as well.  I thought Deluxe had the best burgers around but I have to say, Whitmans' "Juicy Lucy" burger may have just become my new favorite!  I had to bring the table cloth this time to show the colors, along with my UofA shirt!

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 



 
 
 

 

 



2020- the CORONAPOCALYPSE (the mission)

Over 2,000 military medical personnel, from all branches, including the Army, Air Force, US Public Health Service, and yes, of course the NAVY (Go NAVY BEAT ARMY!!!!) have all descended upon the city of New York to help assist and offload the local hospitals and emergency departments that have been overwhelmed with COVID19 patients (along, of course, with the normal tail end of flu patients as well as other illnesses, trauma, and other emergencies).  It is truly and honor and a privilege to be here working at "ground zero" of the coronapocalypse in the US.  From the Navy hospital ship (USNS Comfort, where my two trauma surgeons from Iraq are taking care of surgical patients as well as helping to run the ICU) to field/tent hospitals to the Javits Center where I am working, we are truly making a difference in New York City by taking care of over a thousand patients (already), taking some of the pressure off of the already overburdened emergency departments, inpatient wards, and ICU's in the local hospitals here.  (Note: we are limited in the details we can share, but will share what I am able here and you can go online to likely see some more details that come out).

The Javits Center, where I work, is a huge convention center that has been converted to a gigantic field hospital with over 2,500 beds. (For comparison, Maricopa Medical Center, where I work in Phoenix, a Level I Trauma Center and tertiary care hospital, has about 550 beds).  It includes over 2,000 hospital/ward beds, two ICU's, a lab, radiology department, food service, bathrooms/showers for the patients, an administrative department, sick call/employee health, and the intake/triage area where I work.  The link below takes you to an article in the Washington Post that includes video of the interior and its construction:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/javits-center-coronavirus-field-hospital/2020/04/04/50bdbf32-75b2-11ea-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html

It is a beautiful facility with amazing capabilities.  Although we are not staffed to utilize the full bed capabilities, we are taking care of hundreds of patients in the facility.  Total numbers when we are all done will likely be in the thousands.  The entrance is where we go through security and screening to ensure we do not have a fever or are symptomatic to get to where we change in to scrubs.

 

 

After changing out of our uniforms, we get into our PPE for the 8 hour shift, including gown, eye protection, gloves, and two masks (an n95 mask followed by a surgical mask).  It is not comfortable wearing it for the 8 hour shifts that I do, but we are lucky as the nurses are doing 12 hour shifts! 

 

 

I, along with the other 3 Navy ER docs, work in the triage/intake area.  We initially screen the patients transferred to the Javits Center, assigning them to the appropriate level of care (ICU vs wards) and a medical team to take care of them.  As the DMO, or "Director of Medical Operations" for the shift, we also answer questions from nursing and physician team leads and help assist with any medical emergencies on the floor teams (i.e. deterioration in patient status).  It is an honor to be a part of the medical teams here making a difference in NYC in terms of increasing the local hospitals' ability to provide COVID and non-COVID care for all the patients in New York!



 

2020- the CORONAPOCALYPSE (the arrival)

I arrived in NYC over a week ago now.  We arrived after dark, checked into our hotel rooms, and I called home to tell Steph and Morgan that I had arrived safely and caught up with everything going on back home.  I will say, living in a hotel by myself (about a half mile away from my work, at the Javits Center), with my own bathroom, is certainly better than living in a tent with porta potties (Iraq, 2018) or even the dorm I shared with a roommate located down the hall from the bathroom (Afghanistan, 2011-12). 

 

 

I did have to "enhance" my room with my UofA flag, of course!  We do have a great big screen TV, cable, and free internet.  The food, however, was actually better during my deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.  I know that may sound strange, but the area in which we are allowed to go is limited to 1 block from the hotel east and north, then all the way west to the Javits Center and the running trail along the Hudson River (yes, I am, of course, still working out a couple hours a day, including P90X and a daily run along the Hudson past the Intrepid aircraft carrier and the USNS Comfort docked at the pier.  It IS a deployment and I am used to 5-6 hours a day for workouts on my deployments).  This area severely limits our food choices to a lot of identical deli's (good food, but not great variety) and a few other restaurants that are still open offering take out.  And eating takeout by myself in the hotel room is not that enjoyable.  There is, however, one Mexican food restaurant 100 yards from our hotel, but the menu is limited to fish tacos, a burrito, a cheese crisp, and a "plate" consisting of rice, beans, and choice of meat with side of tortillas. The last one is very good but I miss my chorizo!  Afghanistan had a British dining facility (aka "DFAC"), two American DFAC's, and an Asian DFAC.  Iraq had only one DFAC, but it had awesome eggs made to order in the am (pic below from my daily breakfast in Iraq:) and a hot line as well as a sandwich/soup/salad bar for lunch and dinner.  I miss them.....

 

 

 

 

 

More on what I am doing next......



 

2020- the CORONAPOCALYPSE (the beginning)

To be certain, these are crazy times we are living in today.  In light of the medical and humanitarian crisis due to the coronavirus occurring in New York City, and with the support of my family, I volunteered to deploy once again with the US Navy in support of the COVID19 Response by the US military.  Once again, I cut my hair (ok, let's be honest- I SHAVED MY HEAD:), packed my bags, and headed off to join my fellow Sailors with the US Navy!

With less than 24 hours notice, I boarded a plane to Philadelphia, in order to check in at Fort Dix along with fellow Army, Navy, and Air Force medical personnel deploying to support our fellow healthcare workers who are inundated and overwhelmed with the COVID19 crisis in NYC.  In less than 2 hours after I found out I would be deploying, my colleagues at both my ER jobs (at both Maricopa Medical Center as well as Springerville) had volunteered to cover over 90% of my shifts for the next two months.  Soon after, they would all be covered.  Thanks to my family and all my colleagues for their support.  In the plane, I was upgraded to first class for free along with 3 other Reservists being deployed from all over the west to NYC along with me.  In accordance with appropriate protocols, we "socially" distanced while in first class.....