Monday, March 2, 2009

A Quick Update...

Good Evening All,

I want to thank you all so much for checking in. I hear almost daily about how many people are checking in to see how we are doing. So, thank you for your interest. If you have any ideas or suggestions about this blog please let me know.

First of all, we would like to welcome Dr. Mike Jones to our staff. He arrived last week. Mike is one of our guys. I have worked with him for over ten years and he is a stand up guy and a good friend. When he arrived, I was quick to let him know that I was his boss. He just chuckled and then informed me that he was taking the afternoon off to go take a nap. So, much for a doc respecting authority. It is a time honored Army tradition for medical officers to disregard authority. In fact, it is well known that George Washington's doctor at Valley Forge would actually show up at the clinic wearing a bath robe and fuzzy slippers. So, this is what I have to work with.

Our NCO's this week went down to the medical school house and graded the EMT's final practicum. We are in the process of training up more soldiers to be EMT certified. So, even here we continue to teach and learn.

We have had a rough February. A few days ago, we lost three soldiers and an interpreter outside of our gates. They were ambushed and lost their lives in the battle. One of our medics, worked on one of the soldiers at the hospital, but it was too late. Additionally, two weeks ago, we had three other soldiers who were hit with and IED. One of the soldiers lost his legs and the other two were air evac'd from our base to Germany. We also had 8 Iraqi soldiers shot during a mission. They were transported to our base and triaged. It truly breaks my heart when a soldier loses his life. I pray that the Lord will make our efforts worth the cost.

I have had some people ask me to update them more on military matters. The problem is that we cannot divulge any information unless cleared by command or has already been released for public viewing. The information I shared here has been posted in the Stars and Stripes. But for the most part, much of the details concerning military missions or soldiers injuries or deaths, I normally will not speak about. I hope you understand our position.

I had a gentleman come in yesterday with a case of what I believe to be Shistosomiasis. He is one of our soldiers and was in Ethiopia recently. He returned with a complaint of having worms in his stools. I obtained a stool sample for parasite and ovum, but I won't get those results back for a few weeks. So, I treated him empirically with Praziquantel. He had a bad reaction to that medication so I switched him to Vermox. I hope that will do the trick. If his lab result do return as Shistosomiasis, it will be the first and perhaps the last case of that, that I will probably see. So, from a medical stand point, very exciting.

Finally, I will be coming home for a two week leave. I leave here on the 24th of March. I look forward to the break. It will be nice to breathe fresh air and get a good nights sleep. Karis has her birthday on the 6th of April, so I will be able to be there for that. She will be ten years old. I can't believe it. Time is going by so fast. I look forward to going into the office and seeing my coworkers. They are awesome people!!! and I can't wait to pet my fat cat, Tybalt. Karen, says that he has gained a lot of weight since I have been gone. I think I will put him on a diet.

Well, I will let you all go. Thank you again for checking in. I really do appreciate your support and encouragement. You are all very important to us and knowing you guys are back home waiting for us, gives us strength to carry on.

I pray that the Lord fills you with His Holy Spirit and I pray that the Lord will calm you troubled hearts. We all have things in our lives that we bring to the Lord and ask for His guidance. Please believe that he will answer your prayers according to His will and will bring you peace. I would ask that you all pray for me. I too have a concern that has troubled me for years. Please pray that the Lord guides me and brings closure for me on this issue. I have had a conflicted heart and I need peace and resolution. So, your prayers would be wonderfully accepted with gratitude.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12

Please take care and have a great week.

Jeff

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

First time to see this. Its awesome to see you doing so much. I'll e-mail soon. Love your brother,Lonny

Anonymous said...

Jeffy,

Glad to see Major Jones made it there, ok. Tell Mickey his favorite former Trojan says, "hey!"

You, he and McFarland should be quite the trio!

On a serious note, it saddens me to hear that there is still so much violence. I pray often that God keeps you all safe and helps your families deal with your absences. Take care of each other.

Jeff said...

Lonny,

It is great to hear from you. I am glad that you received my letter. I will be coming home in a few weeks. I will stop by and we can go out for dinner and shoot the breeze. I hope your family is doing well. I will see you soon.

Mary,
Yes, Mike and Bryan are indeed very immature and they frankly embarrass me when I go out in public with them. It is more than a mature man like me can bear. But, I hang out with them because it helps there image and I am a giver. It is how I am. I take in charity cases and try to rehabilitate them. I am not sure that I will have success with these two. And worse yet our dentist is from Alabama. A dentist from Alabama? Really? The world must be coming to an end. Anyway, let's get together. We can grab Leslie and drag her along as well. We need someone to pay the dinner tab. She made Captain so she can afford it.
I hope you guys are doing well. Tell everybody at the office there that I am thinking about them.

I love you guys,

Jeff

Jeff said...

I meant to say that it helps their image. I guess I should proof read before I post. But that isn't how I roll. I like to set low standards for myself that way I am never dissappointed in my work. :0)

Unknown said...

Jeff,
Glad to hear you are doing well and will come back soon for your leave! Please let Mary and I know when you want to grab lunch. It's been waaayy too long! When do you guys come off of Title 10? I'm mobing with the 38th CAB and will go Title 10 on July 10th and head to Fort Sill for a couple months of training. Fort Ben just isn't the same without you! We miss you! Hopefully we'll see you soon :)

Les