NAVAL ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD TIME...................the ending!

Finally!  After 8 long months, I am home.  It was so wonderful seeing the Superstition mountains when my plane was arriving to the valley of the sun.  I can't believe it has been 8 months. Although we all appreciate what we have, you REALLY learn to appreciate things when deployed away from friends and family for 8 months.  I have the most amazing friends and family anyone could ask for.  Thank you to Stephanie, Benjamin and Morgan, and all my family for supporting me and each other during my absence while serving our country once again in Iraq this time. I am truly thankful to you all. I love you all more than you will ever know.  God bless our family and God bless America!

 

HOMEWARD BOUND (SLOWLY.........)

The long journey home was not long just because of the distance between QWest, Iraq and Phoenix, AZ USA.  It is because the Navy makes it a process, with many steps in between.  Luckily, some of the steps were actually enjoyable, while others were very frustrating and painful.  We kept in mind, however, that at least we were making forward progress on our trip home. 

Our first stop was Germany (we were supposed to have 10 days in Qatar, but this was cut to 5 hours due to a delay in our replacements getting to us.  Thanks Air Force, who can't seem to fly if there is a cloud in the sky :(  Germany was a tax payer funded vacation to "decompress."  Not sure if that goal was achieved, but it was a nice mini vacation to Sembach, Germany and the surrounding towns.  Our "firsts" continued, with our first beer in 8 months being quite the celebration!  After 2, I was ready to go to bed by about 7:30pm.

 

 

I still got a chance to continue my workouts (cut down to 4 hours a day from 7, but still nice) with running in the cold and wet mist every morning.  We also had some "nice" food in the DFAC at Sembach, and although it looked more aesthetically pleasing than Iraq, I missed my old egg scramble to order from the DFAC in QWest which was MUCH bigger and had a LOT more goodies!

 

 

 

 

Germany also had the biggest beer mugs I have ever seen, these 3 liter ceramic cartoon versions of a mug!  My ER corpsman enjoys 3 liters of German beer with lunch (they actually did have 5 liter ones which were beyond ridiculous:)

 

 

 

We also got to travel to 3 different cities, including Kaiserslautern, Trier, and the Air Force base at Ramstein Air Force Base which boasts the biggest military mall outside of the USA.  I did get to have awesome apple strudel, schnitzel, and the German version of haggis (not sure what it was called :).  My spin buddies and I in Trier, Germany at the Roman coliseum as well as me in front of a store named BUTLERS that I had to get a picture...…

 

 

 

 

 

After Germany, where we turned in our military gear and weapons (YEA), it was off to the USA for paperwork, medical, and processing in Norfolk.  It was amazing finally arriving back in the US, being greeted by a line of wonderful supportive citizens, complete with food and water and flags for us.

 

 

 

 

Norfolk began a long, painful, inefficient journey of medical, paperwork, power points, and waiting.  It started off by us arriving on a Tuesday but not getting started until Thursday as all the staff had the day off Wednesday for President Bush's services/memorial.  We had an awesome dinner on Thursday at a Brazilian steakhouse.  I proceeded to eat every type of protein put in front of my face, followed by 4 bowls of the lobster bisque soup. The waiter told me I now hold the record for the most bowls of soup he had ever seen consumed!  After the filling dinner, the 6 hour presentation the next day on how to get a job and what benefits we are all entitled to (geared towards active duty folks retiring, but one that we were forced to endure anyway.....) was a little painful.  So interesting, my roommate fell asleep...….

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, back in QWEST...…………..

While this was going on in the US, I was worried that my spin and yoga classes that I had worked so hard to start were dead.  Not to worry, LT Steele, an active duty ER nurse and fellow UofA Wildcat from Sierra Vista had continued my classes!  GO 'CATS!  UofA leads the way, even in Iraq!  And Kenneth at the gym made sure my elliptical was not lonely by saying hello every morning and goodnight every evening to it and still put water and notes on it even though I was gone!  He might be the world's most sentimental person!

 

 

 

 



The highlight of all the painful process in Norfolk, was our trip to the Army/Navy game in Philadelphia.  We got tickets from USAA for free.  We had an extra ticket, so my brother in law TJ got to go as well, taking a redeye from Phoenix Friday night.  The Navy Dental Corps tailgater was phenomenal, and luckily it was a sunny day. 

 

 

 

The game was a close one and we had a blast.  I sat with TJ and my roommate Chris (our orthopedic surgeon).  My Commander in Chief, President Trump, much to the dismay of the secret service I am sure, proceeded to come up into the stands about 15 yards from our seats and watch the game for about the first 15 minutes of the second half. 

 

 

 

 

 

It was amazing being at the game, and the ceremony of the game, from the opening invocation to the closing songs from both the Midshipmen of Annapolis followed by the Cadets from West Point was incredible and moving and a nice capstone to my deployment.  Definitely checked off a bucket list item!

 

 

 

 

In between all the painful processes, I continued to get my workouts in, even when it started snowing outside!

 

 

 

 

Next stop, HOME- the end of my Naval Encounters of the Third Time!







 













 

"Lasts" in Iraq....

Finally, my time has come to an end in QWest, Iraq, and it was time to say goodbye.  Our replacements were a little late, but arrived in time for turnover and in time to get us out so we can get home by Christmas.

A few "lasts" in my last few weeks in Iraq.....

The other ER doc and I took call every other week for 6 months.  The radio, went turned on, would chirp out loudly "ZONE ONE!"  I still have no idea what that meant, but it was starting to give me PTSD after taking call for so long every time I heard it.  During my call week, I would have to take it with me everywhere, even on my runs.  Not a light radio.....  It was nice to have my last run with it and when I was finally able to put it in the charger for the last time.

 

It was an even better feeling when CDR Rios and I were able to "permanently" turn it over to our replacements!

 

 

 

 

Teaching the Iraqi medics was a large part of our work here in Iraq.  It was nice to be able to hand out coins and CE (Continuing Education) certificates to the Iraqis we trained on our last day with them.  It was bittersweet saying goodbye to them at our last class, though, as we learned a lot from them as well.  We will miss them!

 

 

 

 

Cleaning out both my spaces in the ER was quite a chore, including my "drawer", but I eventually got it done in time for us to leave! 

 

 

Cleaning out my living space in the tent was even more of a chore, however, as I threw away my shower shoes, crocs, running shoes, some socks with holes in them, snacks I had not eaten in 6 months, etc...........

 

 



 
 

 

Our last MASCAL (mass casualty) training event was awesome, as all we had to do was oversee our replacements performing it.  That was a great feeling!  No more patient care!

 

 

Our "last" OR case (which also happened to be our "first" traumatic injury OR case), happened our last week in Iraq.  A contractor put his hand in the propeller of one of the drones, shredding his fingers.  Our orthopedist, my roommate, was happy to finally get to operate after 6 months of nothing...…

 

 

 

 

Probably the hardest thing to leave and say goodbye to, was my "home away from home," the gym!  My last spin class was one to remember, and my class made it special by signing a card for me, thanking me for leading them for the last 6 months of workouts.  I will miss them and miss teaching the classes as well as our dinners following class three times a week.

 

 

 

I will miss my elliptical (literally "MY" elliptical- Kenneth from the gym would actually "reserve" it in the morning for me with a bottle of water and a towel and occasionally a note, like my last one here) which I spent hundreds of hours on, allowing me to read over 50 books while here in Iraq.

 

 



 



Bye, bye gym.  Bye, bye 7 hour-a-day workout sabbatical...…

 

 

And then we were off to begin our long journey home!

 





 
 
 

 







 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 
 
 
 
 



TRANSFORMATION

Once again, after working out 6-8 hours a day, eating a healthy diet, and having no beer calories has allowed me to transform physically.  I went from 176 lbs and 15% body fat down to 155 lbs and 6% body fat.  The "real" pictures I have will not be posted here but are equally amazing to my transformation 6 years ago in Afghanistan.  50 really IS the new 30! 

 

 

My roommate and I, in our before picture in Athens, Greece on our way to Iraq and our after picture in front of Neptune, who adorned our hospital T walls.  We combined to lose over 55 lbs, while our hospital group lost over 400 lbs!

 

 

 

I have to thank my "gym family" and a couple others for helping to make the transformation both possible as well as enjoyable at the same time.  I was able to fly flags over our hospital on by 50th birthday to give to them to thank them for helping to make my transformation possible and to make the classes I taught so many others possible as well.

 

The first I met was Randi. She was working at the desk in the weight gym and I asked her why the spin classes and yoga classes had no leaders showing up as per the schedule published on the wall.  She explained that the instructor did not show up here in QWest, and went to another base instead.  She suggested that I should teach the classes if I wanted to be able to do spin and yoga here on base.  I reluctantly agreed.  I am thankful I did though, as it turned out to be a great decision, allowing me to have fun teaching, vary my workout, and help others get in shape as well.  In addition to convincing me to teach the classes, Randi worked hard to make sure that I had a speaker for my spin and yoga classes and everything was set up to go.  She also helped to decorate the gym for the holidays, making my home away from home that much more "homelike". Thanks Randi!

 

 

 

The next one I met was Nelson.  Easy name for me to remember! Nelson was awesome, helping me to set up all my classes as well.  I especially want to thank Nelson for all our interesting conversations we had, usually while I was on the elliptical while we discussed everything from family to politics to hunting to books. Thanks Nelson!

 

 

 

Finally, I want to thank Kenneth.  He was amazing!  Kenneth worked tirelessly to ensure my bikes were always ready to go, my mats were always clean for yoga, and that we had flyers all over the base advertising my classes.  I can't thank Kenneth enough for making my 50th birthday one to remember.  He decorated the bikes with balloons and had 2 birthday cakes waiting for me when I arrived to teach on my birthday.  Kenneth decorated my spin class for my Halloween spin class as well.  Kenneth also would "reserve" my elliptical bike for me every morning.  Finally, Kenneth put together a video of the Navy folks highlighting  how much the MWR Gym would miss the Navy when we were gone. It was quite the production and he played the video regularly on the TV in the gym, including looping it continuously our last day at QWest to say goodbye!  Thank you Kenneth!

 

 

 

 

In addition, I would like to thank my two spin instructors from my gym back home, Cheryl and Jordan, for providing me with my spin music list/videos for my classes.  Without them, my classes would have gotten very boring hearing the same 4 spin lists I had made, over and over.  The videos were awesome as well, making my classes that much more enjoyable for everyone.  It was fun to be able to present them their flags when I took their spin classes back home.

 

 

 

 

 
 



 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 



 
 



 

 



 



THANKSGIVING IN IRAQ

Well, despite the fact that we were NOT supposed to spend Thanksgiving here in Iraq, still, here I am :).  I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, spent with family and loved ones being together and giving thanks for all the blessings so many of us have in our lives.

A little tour through my Thanksgiving in Iraq, as well as living vicariously through my family back home!

They  a do a great job of decorating for holidays here at QWest (as you saw in my Halloween post), and Thanksgiving was no exception (I certainly hope we are NOT here still to see the Christmas decorations :(   The Army is always asking us why the Navy is here in the desert, with no ships and no ocean in sight.  Well, here it is, Army!  Thanks to KBR, our ship finally came in at QWest for Thanksgiving!

 

 

Thanksgiving day began, of course, with some exercise.  I actually did "group exercise" with the hospital (after a couple of hours on my own, of course) during our Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 5K.  Although I did not come in first (or last), I did happen to just nudge out our CO (who also happens to be the oldest member of our group).

 

 

 

 

Next, it was off to the DFAC for the first of three Thanksgiving meals!  Of course, we began by praying (along with some creepy pilgrims), followed by eating.  The food was amazing.  It was very strange, however, not being the first in line like is tradition in my household for me!  I also, for the first time I can remember, did not get seconds (I think I have definitely shrunk my stomach).

 

 







 

 

After dinner, drinks followed, of course!  (why they decorated Thanksgiving with a western saloon I will never know, but it made for great pics!:)

 

 

 

 

 

Although I enjoyed my Thanksgiving while still here in Iraq, it certainly was not the same as spending it with family back at home.  It is my favorite holiday exactly for that reason- spending it celebrating my thankfulness surrounded by those I love!  Here Morgan takes on my traditional role by being first in line (followed closely by my nephew and fellow Naval officer Cameron with our dog Midnight in the foreground)......….

 

 

 

Ben and Kelli had to try to outdo me for most exotic place to spend Thanksgiving by spending it in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower!  Thanks to you both for at least sharing your Thanksgiving with me via What's App :)!!!

 

 

 

 

I hope to be home to spend the next holiday, Christmas, by catching up with you all in person on my Naval Encounter of the Third Time!