Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Lt. Nott's Knot and Upcoming Transition

Good Evening Everyone,
We have been very busy lately and so updating the blog has been a little difficult. The flu went around and most of us were ill over the last two weeks but that has passed. Let me update you all on a few things that we have been dealing with here. First of all, we had several of our troops get into trouble. We had one of our guys actually made his own alcohol out of fruit, sugar, and yeast that he ordered from Germany. Well, he and several others were caught drinking. Alcohol consumption is illegal here, in addition some of the troops were under 21, so it was a double whammy. So, that has taken a few of our medics out of our clinic while they deal with that issue. Then we had a soldier who decided to go out on patrol without informing the command element. He was unaccounted for at least 10 hours. That is a big deal here as accountablility is of the utmost priority. So, that has been taking time for our command to manage.

Friday, Dr. Altman and myself will be putting on a small conference for Iraqi physicians. The purpose of this conference is to begin the process of transitioning the responsibilities of providing medical care from the U.S. military to the Iraqi's. It is a process that will take a few years but we are honored to be able to start that process Friday. I will post pictures of the conference next week.

We welcomed our new optometrist and his technician this week. Dr. Jin Ha will be taking over for Dr. Geiman. I am glad to have him as a part of our staff. Optometry is a big part of our mission. Next week I will be going through the clinic and take pictures of our staff so that you can all have a face to put to the names when I talk about them.
We have been truly blessed with care packages and letters from home. We have at least 100 care packages in our MWR room right now. We combine them and give them to our troops and to our patients. But of all of the items that we receive, the most treasured are the letters for elementary students. Many schools back home have sent their childrens letters and cards of encouragement to us. In an instant, these letters brighten our day and put a smile on our faces. It is amazing to see the biggest and most rugged of soldiers become almost giddy when reading these letters. We have all taken time to write back to these kids and have found it to be very therapeutic. These children remind us of those we have left behind and they somehow fill an empty place in our hearts.

Well, Lt. Nott our Registered Nurse came to me and asked if I could remove an abdominal cyst. He says that it is in an area that causes him some discomfort when he bends over. So, when we had some down time, I took him into the trauma room and removed it for him. Here are the photos. Lt. Nott gave permission to post these on this blog. As a note, I do not publish photo's of any combat trauma or battle injuries. So you are stuck looking at our own boring photos.



Lt. Nott is psych'ing himself up for the procedure.


I have given him a local and have prep'd the area with betadine.


Making the initial incision.

We had a little audience gather to comfort Lt. Nott. Actually, they taunted him the entire time.


Things are going well.


I have dissected down to the top of the cyst.


Putting on traction

Spc. Gravitt assisted me with this procedure. She is a good medic and also our resident swimming instructor.

Behind me is Dr. Rod McPhee. He is an allergist and he wanted to come in and see what we were doing. So, I put him to work as our circulator. He is a great guy to work with.

Just another lipoma.

Here I am exploring the wound to make sure I didn't leave anything behind.

Ready to close

Just approximating the wound edges

Finishing up the closure. It is a little tight but will do well. I used a locking suture for this which will provide appropriate tension when the skin is pulled tight and will relax when pressure is removed.

I think Lt. Nott needs some sun on that skin

Peace

Lt. Nott is relieved. I don't think it was as bad as he thought it would be. He did a great job and only cried twice.

Another happy customer.

6 comments:

Tim said...

gosh jeffey when r u gonna learn how to spell my last name correctly...its NOTT...and also by the way that is MAJ McPHEE standing behind u and doing the circulating...too funny but all jokes aside...U DID A GREAT JOB AND I PERSONALLY THINK YOU ARE A GREAT MAN...THANK YOU

beeceem said...

Yea Jeff you did a great job but if you are having trouble recognizing the difference between Rod and Andy then was it really "just a lipoma"??? Curious minds.

crys said...

Jeff.. Thanks so much. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about you and the people there. The kdis and I would have loved to see one of the pics of Tim crying :).. Thanks again for all your doing!!!

Jeff said...

Hey Tim,
I did spell your name right you knuckle head. You should be thankful that I didn't tell everyone that you screamed and cried like a baby when I stuck that needle in you. I didn't even mention when you passed out and became incontinent. So, be nice to me big boy or I will be all over you like a spider monkey jacked up on Mountain Dew.

Jeff said...

Crystal,
Thanks for checking in. Tim did cry and he also told everyone that he is in charge at home and that he wears the pants in the family. I just thought you should know. He also says that he is your boss. I am not trying to cause problems, just telling it like it is. :0)

Anonymous said...

OMG! What is it with you and cysts! It reminds me of you removing Les's growth! I think I was a much prettier assistant than that guy standing behind you!!!