The Road to Balad and Back.

One Year Home...

2010-08-31T07:13:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been exactly one year since we returned from Iraq. I have had a wonderful year.

Firstly, this is the first complete year home since 9-11-01 that I have not been activated by the military for one reason or another. This has been a blessing as I have really enjoyed the time with my family.

Shortly after I returned home last fall, I became involved in our city's theater companies. We have three different theatrical groups, The Red Mask Theater, Danville Light Opera (DLO), and The Lincoln Park Theater Company. In September, I played Mr. Western in the play 'Tom Jones'. It was the first time that I had played the father of an adult child. I guess I am getting the roles appropriate to my age. :0). Then this summer we put on 'The Sound of Music' for our cities annual 'play in the park'. I played Captain Von Trapp and yes I had to sing...I know, I know...for those of you who know me and have heard me sing would think that this was a serious error in casting. But we were able to pull it off and it was a hoot. The entire community comes out because, after all, it is a free production. It was an extremely hot summer and rehearsals killed. But the kids were awesome and the lady who played Maria was fabulous.

Karen and Karis were busy with plays of their own. Karen was the musical director for the Danville Light Opera and Karis played a kookie character in the play, 'Wipeout'. Karis has been in appx. 1-2 plays a year since she was very little, so she is completely comfortable on stage. (I hope you all don't mind if I brag on my girl.)

Karis started 6th grade this year. She is in the MATs program which is an accelerated program for our district. She loves it but the homework is starting to come hot and heavy.

Karen has decided to go back to grad. school. She is going for a Master's in Education specializing in language and reading comprehension. She will be able to receive a certification as a reading specialist when she is done.

I have still been doing my Guard drills every month. It is still nice to get with the boys every now and then. Last month I was able to drill with Mike, Bryan, and Travis. Brandon, who is one of our units Nurse Practitioners was at drill and we found out that he will be deploying soon. We love Brandon, even though he is a Nurse Practitioner, who every PA would tell you, comes from the wrong side of the medical tracks. :0) He will also be going to Haiti for a two week mission in the next day or two. There will be another medical mission to Haiti sometime in the Spring and I am hoping to be on that rotation.

Things in the military are very fluid. Changes in Iraq are happening daily. Rotation schedules are constantly being modified and no rotation is set in stone at this point. Afghanistan is another issue as we will still be active in that region for some time to come.

I have been able to take some breaks this year. In February, I took my family to San Francisco for a short vacation and then last month we flew down to Hilton Head and vacationed in Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. We actually didn't spend much time at Hilton Head at all as Charleston and Savannah were much more interesting. At the Isle of the Palms beach I was stung by some jellyfish. I couldn't believe how much it hurt. I, of course, whined and moaned and whimpered, and cried, but the locals there had no sympathy. Apparently, this is a common occurrence and all of my theatrics did not impress them in the least. Let's just see how sympathetic I am to one of those beach combers if they ever come to the mid west and get into some kind of farming accident like getting their arm stuck in an auger. "Oh quit your belly aching it's just a small bone sticking through the skin..." :0)

I will be doing two weeks with my Guard unit at the end of September. I will have an office gig. We have soldiers who need to have their medical status reviewed so I will be helping with that. Apparently, Indiana is still conducting medical boards, so we will have to prepare soldiers for that as well if needed.

I did complete and publish 'The Lookout Tree'. I have several other books in the work but time is always difficult to find when writing. Writing is something that requires at least 3-4 hour blocks of time in order to accomplish anything. Our lives are busy and those hours are hard to come by sometimes.

Well, I will close. I wanted to submit a one year update to this blog as I have largely ignored it as I was busy living life. I do want to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers when we were gone. I also want to again thank those who took care of my family while I was away and I want to thank my fellow soldiers who deployed with me. Without your friendship and kindness during our year together, I would have certainly gone mad.

God Bless you all and I hope that you will all have an awesome Holiday Season.

Jeff

By the way, I want to bring a situation to light. There is a young man named SPC Bowe Bergdahl, who was taken as a POW in Afghanistan and he has been held for over a year. The Taliban has made propaganda videos with him and he is still alive. The media has done little to cover this young man's plight. I have contacted our representative's offices and their initial response has been...'Who is Bowe Bergdahl.' I explained his situation to Rep. Mike Pence's office and to Senator Lugar's office. Sen. Lugar actually contacted me and said that he is familiar with his case and that plans to rescue him have been in the works. Locating this young man is difficult as he may be in Pakistan. Please call your State Representatives and keep the pressure on them to help this soldier and his family. We don't leave anyone behind and this young man needs to come home. Please pray for him and his family. Thanks...

Veterans, School Children, and a Trip to the Arch...

2009-09-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick note to update you all on what has been going on. On my last blog I showed the ceremony that we had for Lt. Hudnell. Mary had called me and asked if I was going to drill this weekend but the truth is that I am not back with Det. 17 yet, plus I am a little worn out of the Army right now and am enjoying the break.

Well, these last two weeks, I have been busy. I had the honor of speaking to veterans at our local war museum. We had 30 or so WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veteran's who came out for coffee and doughnuts. They were extremely interested in not only what we did while deployed but also where I thought our war efforts were leading. I am not sure I had an adequate answer for the latter. They were all most gracious and my kind of guys. One of the leaders of the group is Sparky Songer. He actually had his life saved when a bullet hit a spoon in his shirt pocket and kept the bullet from entering his chest. He was taken POW by the Germans, however. I would love to sit with him and spend a few hours listening to his history.

Then earlier in the week, I was invited to speak to our Jr. High AVID students about what the PA profession is all about. I am not sure how well 7th and 8th grade students actually pay attention to what an adult has to say, but they did have a lot of great questions when I finished. I think they were just glad that I was able to get them out of their 3rd period english class.

Finally, this weekend, we went to St. Louis to meet Karen's sister Brenda. Brenda had two graduate students with her so we got to hang out with them, which was big fun. Below are some photos.

I have been really busy trying to get things done that I neglected over the last year. I have also been serving as the stage manager for the new play that Karis is in. She does three to four plays a year, so I am devoting some time to that project. It allows me time to spend with Karis and I get to yell at kids and tell them to pay attention and to work at their assigned duties. Pretty much what I did when I was in Iraq with our guys. They listen about as well as our soldiers did as well. :0)

Well, I pray that you are all well. Thank you so much for keeping up with this blog. I will update my other blog in the next few days. I have been working every night putting the finishing touches on 'The Lookout Tree'. It has been sent to the publisher but I have been working with them on the cover design and editing. I had some additions and deletions to make and I have to keep going through the text to ensure that any changes I make in one area of the book doesn't conflict with any other area of the book.

Have a great week everyone and here are a couple of pictures from St. Louis.

Jeff

We met these two guys at Grant's Farm. Check them out, they are Craig Hawes long lost brothers. Who else would have such a stylish haircut.

Our group with Craig's brother. He is a very photogenic young man and only charged us two dollars to allow us to take our photo with him. His normal rate is five dollars but I got a military discount.

Karen and Karis at the arch. I had to lay on my back and shoot upward to get this photo. I didn't get a plug nickle for my effort, although Karis was nice enough to use a stick and brush off some bird poop that was on the back of my shirt.

Pictures above: Picture One: Is Karis and Parahtina (Sp?) at the top of the arch, (on the inside of the arch of course. I was on the outside shooting the photo in through the window :0} ) Parahtina is from Sri Lanka and is getting her MBA.
Picture Two: Is Karis and Ishi. Ishi is from Jordan and is getting her graduate degree in communications and Spanish. Both girls work with Brenda who is a foreign exchange coordinator for Pittsburgh, University. Brenda was a missionary for years, so this job is very fitting for her.

Group photo from inside the arch. After this picture, I had to go back through the window and slide back down from the outside of the arch. Sure, I was just showing off but I do, normally, try to use my super human powers for good and not evil.

Everyone say goodbye to Craig's brother. Perhaps that's being a little unkind to the poor creature to associate him with Craig.

Chow for now.

In the Best Interest of the United States...

2009-08-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to let you know the address of my other blog. It is: http://usbestinterest.blogspot.com/

I hope you will follow along.

God Bless,

Jeff

Lt. Hudnell's Commissioning Ceremony...

2009-08-30T18:32:00.000-07:00

Good evening everyone,

Today, I write this blog for our company so that the soldiers who went to Iraq with us can see David Hudnell receive his commission. David is a soldier who served as our Post Deployment Health Assessment manager while we were in Iraq. While there he was accepted for a direct commission upon return to the States. We were unable to get it accomplished in time for the entire company to be present before we were released, so today in Shelbyville, Indiana, we had the honor of promoting SPC Hudnell to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.

As older officer's like myself start to retire, we are acutely aware of the need to bring in quality young men and women to carry on the leadership and traditions of the Army. Today, in front of a small crowd of family and friends, we were able to pin on his bars. We are all very proud to take part in this ceremony as David is truly a man of integrity and represents the best of the best.

Below are some of the photos' from today's ceremony. For our brothers and sisters of the 215th, we hope you enjoy these pictures and we gave David our best from all of you. By the way, all of you Seargents who used to boss David around, be aware, he will be walking by you as often as he can at our next drill just so that you have to salute him and call him, Sir.

Before I show the photos' I would like to give a quick biography of David. He entered the military as a mental health specialist. He has a Master's Degree in Business Administration and will be commissioned into the Military Service Corps. The irony about David's career is that after high school, he was offered a full scholarship to the Citadel Military Academy to play basket ball. He turned the offer down because he did not want to go into the military. It reminds me of an old saying that goes, 'If you want to make the Lord laugh, tell him your plans.'

We are glad that he came around and saw the light and joined our ranks. We are so very proud of David and we love him dearly. In addition to everything else, I have to say that he was a very good friend to me when we were in Iraq and I thank him for that.

Now, on with the ceremony.

Lt. Douglas Latino, in the class A uniform, will pin one of the gold bars on David's shoulder board the other soldier is David recruiter. I apologize because I didn't get his name but he is a very nice man.

The above three pictures, Lt. Ashley Clifton-Mason is administering the Federal Oath of Office.

Here Doug and David's wife is pinning on his gold bars. He is now, Lt. David Hudnall.

Now, it was time for me to provide a brief history of a tradition that is performed with newly commissioned officers. When a soldier recieves his/her commission it is customary for the new lieutenant to 'Coin' the soldier who provideds the officer with his first salute. Today, SPC Wilkey provided that salute. The coin that is given is a silver dollar. The history of this tradition is not completely known. In the Ancient Roman Empire, it was tradition for leaders to give a coin with the emporer's face on it, to soldiers who had performed above and beyond the call of duty. The tradition for a new officer to give a coin to an enlisted soldier may have originated in the 19th century with the British Army. The coin represented a promise that the new officer would buy the first round of drinks on the next pass. Leave it to the Brits to integrate alcohol into fine military traditions. :0)

SPC Wilkey provides the first salute.

Here Lt. Hudnell provides SPC Wilkey with his coin via a handshake.

I was so happy to shake David's hand. He had been working on his commissioning packet for the entire year while in Iraq. It was so nice to see the pay-off.

David and his family. I used to talk to David about the stress of being a young lieutenant in the Army but then I realized that he has a daughter that will one day be a teenager and well, there are no greater stessors than those that he will face when that time comes.

Here Doug presented David with a very nice plaque to commemorate the occasion.

Here SPC Hatfield came to the ceremony. She was our dental tech in Iraq as well as our personnel clerk. She has returned to college and is taking pre-med classes.

One final picture before we rapped things up. From L-R: Doug, Ashley, David, myself, and SPC Wilkey.

Thank you guys for checking in. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. It is a big deal for those of us in the Army when a soldier receives a commission and we look forward to a long and successful career for Lt. Hudnell. Please lift him up in your prayers.

God Bless,

Jeff

~HOME~

2009-08-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon to everyone,

I am entering this as my final Iraq blog. We all made it home and home safely. It was a long and difficult year by any measure, but we are all so thankful that our unit completed our mission and no one man or woman was lost in our company. Unfortunately, this is frequently not the case with most units but the Lord blessed us and I truly believe placed his hands of protection over us.

Before I start, I want to thank my friends, my brothers and sisters in this family that we have in the military. To Mike, Travis, and Bryan, I could not ask for better friends, together we did wonderful things and endured much. I am a much better man because of their influnce in my life. To Ashley, my platoon leader, who really ran the administrative aspect of our clinic. She did the work and I took the credit. She is truly one of the finest people I have ever met. To those that I had the great pleasure of leading, my medics. SGT Easom who was one of our shift leaders and unit photographer, many of the photos on this blog came from her; to her I am tremendously indebted. She was my neighbor in our living area and we spent a great deal of time talking. Her insight and friendship were a blessing. SGT Edwards ran our vaccination section did a tremendous job. She could always be counted on to deal with difficult soldiers and her professionalism never waivered.

To my friends SPC Buchmeier, SPC Ibarra, SPC Hudnall, SGT Wilson, and SFC Hougeson you provided me with friendship and well as an awesome work ethic and I am so glad that we were all in the same boat. SFC Rhiele who was our platoon SGT for our ambulance section, has been in the Indiana Guard as long as I have and we go back 15 years. We did not spend a great deal of time together on this tour as she worked in a different facility, however, we did get time to talk. She has been the one person in my military career who has never been afraid to tell me how things should be. We came up the ranks together and I have always appreciated her guidance and frank discussion. I respect the heck out of her.

Tim Nott was our Nurse while we were here. He went home a little early due to family circumstances but while he was here, he gave me great support and was just fun to be around. Finally, to the medics of our clinic; we, providers, could not be more proud to serve with such fine people. Most of our medics came in with little medical experience, but over the course of the year each soldier learned everything they needed to learn to manage a sick or injured person. Our medics were hard working and a ton of fun to work with. I haven't laughed so much in my life as I did with these guys. So, to all of those who I have been blessed to serve with; thank you for allowing me to have this year's worth of memories. I will cherish them fondly even into my last days.

Finally, I want to thank your neighbors and friends who helped to care for Karen and Karis while I was gone. I want to thank Kim Scott for her friendship with Karen. I would like to thank our neighbors the Hunts, Bowers, Taylors, and to the Hagen's for looking out for our family. We have the most beautiful neighborhood in Danville and we have the most wonderful neighbors.

I would also like to thank the Omarks for sending me your care packages and for your friendship. You are most appreciated and to all of you who followed along on this blog. You guys are awesome.

Now on with the blog...

Well, we arrived back at Camp Atterbury on Wednesday at 1:05 a.m. Wednesday morning the 12th of August. We were able to outprocess in three days and were released to our families on Saturday the 15th. I can tell you that it is quite an adjustment coming from Iraq to sitting at home with your family having dinner four days later.

Below are pictures of our trip home. I hope you will enjoy them.

Before I go, I want to thank our friends and families and those who stepped up and provided us with such wonderful support. Your letters, packages, and encouragement meant more to us than our words can express. I will move forward with this blog and perhaps add some updated information as it pertains to our military functions. Indiana will be gearing up to go to Afghanistan in 18-24 months. Our State will have to shift around our medical assets to provide coverage for upcoming missions. We are stretched so thin. We have troops on their 4th and 5th tours. At some point, the military will have to say, 'enough'. May the Lord direct those who make the decisions to send our young and not so young people into harms way.

I will start to shift my interest over to my other blog which I will post the address on the above blog. I do not have a real My Space page. I started one but, I really don't know how to use it. I started it so that Mike, Bryan, and Travis could hit me over the head and steal my money on Mafia Wars. So, there you have it. So, if you see my 'My Space' page it won't be very organized. At some point, I will try to figure it all out. I am more interested in writing about our political situation and of course I love writing fiction. I will also be starting a web page that will cover my writings and update everyone on the books that I write. I do hope you will check in and follow along.

For the next year, any updates or new projects that I start, I will mention on this blog and direct you to where you can find my stuff. I hope you will check in from time to time.

Well, please enjoy the 'coming home' photos and thank you again for your love and support.

The above picture is of the medical team that replaced us as we left. The first picture is of Hero's Highway where over 10,000 wounded soldiers were triaged and given life saving medical care. The second picture if of our new MRAP ambulance. It can withstand a roadside explosive and keep the occupants safe. Well the vehicle would be shot but the passengers would live. We cared for plenty of soldiers who survived attacks while in these vehicles. Had they been in a different vehicle, they would most certainly have perished. This vehicle is a Godsend.

Here is Bryan, Mike, and Travis as we head to chow. We had moved into transient housing by this point. It is one of the few places on base that actually had trees. Dirty trees but trees nonetheless.

In the middle of the desert, we have an oasis. The military has always ensured that soldiers were fed well and we were no different. This was our dining facility and it was exquisite compared to everything else around us. We were all well fed.

This is a picture of a housing area. These are called 'CHU's' which stands for something like Contained Housing Units or something along those lines. These sand bags are to protect the rooms from rocket and mortar fire. This area was shelled alot over the year.

A parking lot for military vehicles. I have no idea what most of these vehicles are for. But the people who care for them have no sense of humor. Bryan got into trouble when he jumped on top of one of the vehicles with a cowboy hat on and started singing 'It's Raining Men's. A soldier came out with his rifle and told the young captain to step down and ordered him to go to the mental health clinic for an exam. Infantry guys apparently are not a big fan of the song "It's Raining Men."

Here Bryan is in front of a Mosque that was near our gym. It was not used while we were here although it was a haven for Pigeons which meant that Bryan, who is a complete germaphobe would go no closer to the building than in this picture. I think he was afraid he might get histoplasmosis or the bird flu or something.

Here I am in front of our C-RAM. The C-RAM is an anti-mortar weapon that tracks incoming mortars and shoots them down. When it goes off, which it did frequently, it would rock our world. I am thinking about getting one of these for my front yard. Who needs a home security system when you have this baby in your front yard. It shoots over a thousand rounds a second. I think it would come in handy when Karis starts to date and brings her boyfriend over.

The last picture of my room before I left. It is actually neat.

Here is our transient housing building. This was the officer building which means that there was only six of us in here. We played stick ball indoors with a broom stick and a foam Butler basket ball. We hit Travis a few times which ticked him off. He's a giant so whenever we hit him we would shout 'Homerun' and then run for our lives. We lived here for a couple of weeks while we waited for our flight to go to Kuwait.

Here we are on a C-17 heading out to Kuwait City.

We have landed in Kuwait and are exiting the back of the plane. Outside is a hanger that was hit with a missle during the Iraq invasion of 1991, which led to the first Gulf War. Kuwaitis love us as we kicked the Iraqi's out of their country.

Landed in Kuwait. We were glad to get off the plane as most of us had full bladders. ;0)

Here is the Hanger that was hit during the first Gulf War.

Here are Doug, myself, Bryan, Travis (in the back), Mike, Ashley We are at Camp Virginia Kuwait living in tents. It was awesome. We had 130 degree weather and an airconditioning unit that didn't work.

Tent City, Kuwait

Above are poles that have solar panels that help power the base. The entire base is powered by generators and solar power.

Yes, even in the middle of the desert the golden arches can be found. God Bless good old fashion capitalism. You could get a camel burger with fried scorpions and cactus juice for 25 denari.

This is the chapel at Camp Virginia, Kuwait. Bryan and I attended services here. It is a very nice building compared to what is around it.

This is the Mayor's cell at Camp Virginia. The Mayor's cell means that this is the headquarter for the base and the unit in charge at this time was from Hawaii.

This is Hawaii's T-Wall painting. I did not know that Hawaii was once a British Colony. If you look at their flag at the bottom left of the wall you will see that their is a Union Jack in the upper corner of their flag. Learn something new everyday.

These are the tents that we stayed in while transitioning out of Kuwait. We actually had fun here as we were just waiting to go home and everyone was in a good mood.

Here we are in the middle of nowhere. I followed Mike to go to dinner but he got lost and we ended up surviving by eating desert rodents and drinking cactus juice. The entire time he kept saying, "Trust me, I'm not lost, I know where we are." Later I talked to his wife and asked if Mike had problem asking for directions. She just laughed and shook her head and said...'It's just sad...'

In truth, this is near our base. Do you see the tower in the background? It was the only tower providing security for us as far as the eye could see. We felt extremely safe. :0)

Here I am lost and looking for air rescue. The generators in the background are a mirage.

Our bus ride to the Airport to fly home.

Brandon. We offered him a seat in first class but when he found out that that was where the officers were sitting he said he doesn't want to be associated with our kind. I'm not sure what that meant but I think it was a compliment and said with affection.

This is a picture of a Russian aircraft that was taken while we were on the runway in Kuwait City. It turns out that we were not suppose to take this picture so if anyone of you is from the CIA, please know that this picture was taken by Bryan McFarland. I told him not to take it but he said that he's not afraid of the Law.

Upper picture is Travis and Mike on our flight to Germany and the bottom picture is Doug Latino. He is our administrative lieutenant for our company. He looks like he is twelve years old but he starts medical school when he gets home.

Here we are in the airport at Lipzig, Germany. They had a place for military members. Here Mike is playing table tennis with SGT. Sams. Mike won of course but only after he threatened to send SGT Sams to Afghanistan if Mike lost. Anything for a win.

Here is the small store at the Lipzig Airport. A candy bar was 7 dollars and a soda was 3 dollars for a 16 oz bottle. What a deal.

Here we are at Stout Field in Indianapolis. It is almost 2 am and we are beat as you can tell.
Travis gave me an Ambien when we were in Germany and it made me really loopy. I don't remember most of the flight but apparently I was awake and moving around but had no idea what I was doing. I was ridiculed all week for that as the guys kept telling me about the things that went on. I think they were making things up but...

Here we are received by our families. This is an airline hanger and we marched in and was released for an hour to be with our families. Bryan and I did not have our families come down for this as it was 2 am and our families lived so far away. So, Mike took pity on us and had his three girls and one boy give us a hug and welcomed us home. This was exceptionally kind of Mike as he usually likes to pick on us and make fun of our short comings. He did charge us a dollar for each hug, so he was true to form. I bet his kids didn't get a penny of that money.

These are my guys at Camp Atterbury. We are out-processing and eager to go home. I love these guys. They are delinquents one and all and I love em.

Here we are at Atterbury. The officers rented a RV trailer while we were at Atterbury. Here Karen and Karis have stopped by to take me home. This is Saturday.

This is my girl. She is about two inches taller than the last time I saw here and about four years older...if you know what I mean. The other day she was talking to me and she said..."I am worried about what my driver's license picture will look like." How does a dad respond to that? These are deep philosophical questions for which to ponder.

Myself, Mike, Doug, and Bryan. We stayed in the trailer together. Mike and Bryan were a bit gassy and unfortunately the toilet was right next to my bed and...well, that is probably information you don't need to know. :0)

So, there you have it. Our trip home. We are so glad to be back with our families. The air is clean the grass and trees are so green and the weather is cool, can the Lord make anything more beautiful?

Well, thank you all again for your love and support. You have all been such a blessing for us and you are so very appreciated. I thank the Lord for allowing a middle aged man such as myself to have another adventure in life. I pray that you are all well and that the Lord is blessing your family. Please check back from time to time as I will give brief updates on things going forward.

In Christ,

Jeff

One Final Repair Before Leaving...

2009-08-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon,

Well we made it home and I was going through my pictures and thought I would share the last procedure that I performed before we left. This young man came in and as you can see was pretty beat up. I was not sure how well his ocular function was but after I cleaned him up I was able to see that he was most fortunate. The globe of the eye was intact and he had no zygomatic or blow out fracture of the bony prominences around the eye. I asked this young man if it was alright to use his photos and he said that it was fine.

Here is how he looked right after we cleaned him up and I did my initial assessment.

The above two pictures, I am trying to see if there is any foreign body around the eye or in the wound.

Here I have given him some Demerol and Phenergan which sedated him a little.

Closing the lateral eye laceration.

Here he had a small flap laceration and though it is hard to see, he lost a portion of his left nare. It appeared as if a 'chunk' of tissue had been taken off during the injury. All I could do was close the flap and cleanse the area of missing tissue and allow it to heal secondarily

Finishing up the nose. These photos are not in the order of repair.

Working on the laceration on the brow. Here he seems to be a little disconnected. Praise the Lord for pain medications.

All finished...

And even though he doesn't look like it...he is another satisfied customer. I was honored to care for this young man if for no other reason than then 101st 'Screaming Eagle' Patch on his arm.

Well, thanks for checking in. In the above blog, I will share pictures of our return trip home.

You guys are AWESOME!!!

Jeff

In Transition...

2009-08-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

Good Morning,

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we will be flying out of Iraq on Saturday. We will into Kuwait and then home to Indy and that should be on the 11th at 1 a.m. We should be released that Friday.

We had a busy last week. I have some photos to post later when I get home. We are currently staying in our transient housing building. It is like summer camp. Mike, Travis, Bryan, and I have the building to ourselves. We did have Captain Schroeder move in but he has been gone most of the day. The weather here is brutal, over 130 degrees. It is painful to walk outside.

At home, Karen had to go to a teacher's workshop in Chicago, so Grandma come over and watched Karis. Karen's mother lives in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, but she grew up in Covington, IN and she still has a sister there. They will be visiting while Grandma is in town. This is the first time that Karis has been without mom or dad for this long. She has gone to church camp but normally Karen volunteers at the camp during that week and the camp is only a few miles away. She goes to Hanging Rock. So, I have been worried like a dad should be. But Grandma will do fine and Karis is in good hands.

Well, I want to again thank everyone for your support this year. I will be try to visit you all when I get home. I will be taking a few weeks off and so I look forward to visiting as many people as I can before heading back to work.

I will keep you all in my prayers.

God Bless,

Jeff

Sand Storms and Generals and a Final Note...

2009-07-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,

Well the day is finally here. I am making my last entry into this blog for this deployment. We are moving out of our rooms tomorrow and we will spend the next two weeks moving from place to place in transition. We will move down to transition housing here at Balad and then we will fly to Camp Virginia in Kuwait. From Kuwait we will head back to Camp Atterbury. We should be back in Indiana on the 13th or 14th of August.

This year has been long and difficult for all of us. We came here as a small medical company not really looking to change the world but to simply do our part in this war effort for the small period of time that we were here.

Along the way, we lost a significant part of our company do to injury and emergencies. We had some of our medics sent to other places in theater to perform a variety of missions and the remainder of us dedicated ourselves to the task at hand.

As a company of soldiers, we struggled as we adapted to our environment. We fought to find our battle space and we established a standard of care that we could all be proud to be a part.

Personally, we have developed bonds of friendship that only people in these types of situations could understand. I will forever be grateful to my medics who gave me the wonderful blessing of being their clinical leader. I never once forgot that our medics were the backbone of our mission and I am so proud and honored to have shared this year of my life with them.

As an officer, we have certain limitations. There is a certain amount of distance that we have to keep with our enlisted soldiers. Because there are always more enlisted troops than officers in any military company, the officers have to band together if we want to develop personal friendships. I want to share with you how important Mike, Bryan, Travis, and Tim have been to me during this year. It truly is amazing the personal and professional bond that we developed while we were here. As medical providers, we complemented each other very well. Where one was weak, the other was strong, when one was down, another would encourage, when one needed help, the other provided. The bond that we developed and the respect that we have for each other goes beyond anything that I have ever experienced. It has simply been a blessing having these guys in my life.

As a side bar, I would like to thank Bryan for his friendship. I cannot imagine what this tour would have been like without his friendship. He held me accountable in all things and he was especially annoying when it came to exercising. He would not let me off the hook when it came time to go to the gym. I hope that I will be able to keep up the habit of working out when I get home.

As far as our personal lives, I think we all faced a challenge. This has been a year of learning and coping. Being absent from our families has been, perhaps our most difficult obstacle. At some level, we can't help but to have some guilt over not being home and taking care of our loved ones.

Emotionally, we all had some struggles. I was surprised how many of us experienced home sickness. I think being in such a strange place made home so much more cherished. Over the year, some of our soldiers had relationship issues. It is difficult to try and sustain a relationship with someone back home when you are so far away. Some of our guys had girlfriends and wives terminate their relationships. This is not a new phenomenon in the military, but the pain that such an event has is still very real. It is difficult to try and counsel a soldier who goes through such a situation but I think that eventually one comes to the point where a broken relationship just isn't worth the immense emotional investment.

For our part in this military mission, I believe that we did a great job in taking care of the troops. We were seeing 2,500-3,000 patients a month. We took anything and everything that came through our doors. We took ownership of this clinic in October of last year and I believe that we are handing it off in much better shape then how we received it. For that I am most proud.

Over the year, we received so much encouragement from family, friends, and strangers, back home. The packages and letters that we received, especially around the holidays, really did lift our spirits and made this tour much more tolerable. We befriended elementary school children and developed pen pals with these kids. Their questions and insights would make us laugh and at times tugged at our hearts.

Finally, I would like to make comment about the overall purpose of our mission. As soldiers, we serve our country and at the pleasure of our Commander-in-Chief. Like the rest of Americans, we, in the military, all have a variety of political opinions and beliefs. Weather we agree with this conflict or not, we all understand that we have a job to do and that job is to care for the soldier. I would like to share with you that our company did our very best to ensure that our brothers and sisters returned home safely. For me, I must say, that it has been a long time since I felt such a sense of purpose and I am so glad that the Lord gave me this opportunity and these friends to bless my life.

I want to thank you all so much for following along. I will continue to update this after I get home. But eventually, I will shift my entries to my other blog title 'In the Best Interest of the United States. The address is usbestinterest.blogspot.com. Some of you have already been following along. I will add an entry to this blog when we arrive at Atterbury. I look forward to getting home and getting together with you. I will be taking some time off when I get home and I will visit family and friends. I can't wait.

So, with all of this said, I will say good night. Below I have some pictures of a visit that we had from General Umbarger. He is the senior officer in the State of Indiana. He has been around for years and we really do respect him as our commander. The other pictures below is of our last sand storm. When a sand storm moves in, it steals the day. The sun mixes with the fine dust and creates an orange glow that permeates everything. When it passes, we are left with a thick coating of sand everywhere. I will be so happy to be back home where I can live in a sand free environment.

I pray that you are all well and I will see you very soon.

Here is Bryan with General Umbarger

Here is Mike and I talking with our State's SGT Major. I worked with him the year before this deployment as we prepared to mobilize Indiana's Brigade. It was nice to see him again.

Here we are in our Lab. SPC Troxel, Myself, and General Umbarger goofing around and sharing a laugh. Troxel actually volunteered to go to Afghanistan when we are finished here.

Mike and General Umbarger. The conversation started of innocently enough, but before long Mike started lecturing the General on the importance of good colon health. The General actually fell into an unconscious sleep. Mike didn't let that stop him. He continued his lecture until long after the General left.

Here the General is with Cpt. Ha and SSG K. Cpt. Ha is our optometrist and SSG K is his optician. SSG K is from Saipan.

As the General is distracted, I decided to display my mature and disciplined, military bearing.

O.K. it is very juvenile, but there you have it.

Here we are with the General under the Indiana and U.S. Flag.

Here is where the sandstorm starts to move into our area.

Within twenty minutes our world changed colors.

This is a view from inside our clinic looking out.

Eventually, the sand drowns out our view.

O.k. everyone. Have a great week and I will see you soon.

Jeff

For the Love of Guam...

2009-07-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,

Today, I would like to dedicate this blog to the beautiful people of Guam. In 1944, Guam was in the hands of the Japanese and on this date in 1944, the Allied Forces with the help of the courageous people of Guam were able to take back their homeland. So today, I would like to wish the people of Guam a very happy and peaceful anniversary of their independence.

I think it is very important for us in the military to thank all of the country's who fly the Flag of the United States side by side with their country's Flag. Nations like Guam, the Virgin Island, Puerto Rico, St. Croix etc... are all small countries who have been our partners in conflict and in peace. We are so very thankful for having Dr. Walter Perez bless our lives even if it were for a short period of time. Dr. Perez sent us providers each a shirt that he purchased in Guam and asked that we wear it in honor of Guam's Independence from the Japanese. So with honor and great privilege, Dr. Perez we honor your lovely homeland.

These shirt are awesome and they go well with our uniform.

This simple but beautiful flag makes me want to go and visit Guam.

Dr. Perez, we all want to know that we dearly love you and miss you very much. We will be home soon and we will be with our families. I would like to say that you helped to make our little group feel like a family and for that we thank you.

I will be planning a visit to Guam, hopefull within a year, when our vacation time allows. I am so excited to see you again and to meet your family.

God Bless You,

Jeff and your fellow Band of Brothers.

25 Days To Go...

2009-07-19T12:38:00.001-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,

Just a quick note to ask you all to pray for our unit. We are under tremendous stress right now and we would sure be grateful for your thoughts and prayers.

We are 25 days away from going home and I am so excited. I miss my family and I am so filled with anticipation.

I hope you are all well and that the Lord is blessing you with his love.

Jeff

HOME AND FAMILY

It looks like Lambie managed to peak her head into the photo. She is kind of an attention seeker and is always trying to get into the picture when the camera comes out.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Karis. She likes to ham it up for the camera but in this photo she is genuinely giggling. She absolutely melts my heart.

Another Day at Work...

2009-07-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,
As we are all packing to come home, I noticed that I had some pictures that I wanted to post and clear off my hard drive. Tasha took these photos for me, so thank you Tasha, you are the 'Bomb Dog Diggity' (That means you are awesome).

Well, a few days ago I had an Iraqi who had come in to see me for a medical problem and while he was in the interpreter told me that this young man had a growth on his abdomen that he wanted me to look at. I examined him and it appeared that he had a dermatofibroma or some kind of vascularized lesion. So, I went ahead and removed it for him and sent it to Germany for lab confirmation. Below are the pictures. A side note, I hadn't published a picture of Drew Porter. He is a sports medicine physician. He is a really great guy and a super fitness freak. He works out 2-3 times everyday. He has since left us and headed home to Iowa. We miss him.

Dr. Drew

Here I am preparing to outline my cut lines. I used an eliptical excision. Generally, the width of the incision should be three times longer than the height. This rule ensures that the wound will close with as little tension as possible.

Lesion is prepped with betadine

I am using a local of 2% lidocaine with epi. The epi will help to minimize the bleeding during the procedure.

I have made my incision and am close to completing the excision.

Almost done.

This is a cautery pen that I use to stop the blood vessel from bleeding.

The nodule has been removed. I will now undermine the healthy tissue on the edge of the wound so that the wound edges approximate well and with very little tension.

Getting ready to close.

I have started suturing with a 5-0 Prolene absorbable suture. These will dissolve and be absorbed by the body. Internal sutures helps to keep the wound tension low so that the external sutures do not pull free.

SGT Beechler and SPC Gravitt are giving me a hard time. I get picked on alot by my guys. It's like junior high school all over again. I gave them extra duty and made them guard a cactus for 8 hours. :0)

Here the wound edges are well approximated with internal sutures. Now, I am ready to place the outer sutures.

Here I am utilizing 3-0 Ethilon, non-absorbable sutures to close. These sutures will have to be removed in 7-10 days.

All finished. The patient did great. The local Iraqi's are really a fine group of people. They are so thankful for the things that we do for them. Taking care of soldiers and local villagers is very fulfilling for me.

Thank you all, again, for checking in. I pray that you are all well.

God Bless You,

Jeff

Fun Photos...

2009-07-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

Good Evening All,
Well we are on the final days of our deployment. So, the other day we had some down time in the clinic and me and my medics/EMT's decided to goof around and take some pictures. I hope you will enjoy...

This is a picture of all of our providers minus Drew.

L to R (1st row): Diana Riera, Bryan

(2nd row): Me, Tim (our clinic nurse), Travis, Mike, and Dr. Dollens

(* Diana Riera she is a pediatric gastroenterologist. So naturally the Army sent her here to take care of soldiers. She is awesome.)

Mike, Tasha (My favorite medic), and Bryan

SGT. Wilson, SPC Burke, Myself, and Tasha

SPC Wilkey, Myself, SPC Hudnell

Our super human strength tends to wow the ladies. :0)

Yes this is me with the 'Physical Fascination, Brandon Bishop'

Brandon is a professional wrestler in his civilian life. I keep him around as my body guard.

We are all gym rats here and spend a great deal of time exercising. It looks like I have a long ways to go before I hit the professional wrestling circuit.

Samantha Hatfield, Myself, and Rella Huesman. These girls are very sharp young ladies. I spend a great deal of time keeping the guys away. I have a stick and a can of pepper spray that I use when the boys come around.

This is one of my three shifts of medics. This group is so much fun and so proficient that we look forward to coming into work when they are 1st up.

Lately we have had simply awful sandstorms. I will post some pictures of those storms a little later.

I hope you are all well. Thank you for checking in.

Love you all,

Jeff

Happy Independence Day...

2009-07-04T11:01:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,

We would all like to wish you a very happy Fourth of July. Today we celebrate our independence from those oppressive British Scallywags. So, let us celebrate by eating hotdogs, roasting marshmellows, and spreading gossip about the Queen. :0)

I hope you are all well.

God Bless,

Jeff

Another Important Step Towards Freedom...

2009-06-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,
Today we celebrate with the people of Iraq. We have moved our security forces out of all of the major Iraqi cities and have turned over the responsibility of protecting their communities to the Iraqi Security Forces. This may seem like a blurb in the news, but it really is a big day for the good people of Iraq. This move today indicates a progression of peace and independence. We have maintained all along that we wish for nothing more than for people of Iraq to control their own destiny.

I know that the reasons that we entered Iraq are varied and controversal. But for us the mission is clear. We truly desire for the people of Iraq to be free. Free of tyranny, free of oppression, and free of fear. We want children to receive a quality education. We want fathers and mothers to have assurances that their family will be safe. We want to create an environment where the Iraqi people can grow and mature as a society; to acheive their dreams and to reach their fullest potential.

In America we take many things for granted. We do not fear that our house will be visited by death squads or that our teenage children will be hauled away and pressed into military service. We are free to start our own business, move freely around our communities, and sleep in peace. For many years, the Iraqi people lived in fear. Terror reigned supreme. Fathers and mothers worried that their children might be killed or tortured simply because Saddam and his henchmen wanted to show their power. Women were oppressed and many were raped and would disappear without warning. Families dreaded hearing a late night knock on the door from men who were bent on causing pain and misery.

Today, however, the Iraqi people have had many of these burdens lifted. We have encouraged and empowered these good people to take care of their own affairs. They are free to dream; free to grow; free to achieve the impossible. Fear, for the most part, has been removed and I truly believe that the Iraqi people have a bright future ahead.

With today's small step of success, we have to take a moment to remember the cost...

The price of freedom always carries with it a very heavy price tag. It is a sad truth that we have sacrificed our best and brightest so that peace may come to this country. We in the military, have lost our friends, our brothers and sisters in arms, and we ache for their companionship. But we all believe, that our friends have given their life for a cause greater than themselves. We are so blessed to have women and men who understand that the needs of the many are more important than the desires of the few.

To family members and loved ones who have lost their hero, we understand and feel the ache in your heart. Please know that the sacrifices made here have made a difference. Please believe that there are thousands of families in Iraq who can sit at their dinner table as a family and commune in peace and safety as a result of our brothers and sisters devotion. Let us all pray that the work that has been done here will change the climate of the Middle East for the better.

Thank you very much, everyone, for your prayers.

May the Lord bless and keep you in his love

Jeff

Karis Around the World...

2009-06-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

Good Everything Everyone,
Well we are all busy packing up our gear and getting ready for our movement back home. I am so excited. As I was going through my stuff, I notice an external hard drive that I had brought with me but had not really used much since I have been here. I spent some time looking at some photos that I had stored and my heart was filled with joy. As many of you know, Karen, Karis, and I travel frequently. As I browsed these images, I felt a great sense of gratitude to the Lord for giving us the opportunity to allow our family to travel so much. I have always wanted to ensure that Karis is exposed to a variety of cultures. I am so proud of her. She is truly colored blind when it comes to her view of people of differing cultures and customs. So, tonight I would like to show some photos of our daugther as she moved along her path of adventure.

1. Karis and her American Girl dolls

2. Skating

3. Trouble Makers

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1. Karis skating solo

2. Miriam and Karis at ballet class

3. Karis school. There are no walls in her school

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1. Getting ready for her dance recital

2. Karis playing her violin at the local fair

3. Last summer's softball season

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1. Christmas

2. Mt. Ranier, Washington State

3. Capitol Building, Washington D.C.

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1. Lincoln's Memorial: Karis, Karen, and our neice, Juliana
2. President Lyndon Johnson and President Kennedy's Air Force One, Seattle, Washington
3. Inside Air Force One

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1. The famous Pike's Market Place. Home of the thrown fish. The movie, Sleepless in Seattle was filmed here

2. Showing off her muscles on a harbor cruise on Puget Sound

3. Mt. St. Helens

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1. Karis at Cannon Beach, Oregon. This is where the Lewis and Clark westward expedition ended

2. Astoria, Washington. This school is where they filmed Kindergarten Cop. The movies Short Circuit, Free Willy, and the Goonies were also filmed in this small but quaint little town.
3. Totem Poll in Olympia, Washington

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1. Butchart Gardens Vancouver Island, Canada

2. Bronze horse and Karis at Butchart Gardens

3. The Cascade Mountains in the background

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1. Karen and Karis at the stream that flows over Multnoma Falls, Oregon

2. Cabin that we stayed in while in Washington, State. Located on North Ft. Lewis

3. This lake was just out behind our cabin in Washington

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1. Ehsan and Seddigah and Karis in Colorado at Rocky Mountain National Park. Ehsan is a physician that I used to work with. We were vacationing together.

2. Estes Park city limits, Colorado

3. Karis at Grand Canyon

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1. Karen and Karis at Ceaser's Palace, Las Vegas.

2. Ghost Town, Chloride, Arizona

3. Navy Peer, Chicago

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1. Karis at the Hoover Dam

2. American Girl Doll Store

3. I believe this is at the Children's Museum in St. Louis

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1. Zion National Park, Utah

2. Red clay desert, Arizona

3. Karis at Medieval Times, Schaumburg, Illinois

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1. Polynesian dancers, Moorea

2. Karis on Moorea. This is the peir that was connected to our village where we stayed

3. Karis and I at Cook's Bay, Moorea. Both movies of the Muntiny on the Bounty were filmed in this bay.

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1. Karis in Tahiti with her little buddy, Lambie

2. In the background is the mountain that I described in the book, 'Hannah KaReese and the Island of Moorea'

3. This is a real chocolate moose at a chocolate store outside Portland, Maine

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1. Karen and Karis, Kennebunkport, Maine, home of George H.W. Bush

2. In the background is Portland's Two Lights, Lighthouse in Maine

3. We are in Portsmouth, New Hampshire getting ready for a harbour cruise

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1. Portland, Maine

2. Karis with her cousin Juliana and her husband Adam. This is at the Kentucky Derby

3. Karen and Karis feeding a tiger at an indian reservation in North Carolina

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1. Cruising the Thames River in London, England. The Two Tower's Bridge is in the background

2. Karis in Amsterdam, Holland with a 'living' statue

3. Smoky Mountains National Park

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1. The cobblestone streets of Brussels, Belgium

2. This is a windmill in Holland. It is still in use

3. This is the General Lee from Dukes of Hazzards. We got to meet the real Enos while we were there

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1. A Romanesque structue in Trier, Germany. This beautiful city was once the vacationing site of the Roman emporers. Many of the stuctures her have noticeable Roman influences

2. Covered bridge at Conner's Prarie, Indiana

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1. The Atomium built for the 1958 World's Fair, Brussels, Belgium

2. A real Native American thatched home. Also in Conner's Prarie, Indiana

3. Karis first time at Disney World. She loved it when she was 4, but when we returned when she was 9, she found MGM, Epcot Center, and Animal Kingdom to be more her age.

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1, Spiderman at MGM, Florida

2-3. Disney World on a rainy day

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1. This is a mountain outside of Calgary, Canada

2. This is Karen, Karis, and our Nephew, Josua. He is a Captain in the Airforce in Montana. This is a photo of Montana's Plains. Prarie dogs were everywhere

3. Karen and Karis in the natural hot springs of Banff, Canada. The water is heated by underground Lava that is bubbling deep below a mountain that is in Banff

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1. Karis at Spruce Meadows Equestrian Park in Calgary, Canada

2. Karis horseback riding near, Canmore, Canada

3. Karis at the Olympic Park, Calgary, Canada. Home of the 1998 Winter Olympics

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1. The actual bobsled from the movie 'Cool Runnings' They filmed it here in the Olympic Park, Calgary

2. Karis on Lake, Louise, Canada

3. Karis on an Iceberg cruise in Alaska

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1. Standing outside a general store near Talkeetna, Alaska

2. This is 4 time Iditarod Winner, Martin Buser's sled

3. The town of Talkeetna, Alaska. This is the base camp for climbing Mt. McKinley

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1. This is Karis with Martin Buser. He had us over to his house and gave Karen, Karis, and myself an exclusive tour. He is a very nice man. We met his two sons and all of his mushing dogs. It was a major highlight of our trip.

2. Finally, this is in Seward, Alaska.

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Well, thank you for allowing me to share my photo's. I pray that you are all doing well. I will be seeing you all very soon.

God Bless,

Jeff

Appreciation for My Family...

2009-06-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

Good Evening,

I just want to write a quick note to recognize the devotion and support that Karen and Karis has shown me over this last year. It has been a long year and this deployment was especially tough on us. Over the last 8 years, we have had to live with the shadow of the military hovering over our family just waiting to pull me out of my life. I have been gone a lot over those 8 years and it has been harder on Karen and Karis than it has been on me.

Karen, has kept the home front going and has ensured that my abscence had as little adverse impact on Karis as possible. Karen has recently accepted a position of an English/Literature teacher for our local Jr. High School. As a result, she has had to give up her Kindermusik business and she will have to stop teaching piano lessons. These have been tough decisions for her to make. The one constant in our household has always been filled with music and filled with children coming in and out. I have enjoyed that very much. The music will be less prominent in our home, however, we will have Karis to make sweet music on the piano and the violin. So, I want to recognize my wife and my daughter for putting up with this lifestyle that I have devoted myself to. I have always had two families, my wife and daughter and the other my brothers and sisters in arms. I have treasured the memories of my military life and I praise the Lord for the opportunities that the Army has provided me. But I think the time has come for me to step aside.

I am looking at retirement within the year that I return. I will be eligible for promotion to Lt. Colonel in 2011, but if I accept that position, I would be obligated to 3 more years. I just don't think that I have that in me. The rank of Lt. Colonel is very difficult to achieve as we only have one slot available for it and I am the next in line to receive it, but I think Mike Roscoe would be a better candidate for that position as he still has 10 years of service left. So, I am hopeful that he will get promoted and carry our rather young profession forward. He is an awesome representative for the Physician Assistant profession and we will all be proud to have him as the senior PA in the State of Indiana.

I look forward to returning home and setting new goals. I am also excited to be able to spend time with Karis as I have not been able to spend as much time with her as I would have liked. She is growing up so fast. I don't want to miss anymore of her youth.

So, tonight I want to thank Karen and Karis for hanging in there and for supporting me through this deployment and for enduring the last 8 years. It takes a special person to be a part of a military family.

Well, I pray that you are all well.

God Bless

Jeff

Adjusting to Home...

2009-06-12T10:40:00.001-07:00

Good Evening,
I hope you are all well. Well, we are in the process of finishing up our mission here. We are all packing our personal goods and preparing them to be shipped back to the states. We are mostly going to mail our personal goods back ourselves through the mail system as if we have the Army ship our goods back we will not receive them for up to three months. I don’t think my Tupperware full of tuna salad would taste too well after being in a shipping container for that long.

Tonight, I wanted to talk a little bit about the transition back home. A couple of family members wrote and asked about what they should expect when their loved one returns home.
The reuniting of the family after a deployment is always exciting but it is also stressful. The truth is that major adjustments have to be made once a soldier returns to his/her family. While your husband or wife was deployed you have had to adjust your day to day activities to compensate for those things that were to be left undone by your spouse’s absence. Frankly, you have developed your own routine and have been doing very well by yourself because you had to. When your spouse returns you may feel that he or she is now stepping into your space. You may feel crowded and feel that your routine is being disrupted. This is normal. Believe me your returning spouse will feel a little left out as he/she has not been into your routine for over a year and so that will be a huge adjustment as well.

Went I went home for leave, I felt a little in the way, as Karen and Karis had their own routine and they had activities that were scheduled. I was like a third wheel and this may sound strange but I felt more comfortable being back here with my friends.

Now, this feeling is the real truth when soldiers deploy. We spend a great amount of time with each other and we develop an incredibly close bond. Once we are pulled from this environment and put back into the normal world of civilian life, the adjustment becomes very difficult. There is a de-programming process that will take place and this process can be stressful.

Some advice I would give for you to help the process are to make sure that you allow your returning spouse a little time to reacclimatize. Don’t plan any big trips or rush around to see relatives right away. This is a mistake as a returning soldier simply wants to take a break and mentally prepare for his/her return to civilian life.

Unfortunately, mental health issues are very common among returning soldiers. The sad fact is that 1/3 of all suicides among soldiers are done within the first three months of a person return from a deployment. Another unfortunate truth is that a soldier returning from a deployment is 3 times more likely to die in a motor vehicle accident within the first three months of returning from deployment.

Why does this happen. The suicide rate is disturbing and the etiology of this phenomenon is certainly mulit-factoral, yet a few reasons can be identified.

Firstly, every soldiers experience in Iraq and Afghanistan is unique and so trying to identify one reason for increased suicide rate upon returning home is difficult. But there are some commonalities that we can look at. When in a war zone, especially for those who are on combat missions, a bond between friends becomes unbreakable. So, when a buddy loses his/her life the resulting emotional effect is devastating to those who served with him/her. While deployed, soldiers find ways to cope with these tragedies as they are all going through the experience together. A soldier feels like he has a purpose, he feels needed, he feels like he’s important to his friends.Once a soldier returns home, suddenly he doesn’t feel as integrated into his civilian life as he was in his military life. He feels alone and empty and even though he has family around him who loves him, he still feels alone. It may not make sense to you now but please try to understand the emotional pressures of coming from this environment back to the quiet peaceful life of home.

I would encourage any spouse to be aware of the emotional needs of your loved ones. Allow him/her some time to decompress and be ready to talk when he/she is ready to talk. It will take some time for the both of you to readjust to this reintegration. But if you give it time and have some patience your life will find its flow again.

The driving aspect of returning to home is interesting. Many of our soldiers spend a great deal of time driving and going place to place in a convoy. These convoys are extremely dangerous. It is rare that a convoy completes its mission without at least taking fire and all too often they are hit by mortars, rockets, and roadside bombs. Soldiers have to drive very aggressively here. If a vehicle is slowing down or even stops in front of their vehicle they are instructed to run that vehicle off the road. The enemy uses car bombs with great effectiveness. Soldiers become incredibly paranoid and jumpy at anything that looks even a little unusual. A paper bag lying on the side of the road can be concealing an explosive device. So when a soldier, returns home he has a great adjustment in re-learning how to drive defensively and safely again. A soldier’s returning to the road tends to swerve from one lane to another without provocation if he perceives that something just doesn’t seem right. Of course, you may see nothing of concern but to a soldier, a car parked improperly is a matter of great concern. So, you may do well to encourage your spouse to let you drive for a while when you return home until he gets used to the rules of the road again.

Another problem that you may face is something that Claire talked about in her letter to us. Often times when a spouse returns from theater, he has a difficult time with intimacy. I don’t simply mean sexually, but intimacy in the sense of sharing important feelings. I think that soldiers learn to suppress their feelings of fear and doubt. I think they think that these feelings betray them on some level and so they don’t allow them in. You will most certainly have times when you will want to sit and have an intimate discussion with him. Be patient. Be quick to listen and slow to interrupt. Sometimes your attentive ear will allow him to open up without fear of judgment.

Finally, I want to address the topic of depression. I am not sure that a person can come back from the mess of any war and not have some mental health deficits. Depression is a common problem among the entire population of the U.S. But the problem is even more acute among those who have returned from deployment.

Depression is not always easy to diagnose, however, there are few signs that you can look for that might aid you in understanding your spouse’s emotional status. Depression can be characterized by: Lack of sleep or sleeping too much, increase or decrease appetite, anhedonia or lack of interest in doing anything, spending an unusual amount of time alone, and/or lack of personal hygiene. These are only a few of the symptoms. The truth is that you know your spouse better than anyone and you would be the one person who would notice these changes regardless of how slight they maybe. When you spouse returns, I would encourage you to encourage him/her to enroll in one of the local Veteran’s Administration Hospitals and obtain an initial screening. Even if your spouse feels that nothing is wrong, it is still important to receive an evaluation. Often times mental health issues don’t present until later. An initial screening would provide a base line that can be used for comparison for later evaluations if needed.

To conclude, I would like to thank you for the love you have shown your loved one while he/she was deployed. It is true that when a soldier deploys, his/her family deploys with them. Deployment affects the entire family. It is my prayer that when your loved one returns home that your transition will be smooth. If there are any problems please be quick to seek help. Also, contact your Family Readiness Group and start a relationship with other family members who have experienced the same journey that you have just finished.

You are all loved so much by those of us who have had to go forward and we all understand that you are the true foundation in which we stand. Thank you for your love and for your support.

God Bless You All,

Jeff

Mass Casualty and 65th Annversary of D-Day

2009-06-06T12:52:00.001-07:00

Good Evening,

I want to update everyone on what has been going on. Yesterday we had a post wide mass casualty drill. My job was to go out to the triage area out at the gate where patients were being brought in from off post. I was an evaluator for our EMS (ambulance) services. The role that EMS has in a mass casualty is to coordinate and mobilize injured patients to the next higher echelon of care. As you can imagine when an incident occurs and there are dozens of injuries, the basic triage of the injured and the timely transport of each patient to the hospital is essential.

So, we set up a large triage area and I evaluated the appropriateness of how patients were categorized. Obviously the more seriously injured (immediate) are stabilized and have priority of care. The more stable patients are categorized as delayed or minimal. These patients can actually be diverted to another facility for care so as to not burden our ER. We also have patients that are categorized as Expectant. These are patient’s who may still be living, but will have little chance of surviving even with immediate care. Unfortunately, these patients are left mostly unattended while patients who have a chance to make it can receive necessary care.

Our post wide exercise went well. We had good coordination with the Air Force medical team and our ambulance section was very efficient. By the time, our EMS arrived on scene, they had patients triaged and had the first load of injured on there way to the hospital in 12 minutes.
We had some problems with our medics losing focus on what injuries were essential to treat at the scene and what injuries could be left for the hospital staff to address. It is easy to want to start treating an open wound that has been bleeding profusely but if we forget to focus on establishing a good airway for that patient then it really won’t matter what we do to the open wound, the patient will not have a good outcome.

But overall our guys did well. We certainly could have done a little better job at coordinating the location of where the injured were being sent. The immediate all went to the ER, but we had about 18-20 injured soldiers who were sent to the Phipp’s TMC and they were unaware of these patients coming in. So, as you can imagine, they were jumping through hoops to accommodate this influx of patients. Travis handled that area for us and he was able to move them through fairly quickly.

During the exercise, we were notified that a young boy about 8 years old was coming in from one of the local villages. He was working on a cement mixer. He was on a platform pouring sand into the mixer when he fell and landed on the edge of some concrete blocks. He had a large laceration over his lumbar spine and he had no feeling from his waist down. We stopped our exercise and pushed him forward immediately. As we took that boy from the back of the ambulance and transported him inside, my heart ached. I simply cannot imagine my child living in a world where she is not allowed to go to school but instead sent out at such a young age to work in the blazing hot sun doing work that most adults in America wouldn’t do. I have really learned to appreciate the life that the Lord has given to us in the United States. At some point, we have to use our blessings to help others out of this type of life.

Anyway, the day ended with word that one of our Air Force guys was hit with a roadside bomb. The hospital worked on him for five hours and used every unit of blood that we had but it wasn’t enough. Just another tragic outcome to this senseless conflict.

As I returned to my room last night, I was thinking about this young man and the price he paid. I have to wonder what we are doing wrong. We pride ourselves as a society that we are enlightened and that we have matured, yet we still cannot manage to deal with disagreement without sending our young people to go forth into war and to give their lives. Is this really the best we can do? I don’t care what religious faith a nation believes in or what political differences we have, is war still the only way to handle our differences? I would like to think we are better than that. I pray for peace.

Today, is the 65th anniversary of D-Day. I am still amazed at what those who hit those beaches at Normady did. They showed incredible bravery and resolve to keep moving forward under such circumstances. I have such admiration for those who sacrificed so much.

Anyway, the clinic is running well and our medics are doing great. I realize the very special group of kids that these soldiers are and I am very aware of the incredible memories that I will have as a result of this experience. It is amazing that the Lord has provided a 43 year old man to have such an adventure.

By the way, most of you guys know Leslie and Mary. They are our state’s medical coordinators and they are awesome. Well, Leslie will be deployed to here and will relieve us as we pull out of country. It was really nice to hear from them. The friendship that I have with them has been an amazing blessing for me. Mary’s daughter is still in high school and her husband is getting ready to be deployed, so I pray that she can avoid a deployment for another year.

Leslie will be deploying with John, her boyfriend, and so that will make their time much more tolerable. I am excited about seeing them both very soon.

Well, I again want to thank everyone for checking in and for your encouragement. May the Lord bless and keep you all safe. Please take time to pray for others and discover the amazing blessings that the Lord will bestow when you lift others up in prayer.

God bless,

Jeff

Requested Relationship Advice...

2009-05-31T12:15:00.001-07:00

Good Evening My Friends,
Well tonight will be a more unusual blog as I will address a readers question that was asked of me earlier in the week. But before I do that I would like to talk about another topic of discussion that will surely be the talk of the upcoming news cycle.

Today, Wichita, Kansas physician George Tiller was shot to death as he entered his church this morning. Dr. Tiller has been known over the years as one of the few physicians who still performed late-term abortions. His clinic has been the site of many protests over the years. Well, today someone took it upon himself to end this man’s life. My input on this issue is this. I hate abortion. I don’t hate much in this world but abortion is an absolute abhorrent act. I wish nothing more than to see this practice stopped. However, what is equally appalling is for an individual to take another person’s life, period. As Christian’s we have very deeply held beliefs and we honor these beliefs by submitting ourselves to Lord and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
At no time, does the Holy Spirit guide us to murder. We must face the increasing degradation of our society with prayer and submission to Christ, not with violence and hatred. We have tried that in some of our more shameful past acts and it simply doesn’t work and it is not the direction in which the Lord has led us. I pray for this physician’s soul as he had obviously not repented for his sinful behavior. I also pray for the misguided soul who took this man’s life. We are better than this non-sense and I pray for Godly intervention to the entire abortion issue.

Now, on to other things. I have been incredibly blessed with this blog. I have a fairly large number of faithful readers and I receive dozens of emails every week from readers that I have never met. I love the feedback. I have determined that some of you are insane and are incredibly well humored. I have received letters from school teachers and factory workers. I have had letters from college students and elementary school children. I had one 5th grade young lady who asked me ‘how many grandchildren I had.’ I have written to her parents and asked for her to be grounded. :0). I have had people ask me if Brandon Buchmeier is actually Brandon the ‘Physical Fascination’ Bishop the professional wrestler. Well, yes he is and no, I will not give out his email address. I have had three marriage proposals but they were from Travis’ 81 y.o. aunt. Travis, please tell her that she is beautiful, but I am married.

But this week, I had an interesting letter from a young lady named Claire who wrote to me and asked me for advice on a situation. She said it was o.k. to answer on my blog as she thought that her problem is not uncommon. I told her that I would honor her wish, but made it very clear to her that I am not an expert in the subject she wanted me to address. Here is her question:

‘Jeff,
Good Morning,
I have a problem that I would like your advice on. My fiancé and I have been engaged for almost two years. We were engaged a few months before he deployed to Iraq, with his National Guard Unit. He returned about five months ago, and he has been completely detached from me. I have done my best to understand the adjustment difficulties that soldiers have when they come home, but he has been having a real difficult time with any conversation that pertains to getting married. He has always been a little stand offish when we talked about getting married, but since he has returned, he is absolutely uncomfortable talking about our marriage. He says that he wants to marry me but his actions make me doubt his resolve. What should I do about this? I was hoping that you could shed some light on this problem as you are a deployed soldier and I know that you are a medical officer and have probably dealt with this issue before. Could you give any advice? I love him very much but I want to make sure the man I want to marry loves me and is marrying me for life. Thank you for your blog, we both read it at every posting and love your insight and humor.’
Thank you, Claire.

Wow!! I have to say Claire that I am completely honored that you would come to me about this issue. I must put in a disclaimer though. I am not a relationship expert. If you ask my wife she would tell you that my idea of a romantic date is dinner at Montana Mikes followed by carefully guided tours of Menard's and Best Buy. ;o).

But in all seriousness, your problem is not unique. Soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan face a difficult transition back home. We create bonds with other soldiers that are so deep and intimate that it is difficult to describe. When a soldier returns home they have to rediscover their purpose in their civilian life. I do not know what experiences that your fiancé had in Iraq, but I would venture to say that he would do well to get involved in some counseling to help him deal with unaddressed issues relating to his deployment.

I would like to ask, ‘does your fiancé love you?’ Have you addressed your concerns with him? Or do you walk on eggshells when the topic of marriage comes up?

As you know, if you have been following my blog, my initial response to any problem is to recommend that you submit your concerns to the Lord. I believe that God understands our relationship problems and he is truly the place to start when seeking guidance. God has a plan for your life and I believe that he puts people in your life for a reason. Be honest with Him about your feelings and seek His guidance.

As far as the relationship aspect goes let me give you my limited opinion on the matter. Men and woman approach relationships in a completely different manner. Men tend to be impulsive and appear to be less emotionally involved with the relationship in general. We really like the comfort of having a woman care for us and love us, but we are really bad, often times, at verbalizing and expressing our love in return. It doesn’t mean that we don’t love you but we tend to express our love differently. Some men show their love by providing for the family and doing things for their wife like keeping the car maintained and mowing the lawn. It is a fairly primitive way to express love, but men really have a desire to show a woman that they are of value and that they can take care of their family. I admit that this approach marginalizes the emotional aspect of a relationship, but their heart is in the right place. Unfortunately, this type of expression rarely fulfills the emotional needs of a woman.

Now, women, approach relationships with their heart and whereas, you desire a man who will provide family stability financially, you also desire a husband who will show his love in a more intimate and physical manner. A woman wants to hear that her husband loves her and values her as a partner in their relationship. A woman wants to know that she can trust her husband and that his heart aches to be with you. Women want to know that their man is completely devoted to them and they need to be comforted that their husband will hold them in a place of honor. These are entirely appropriate expectations. Unfortunately, men, many times, simply don’t get it.

I would advise you to address your concerns with him in a loving and honest manner. I would suggest that you try to get him to go to counseling with you before you get married and try to identify coping mechanisms as they relate to marriage and try to find out what concerns or apprehensions that he may have as it relates to marriage.

I have to be honest with you. I said earlier that men appear to approach a relationship with less emotion. Please note that I said, ‘appear’ In a man’s mind and in his heart he may very well be madly and passionately in love with you. It is just that his is not speaking your love language. Often times men are unaware that they are not meeting your emotional needs and if confronted some men will do their best to change their behavior. I have been in relationships where I was clearly aloof to the feelings of my girlfriend and had I been aware that I was not on the same path with her emotions, I would have done anything to change my behavior and make it work. I believe that any loving relationship where much has been invested and deep emotions have been shared, should be given a chance to work out the problems. But those problems need to be addressed and if your fiancé is unaware of your feelings then he may not know that he is being emotionally apathetic.

I am married to an incredibly loving woman who has devoted her life to me and our family. I admit that I have not always appreciated her love and devotion. I tend to involve myself in so many projects that I barely have time to get any one project completed. I really show my love by doing things for the family, when in reality all my wife is wanting is conversation and time devoted to her. We don’t always speak the same language of love. I am still a work in progress.

I believe that men, need to approach their relationship with their girlfriends or wives by seeking Godly, wisdom. I believe that the Lord molds men to understand that their wife is a treasured gift. A Godly man does not hesitate to verbally express his love. A Godly man understands the incredible gift that the Lord has given him in his wife and he is quick to let his wife know how important she is to him. Often times, Claire, men need rethink their approach to their relationship with their wife or girlfriend. Unfortunately, men, often times don’t get the importance of expressing their love until it is too late. Women will tolerate an unemotional and an ungodly man for so long and then they cut their losses. I have learned that when a woman has given up on a relationship she turns her heart off and tries to emotionally sever ties with the very man that she once loved. When a man, finally sees the error of his ways, it is often too late and the resulting destruction of the relationship is devastating to him. It is not that he doesn’t love you; he just needs to learn how to speak your love language.

You both need to identify those things that make each other feel loved. For you, your may feel loved if your husband would verbally affirm his love for you. For him, he may feel loved by you verbalizing, acknowledging, and appreciating the hard work that he does for the family. It is simply a matter of adjusting the manner in which we show our love.

There is a book called ‘The Five Languages of Love’ written by Gary Chapman. In his book, he attempts to help couples identify those things that your spouse or loved one can do to make each other feel loved. I would recommend that you buy a copy for yourself and one for your husband. Dr. Chapman does a great job in communicating to men those things that women truly desire in order to feel loved an appreciated. He also provides women guidance on how men think and what makes them feel loved.

In conclusion, Claire, I would say that your fiancé has to address any baggage that he may have as a result of his military deployment. He also needs to hear from you that you love him and that you want to work on your relationship. He needs to know how you are feeling and what your desire in your relationship. Whereas, you may spend a great deal of time on the emotional aspect of your relationship, he may not think about it at all. In his mind, he may feel that the relationship is fine and he may not understand your concerns. But be honest and sit him down and share your feelings. If he loves you and wants to make the relationship work he will do as you ask. Please avoid approaching this problem with ultimatums. Try not to tell him that if he doesn’t change then you will end your relationship. This type of approach is hurtful and does little to improve a relationship. Additionally, if your relationship doesn’t improve and ultimately fails, please allow it to end on its own merits. Often times a woman will stay in a relationship up to a point but she will end it if she finds someone else. If you are pushed to the point where you desire a relationship with someone else who is willing to meet your needs; please have the courtesy and integrity to end your relationship first. No one wants to be left with the impression that their loved one left them for someone else. It leaves the person humiliated and hurt and it is shows contempt for the man's emotional feelings. These are wounds that could last a lifetime. I would advise men to do the same.

I have faith that you are wanting to make this relationship work and I believe that your fiancé loves you. He has some external stressors that are making him anxious and as a result he tends to pull back from any discussion about getting married. Help him to identify his concerns and reassure him that you are willing to work with him to make your relationship work.I pray that you find a solution to this problem.

I am honored that you asked me for advice, but, again, please understand that I am not an expert in relationships or in conflict resolution. I do pray that you find my response helpful to you. Please take some time to talk to your pastor about your concerns and be sure to talk to your fiancé. My guess is that he wants to marry you as much as you desire to marry him. I am confident that you will have a joyfully, fulfilling, marriage that will last a lifetime.

God Bless you, young lady and please keep me up to date on your progress.I will keep you in my prayers and I ask our readers to pray for you as well. There is tremendous power in prayer and I just know that the Lord will provide you guidance.

Have a great evening.
Jeff

Honoring the Fallen...

2009-05-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

"I cherish the conversation that I had with my grandson, when he said, 'Grandpa are you a hero?' I said, 'No, but I served in the company of heroes.'

Major Richard Winters

Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

What can be said today that has not already been said about those who have given their lives in the course of their duty? I have spent much of my life in the Army and have always been in awe of those veteran's who came before me. I am profoundly grateful for men and women who say by their actions that 'my life is not as important as the life of my brother or sister'. Time and again in our country's honored past, soldiers, sailors, and airmen, have gone forth and did what many would not and could not do and that is to devote their life to a cause bigger than themselves.

I remember when I was stationed at Walter Reed in Washington D.C., I used to take the metro down to Arlington Cemetery and I would stroll through the seemingly endless rows of white. I would often times stop in front of one of the headstones and read the displayed name. Each headstone represented a person. That amazed me. It is so easy to look at the beauty of Arlington Cemetery and forget that each white stone is a shadow of a life that was given for me and for my family.

I have long appreciated these fallen soldiers and even more the loved ones who suffered the loss of their son, daughter, husband, wife, father, mother. While the rest of us are safe and enjoying the company of our family and friends, the families of the fallen have nothing but memories. It is a sad reality of war and conflict that those who go forth don't always come home.

In this conflict, we in the military have lost friends and we have had to observe and endure the horrors that come with war. It is often said and it is so very true, that 'no one prays for peace more than a soldier, because the soldier has to bear the darkest wounds of war.'

Well, today, I would like to say that I am so thankful for those who have come before us and who have given selfishly. I thank the family and friends of those who have lost loved ones and we want you to know that we suffer with your pain and we honor your spirit.

For families who have loved ones still in harms way, we understand your heart and we pray for peace. We are all working as a family here to bring everyone home safely. I would like to believe that we, as members in the military, are in the business of building peace. We labor for peace, we fight for peace, and we pray for peace. Please, let it be that not one more person should fall.

I want to thank you all for your support of us through out these last few years. We have had such a long and difficult path to tread since 9-11 and we are tired and we want to come home. Please pray that the Lord honors our desire for peace and when you go to bed tonight please take a moment to remember those who have gone on before us.

God Bless,

Jeff

"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."

John 15:13

A Quick Update...

2009-05-22T11:00:00.001-07:00

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Well we are 76 days away from coming home. We are all getting very excited. The mood around here is festive and we are all getting our gear ready for shipment home. Our medics are busy finishing up their college classes. It is amazing that we can actually have college classes on base where we are. The University of Maryland has a branch here and they offer classes. Their educational director came by earlier in the year and asked if Mike, Myself, Bryan, or Travis could teach the Anatomy and Physiology with Lab. But our schedule is so varied that we couldn't commit. So they flew in a lady from the states and she has done a great job in teaching our soldiers. I would like to go into teaching in the future. I had an offer a few years ago to teach at our local college in Danville, but my job and the Guard schedule wouldn't allow for it. I think I am going to work on my PhD soon. Mike is finishing his up while he has been here and the more I think about it, I think that I would enjoy the challenge.
We have recently been tasked to start a new clinic in Baghdad, so we may be losing a few soldiers for a couple of months.I would like to update you on the situation that happened in Baghdad a week ago or so. As you know we had two car bombs in Baghdad that killed a few of our troops and then one of our own soldiers went into the mental health clinic and killed four soldiers. The impact has been immediate. We have picked up their patient load as they are closed pending investigation.
I have really been troubled by some of the things that I have seen here. The pressure and stress here is at times are overwhelming and our situation is so unique that our civilian lives has nothing to compare it to.My concern is that these multiple deployments are taking its toll on our troops. The military really needs to take a look at how much a soldier can take. We have soldiers who are on their 4th and 5th deployments. All of us have paid a huge price since 9-11. I personally have not had a complete year home yet since 9-11. It is a very difficult situation and we are pushing soldiers to the breaking point. I am not sure what the solution is but perhaps we should consider activating the Selective Service program. We are so short of troops and the ones that we do have have been deployed multiple times. The Selective Service Program is there for a reason. It it is not there for war time needs then why have it?

Anyway, we pray for the families who lost their loved ones here. The unit manning that Mental Health Clinic is from Indiana although the Psychologist was from the active duty navy medicl corps.

I pray for this soldier who committed this awful crime. Everyone needs prayer even the most abhorrent among us. I truly believe that anyone and everyone can be redeemed. Praise the Lord that he has redeemed me. I don't know where I would be had he not guided my steps. I look back in awe at the chain of events, the people in my life, and situations that influenced my life. I am in medicine because of an amazing series of situations and whereas at the time I didn't understand, I have been able to step back and look at God's plan. God is so awesome.

I would like to send out a big thank you to our friend Dr. Perez. He is back home in Guam and yesterday we received a package that had some cool goodies for us. He sent the providers some beautiful Pacific Islander type shirts. We are going to get everyone together Sunday and get some pictures of us wearing them. We will send him a copy and I will post them on this blog. He also sent along some guitar strings for a couple of guys who play guitar. Dr. Perez is fine guitar player and I use to love hearing him playing and singing at night in our clinic when everything was quiet at the end of a busy day. He also forwarded some other much needed things. I know that he probably wouldn't want me to highlight his gifts as he is humble and gives much privately, but we have been so grateful for him that I want everyone to know the quality of this man. God Bless you, my friend.

I found out a few days ago that Karis was selected to attend our MATS program. The MATS program is for the district's gifted children. Currently there are only 5 girls and I believe two boys that have been selected in her grade and that is district wide. So, we are so proud of her. I credit my wife for Karis success as she is the one who ensures that Karis stays on top of her homework and she provides Karis with structure needed for success.

The students in MATS will be together through their entire school years up to graduation from high school. This program is designed as a college prep program and gives children an optimal environment to reach their educational goals.
It is amazing how much our children makes us proud. I have a love for my daughter that transcends all understanding. I absolutely am honored to be my girls father and I relish the role. She is such an honest and tender-hearted, young lady. She loves the Lord and she really is a wonderful Witness.

Well, I have droned on long enough. Things are going well here and we are all staying healthy. We have all become fitness freaks and I am so proud of our soldiers for physically taking care of themselves.God Bless you all and have a great week and thank you for checking in.
Jeff

Rising Star...

2009-05-11T11:47:00.001-07:00

Good Evening,

We said goodbye to Mike Jones tonight. He flew out of here about a half of an hour ago. We will see him when we get home in 90 days or so. I can't wait. I have so many things to do when I get home. One of the things that I need to do is to visit friends and family. I would like to reconnect and thank those for supporting us while we were here.

Well, tonight I get to do some bragging. As many of you know, my daughter Karis is into the Arts. She plays violin and piano, she sings and figure skates and she is into theater in a big way. Well, yesterday she had an opening night of her current play. She has done so many plays that I have lost track but I received a newspaper clipping of the rehearsals. I would like to share them with you.

Above: Karis is on the left.

Above: Karis is in the middle.

As you can see, Karis is looking great, which is no real suprise as her dad is extremely handsome and he is a great singer (when I am in the shower.) ;0)

I am so proud of her. She has really found an interest in theater and the Arts. She is also quite athletic and plays tennis and softball as well as tumbling and ice skating.

I am so eager to get home and go see her perform again. As a father, my joy is made complete to see my child doing something she really enjoys.

Anyway, just a quick note to be a proud father. I pray that you are all well.

God Bless you all.

Jeff

Where the Heart Is...

2009-05-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

Haitian Country Side

Good Evening All,
Tonight we had a nice cookout to say goodbye to Mike Jones. He is one of our 90 day docs and a great guy. Mike and I have known each other for over ten years and having him here was like a little bit of home for us.

We have been busy. In addition to our normal patient load, Travis and I have had to deal with the inevitable up coming swine flu epidemic. I say that with a little sarcasm mixed with a little fear as I pray that the threat will fizzle out. We have put together a tent city that is isolated so that we can quarantine any infected soldier. If a patient has a positive nasal swab for influenza, even if it is Type A influenza, we isolate the patient. The reason for this is that we can only get a rapid influenza on these patients. The confirmatory nasal wash has to be sent back to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and that can take weeks. The process to put together this emergency protocol takes up a great deal of our time. Three meetings a week at the hospital just to deal with this topic.

Thankfully, Travis and I tag team it. Travis is much better at these administrative issues than I am and he has a photographic memory which is scary. All in all though, I think that we should handle any influenza case without too much trouble.

I have been troubled by a couple of things this week and I would like to share them with you and ask for your prayers. Within the last week we had a soldier who found out that his wife wanted a divorce. Unfortunately, this type of situation occurs all too frequently. This soldier is one of our finest. I had the honor of pinning on his stripes when he made sergeant. The news came as a complete shock to him and he was devastated. Our command decided that he needed to go home and try to salvage his marriage.

What I always think about when this happens is the pain that comes when one person falls out of love and the other is still holding on. The pain is real. Every part of your body aches and often times you plunge into a state of emotional depression. When I heard about this soldier’s situation, my heart immediately went out to him. I have been in relationships that did not end under the best of circumstances and I found myself swimming in a sea of anger, confusion, and despair. I was unprepared for the pain that followed and I literally went through the five stages of grieving which are: 1. Denial and Isolation 2. Anger 3. Bargaining 4. Depression and finally 5. Acceptance. I think in every relationship that goes sour, some, if not all of these stages are experienced. At the end of the day the last stage is often times, never really achieved. I often think that there should be a sixth stage of grieving and that is the stage of feeling foolish. Foolish for allowing such a situation to occur and foolish for allowing vulnerability to pierce our armor, foolish for trusting so much.

It is really tough to give your heart away and then have your gift rejected. The pain of a broken relationship clouds the mind and can cause us to do things that a rational person would never do. This scenario is happening much too often in our soldiers who are deployed. The pain is compounded by the fact that we are all so far from home and feel helpless to try and resolve the relationship.
I pray for this young man as I know the pain that he is experiencing and I pray that his marriage can be salvaged. When two people have invested so much into each other, I think it is important to make what ever changes that needs to be made and try to reestablish that love that once bound so tightly.

The other thing that has been bothering me is a recurrent dream. Ten years ago or so, I went to Haiti on a short term mission. I went with my brother-in-law and two other guys. We went down there as a Christian mission and I ended up spending time working in one of the medical clinics. Well, one day we went to the market in Jacmel and it was one of those typical third world places, you know a place where the meat is hung on a hook with flies buzzing around. Grain poured out on the ground for purchase and merchants all pleading for business.

As I walked around the market, I felt someone tug my shirt. I looked around and saw a pretty little girl of about 4 years of age. She was dressed in a floral dress which was stained from prolonged wear without washing and her olive skin colored face was streaked with dirt. She looked up to me and said something in Creole which is the primary language in Haiti. I did not understand her language but what she wanted was perfectly clear. She wanted some money so that she could buy food. I looked around and did not see her parents or anyone who was responsible for this child. Unfortunately, this is all too common in Haiti. The average life span is only 44 years. So, children end up raising their siblings if they even have siblings. Otherwise they are on their own.

Anyway, we had been told not to give anything to beggars as it would only encourage others to come running over and it wouldn’t take long to be overwhelmed. I kneeled down to look at this child so that we could see eye to eye. I smiled and told her how pretty she was. I am sure that she did not understand me, but she smiled right back and immediately we had a connection. I reached into my pocket and gave her some change which in conversion probably amounted to less than a dollar. I said goodbye to her and continued on my way. As I walked around looking at market items this little girl followed me. She was no longer asking me for money but just quietly following along behind me. I finished my shopping and we left.

Over the years, I have thought about this girl. I wondered why she was following me. I thought that perhaps she expected something tangible from me but the more I think about it, I have come to the conclusion that she just wanted someone to spend time with her. She had been so isolated in the crowd and she was hungry and she was alone. I have recently been dreaming about this young lady. Her face has haunted my dreams. I regret that I did not turn back around and spend time with her. I regret that I didn’t give her more than I did. I regret that I allowed my heart to harden enough to be able to walk away.

I have spent much of my adult years travelling to places all over the world and the one constant that I find is that, we in America are so blessed. Our streets are not littered with the bloated bellies of the hungry. Common diseases are not epidemic and our basic needs of food, water, and shelter are denied no individual. We are so blessed.I am not sure why I have been dreaming about this little angel. Perhaps the Lord is reminding me of the responsibility that we have to use our blessings to help others. I am so in awe of those who go to the mission field and devote their lives to caring for other. I pray that my life is worthy of the hope that this little girl had in me. I am afraid I failed her, but that will not happen again.

I pray that the Lord softens your heart to the needs of others. Different faces, different skin color, different languages, does not separate the bonds that hold us together. We are siblings, children of God and we have a responsibility to care for those who cannot care for themselves. Take time if you would, to thank the Lord for the gifts that he has given you. And remember, with blessings comes responsibilities. I pray that the Lord touches your heart today and that He puts people and situations in your life that will allow you to use your blessings for the building of His Kingdom.

I want to thank you for reading this blog tonight. I know it was longer than usual but I have had a heavy heart about these matters and it does me good to share these concerns with you. Thanks for lending me your ear.

Take care and be safe.

Jeff

Mother's Day...

2009-05-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,

Well another year has passed and we find ourselves ready to celebrate perhaps the most deserving holiday of the year. Mother's day is this Sunday and I think it is important for us to recognize and appreciate the work and dedication that our mother's and our wives have delivered to us and our children. I have to say that being deployed and away from home we soldiers truly are thankful for our wives and mothers who are back home taking care of things. They are doing the job of two parents, they are devoting themselves to our families so that we can come over here and do the things that need to be done. They worry about us, support us, and most importantly, pray for us.

So, tonight I would like to dedicate this blog to our mother's and our children's mother. As a man, I sometimes don't realize all of the things that our wives and mothers have done to care for us and our families. Many women are working full time jobs and then coming home and working full time in our homes. A mother's role is so multifaceted. Sometimes they are teachers, sometimes they are nurses, sometimes they are accountants, and sometimes they are laborers. They are always a comforter and a counsellor and without them we husbands and sons would be lost.

So, thank you, mother's for taking care of our families. Thank you for the support you have given us and God Bless you for the internal instinct to put your family above yourselves. One day to celebrate your hard work is hardly enough but please know that we are appreciative and thankful for you being in our lives.

Before I go, I would like to mention that last week was the 'Week of the Military Child' We in the military understand that our children pay a heavy price when their mother or father is deployed. They do not ask to have their parent in the military and all too often they have little say in where they live, what schools they go to, or when their parent comes and goes. So, God bless our children. You are the joy of our hearts and our love for you is without measure. Thank you so much for being strong and for understanding that your mom or dad is sharing their life to help others. You guys are so awesome.

God Bless You All,

Jeff

Swine Flu, a Horse That Flew, and the Passing of a Senator...

2009-05-03T11:09:00.001-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,
By now, I am sure that you have heard about the recent 'swine flu' out break that the news media is hyping to induce hysteria. I want to take a few moments to provide information about this virus.

This particular virus is H1N1 viral strain that actually appears to be more of an Avian Bird Flu strain that has mutated and has infected swine as well as people. Swine flu is a virus so it is spread from person to person via hand to hand contact, hand to inanimate objects, and through droplets that are expectorated during a cough or sneezing. It appears that this strain is affecting the young. There is some indication that this virus may have the same make up of the Swine Flu in 1976 so consequently those who were exposed in 1976 may have some immunity to this particular strain.It is important not to panic. As of today appx. 250 to 300 people have been affected and one death has been attributed to this virus. In comparison, last year alone over 13,000 people died from the influenza virus.

Precautions should be taken to prevent the spread of this virus. Standard universal procedures like hand washing, cleaning inanimate objects like phones, keyboards, and door knobs, covering mouth and nose when sneezing and coughing and be sure to wash toys that more than one child has access to.

The H1N1 virus is a tough little guy. It can live up to 3 days on a hard surface and replicates quickly once it finds a host.

Treatment of course starts with preventative measures as listed above. Annual flu vaccinations are important but unfortunately it appears that this years vaccination does not cover this virus.If a person is infected with this virus, standard influenza treatment is appropriate and includes administering anti-viral medications like Tamiflu, hydration therapy, and symptomatic management. Tamiflu should be administered within 48 hours of infectivity.

The H1N1 virus is communicable from the day before symptoms are recognized to 7 days after symptoms begin.

Diagnosis of this virus is through nasal swabs to obtain a rapid in office diagnosis, however, there is an appx. 30% false negative rate on this study and so a nasal wash needs to be administered for a definitive diagnoses.

Pt. at risk for complications are the very young, the very old, and immunocompromised pt. who may have co-morbidities.

It is important to stay calm and practice good hygeine and utilize preventative measures.We have had great improvement in our ability to manage these potential pandemic illnesses.
-In the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic over 50 million people died.
-In the 1957 Asian Flu outbreak appx. 69 thousand people perished
-In the 1968 Hong Kong Flu epidemic appx. 33 thousand lost their lives
-and during the 1976 Swine flu, the 1977 Russian flu, and the 1997 Avian flu outbreak less than a hundred people died in each.

So, public information, good hygiene, and adherence to preventative measures have really improved our ability to weather the storms of these outbreaks.

Remember, stay vigilant, stay calm, and seek medical care if symptoms of high fever, respiratory symptoms, body aches, chills, nausea, or diarrhea occur. I believe that we can make it through this round of influenza with minimal complications if we follow the appropriate measures.

Now, on to another topic. Every year, like most people, I watch the Kentucky Derby. Well, this year a horse named 'Mine That Bird' ridden by Calvin Bore, came from the last place position going into the final turn and pushed passed the field on the rail and won by 12 lengths. This horse was a 50-1 shot and has become a true Cinderella story. It was perhaps one of the most amazing races in Kentucky Derby history.

And finally, we mourn the loss of Senator Jack Kemp. Senator Kemp was the vice presidential canditate on the ticket with Senator Bob Dole in the election of 1996. Senator Kemp was a Godly man and a true conservative. He held firm to conservative values and led by example. It would do the Republicans well to learn from Senator Kemps life.

As far as things around here, we are all doing well. Travis and I have had to sit through meetings with our chief medical staff to develop our 'Swine Flu' protocols. Hopefully, we will never have to get past the planning phase.

Bryan is still home on leave and we miss him. It is time he gets back to work. He has had his fun and all but we are ready to send out a couple of thugs and drag him back. You can't hide from us Cpt. McFarland.

I pray that you all have a great week and God Bless,

Jeff

Deeper Devotion...

2009-04-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,

Well we just finished up our soccer teams final game with a 1-0 win. Mike Roscoe scored our teams only goal but it was enough.

Bryan wrote to me to let me know that he made it home safely. He apparently received expeditious consideration because a young man named Cpt. Biden was on his flight. Cpt. Biden is the son of our Vice President and is stationed over here with us. I am really excited for Bryan. He is now with his family and that is a joy that is hard to put into words.Our company is doing well.

We are getting a little giddy as the days tick away. I have to say that we have been blessed as we have had a safe tour.

I was listening to the news the other night and there was a discussion about the growth of the Muslim Faith. An additional discussion was had about the growth of the Mormon Church. I started to think about these facts as it pertained to our Christian Faith. I have been concerned over the years that our churches have been more concerned with growth in numbers and less concerned about individual Spiritual growth.

Now, I understand that no church is apathetic to Spiritual growth, however, the lack of the church's ability to hold its members accountable for their growth in faith makes it difficult to judge Christian devotion.I have always viewed church as a place where the body of Christ meets to not only worship our Lord, but to encourage eachother to Witness. I have lived in many places during my years in the military and have been to churches of all sizes and I have noticed that the larger the church the less connected the parishiner's are to the church. In fact, I believe, there are a certain population who simply like the idea of belonging to a church more as an identity than for Spiritual growth.

I was in a church as a child that had a program that when the church grew larger than 500 members than they started a new congregation. The idea was the after 500 members it becomes difficult to really know those who are coming and going in the church. Now, accountability is an individual responsibility but it is also the role of the church and its leaders to hold its members accountable. I often think that if we practiced our devotion to our jobs the way we practice our devotion to our church, than many of us would lose our jobs. We come in to church late, leave early, miss meeting on Wednesday nights and even look at Sunday School as an optional inconvenience. This type of devotion lends itself to a weakening of the body and makes our church vunerable to other ideas and beliefs.

I understand that this harsh critique, does not apply to everyone. In fact, there are some wonderfully devoted members who spend a great deal of their time and energy to building the Lord's ministry. So, please do not feel offended.

The reason that I bring this topic to the forefront is because, I believe that their are religions and people of other faiths that are extremely devoted to their beliefs and are becoming very successful at spreading their influence. The weaker in faith that we become the stronger other faiths will become.A church is only as strong as its weakest members and we need to make sure that our members are accountable to eachother and to our church. Individuals need to focus on developing a relationship with Christ and focusing on His purpose for us.

The Church needs to be unafraid to hold its members accountable. The church would do well to have a smaller, yet more devoted body, than a larger and a more watered down body. I believe that churches should stop focusing on building bigger buidings, going into huge debt. and giving an appearance of Godliness and devote their energies to building a strong, highly accountable, body. Churches need to hold each member accountable and each member needs to allow the Church to hold them accountable. It is as simple as that.

We are at a time where other religions and other ideological faiths are growing by the thousands. If we fail to hold firm to our faith and our beliefs then at some point we may have the right to worship Christ taken from us. Stand strong and put on the breastplate of righteousness and prepare for battle.

I hope you are all well and thank you so much for everyone who has supported us this year. The turnout and support of our unit through our blogs and through individual and group efforts has meant so much to us. We look forward to coming home and assimilating back into our community.

God Bless,

Jeff

Bryan's Leave...

2009-04-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow morning at 5:45 a.m. I will be taking Bryan to the airport to head home for his leave. I dread him leaving as I am going to miss him terribly, but I am so excited that he is going home to see his family. So, say a prayer for him that his trip goes well. We have become such a family here that when one is gone we all feel the loss. Yes, we will all work harder and longer hours and get less sleep and endure more stress and carry a heavier load when he is gone... but hey, Bryan don't feel bad for us enjoy your leave. :0)

Our soccer team lost to the Ugandan team 2-1. But we really played well during the second period and Bryan scored our only goal. It is so awesome that we can have countries from all over the world come together and enjoy eachother's company over a game of soccer. I love the military for so many reasons but perhaps the most admirable aspect of the military is the harmony that exist among soldiers. It transcends race, gender, religious, or political differences. We are brothers and sisters and we are family. No where in the world does this sort of bond exist.Today, I had the honor of re-enlisting one of our soldiers.

Spc. Mallory Wilson asked me to adminster the Oath of Enlistment and I was honored to do so. She is one of our finest and most intelligent soldiers. I believe that her future in medicine is limitless. So, congratulations to her for her commitment.

Our vaccination clinic inoculated its 10,000 soldier this week. Out of those 10,000 soldiers over 18,000 vaccinations have been given. Sgt. Edwards who is my NCOIC of the clinic has managed the clinic with just her and Spc. Byland. What an amazing effort those two have put in.

Enemy attacks have been on the decline as the weather has been clear. They prefer to attack in bad weather because they are more difficult to detect in inclimate weather. So, this has been a blessing.

Today, an Iraqi citizen walked in to the clinic and he had his hand wrapped in a dirty rag. I had the medics take him back to a room and when I unwrapped his make-shift bandage he had a degloving injury to his little finger. In other words, the entire skin and underlying structures of the finger was circumferentially torn away and the only thing he had was the bones of the digit. I cleansed it and immediatly pressure dressed it and sent him to the ER. He was taken to surgery and the finger was amputated. I felt badly for the man as he is a man who relies on his hands to make a living and he is now going to be laid up for a while. In Iraq there is no workman's compensation, so this injury will have a huge impact on his ability to make a living.

Two days ago, we received word that one of our soldiers, Spc. Weik's, house burned down. His wife and four children were safe, however, they lost everything. So, we sent him home to deal with relocating his family. Please say a prayer for him and his family.I have been busy writing.

In addition to working on 'Hannah KaReese and the Lost Art in Denmark' (working title), I have been outlining a new peice of fiction titled, 'The Wind Blows Peaceful' I am so excited about this story and am working hard to finish it before we leave Iraq.

My wife purchased me the book, 'The Boy in Striped Pajama's' I believe I mentioned this in an earlier blog. The book is a unique account of two young boys in the mist of the horrors of the Holocaust. I read the book on my way back from leave. Anyway, Drew, Bryan, and myself had our weekly movie night in my room and we watched the movie. It is a touchingly beautiful, and tragically ironic adaptation. If you get some time, please rent this movie.

Well, I have things to do. I want to thank everyone for checking in. Again, please pray for Bryan and for Spc. Weik and his family. I believe that the Lord works through the prayers of the faithful. Your prayers are much appreciated.

God Bless you all,Jeff

Another Day...

2009-04-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Well another day in the sand and everything has been back to the same routine for me. Last night our company's soccer team played a team from Britian. I bet you can guess how that turned out. We lost 3-0. Our next game is against the Ugandans. Mike and Bryan played really well. Mike played soccer for Butler and is really an excellent player.

Bryan will be going home of leave. Steph, you asked what you could do for Bryan when he gets home. Do me a favor and buy a bunch of Crispy Cream doughnuts, A large bag of Dorito chips, some chocolate and perhaps cook him something in real lard. We have spent the last 8 months working out and eating well and when I went home, I slacked off. I restarted my physical training program yesterday and tonight I did my normal work out and became so nauseated that I almost hurled. Bryan looked at me like I was an amatuer. So, try to soften him up when he's home so I can poke his belly and make fun of him when he returns.

The mood around the company has improved. I think people are feeling the end and we are ready to go home. We do have 12 people who have volunteered to stay another year with our replacement company. I referred them all for a mental health evaluation.

I have been working on my next book in the Hannah KaReese series. KaReese, Tara, Zoey, and the twins, along with others will find themselves in Denmark. Of course dangerous adventure is around every corner and events will arise that will push these friends to the brink of tolerance. I am excited and I hope you will enjoy my effort.

Karen gave me the book 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas' I read it from cover to cover on the plane ride back here. I am not a fast reader, it's just that we were on the plane for 3 months. :0)

I Skyped Karen and Karis last night and Karis told me that she was picked to sing a solo in her school play. She also will have her art work put on the cover of the program. She was excited and I am just a proud and bragging dad. She also told me that a boy likes her and is writing her love notes. He even tried to put his arm around her while they were sitting on the stage and listening to the Director. The boy is also ten. Now, what kind of boy writes love letters to girls? When I was ten, I thought of nothing else but baseball and how to get out of doing my homework. So, as a dad, I am not sure what to do about this. Is there a Dad's of Daughter's Handbook anywhere? I think I need one. Up until now, things were relatively easy and straight forward but now... Anyway any advise would be appreciated. I think Karis maybe the first Protestant Nun. I think I will put her in home school and not allow her to leave the house until she is 25.

In all seriousness, I am so proud of Karis. She is the best daughter a parent could ever hope to raise. She is kind and considerate, honest and principled, hard working and compassionate. I can't help but to brag about her to everyone.

It is funny that all of the providers here are father's of daughters. Bryan has one daughter, Mike Roscoe has three daughters, Mike Jones has a daughter, Travis has a daughter and the new Doc, Drew has a daughter. So we frequently sit around and share stories. It is pretty clear that the older our girls get the less we know.

Anyway, things are going well. I miss everyone at home but am glad to be here with my friends. The comradery in this environment can never be duplicated in any other situation. We would sacrifice everything for our friends. I will miss this the most when our tour is over.

The Iraqi conference went well. The progress for a stable national health care system is slow but moving forward. They still do not have an emergency response system. So, no ambulances, no EMT's or Paramedics, and no means to transport patients to medical facilities. The responsibility of transport falls on the shoulders of the family of the person in need of care. Additionally, the treatment of mental health issues is inadequate. The perception of patients with mental health problems is that they are cursed. Patients with schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, dissociative disorders, etc... are ostracized and consequently these patients either go untreated or are locked away in one of the three mental institutions in Iraq.

Religious beliefs play an important role in medicine. Male patients are seen by male physicians and female patients are seen by female physicians especially when it comes to any exam that requires removal of clothing. When anyone in a family is ill, the father is the one who determines if his family member gets medical care not the mother. Christianity is still not tolerated in this new government. Actually, Christianity was more tolerated under Saddam, but now that power has been re-established with tribal leadership, Christians are not as tolerated, even in medicine.

So, Iraqi's have a long way to go before they will have a stable National Health Care System, but progress is being made.

Well, I just wanted to give a quick update. I hope you are all well and remember to be kind and forgiving to others. The measure that you provide others will also be provided to you. Kindness can lift a broken heart and invigorate a sad Spirit. So, make an effort to be kind even when kindness is not returned.

I love you guys and thank you for a nice leave.

Jeff

New Blog Up and Running...

2009-04-17T12:37:00.001-07:00

Good Evening All.

I have started my new blog that I mentioned on my last posting. It is titled: 'In the Best Interest of the United States' The address is: http://usbestinterest.blogspot.com/

I hope you will follow along and join the discussion of upcoming topics.

God Bless you all.

Jeff

Return to the Mesopotamia...

2009-04-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

Good Evening,

The internet is slow tonight so I will make it short. I made it back to Balad yesterday. Everything went well and only spent one night in Kuwait which was a relief as anymore than a night there is too long.

We had three new physicians arrive when I was gone which is wonderful for us. We are now provider heavy and we are praying that the Army doesn't figure it out otherwise they will start taking them from us to send them on some ridiculous mission to nowhere.

My time at home was wonderful. It was nice to see my family and to meet with friends. We are still looking at coming home for good in August but that is always a fluid situation as the Army could keep us longer if they have a need. I enjoyed getting out to work and saying hi to my co-workers. It was nice to see Lori and Vanessa. They are our office managers and really they are the one's who make our clinic function smoothly. Lori was worried that I would play a prank on her for April Fools Day, because I pranked her last year. But I told her that war has matured me and I don't do such childish things anymore. I am hoping that by now she has started to smell the lovely aroma of the open and full tuna fish can that I taped to the underside of her desk. :0) Good Times.

It was also nice to see the nurses. They are an awesome team and always help me when I have no clue as to what I am doing. I learned a long time ago to be nice to nurses as they can make things go well or go badly for me depending on their mood of the day. So, I try to keep them in a very good mood.

It was nice to get back with my family here. I couldn't ask for a nicer group of people to work with. They were ecstatic that I returned. In fact, I think the best comment I received when I returned was from Spc. Buchmeier. When I told him I was back, he said, "Oh, Sir, I didn't know you were gone." So they were very excited to see me. ;0)

Tomorrow, Travis and I will be going to an Iraqi conference that is being held here on Balad. I look forward to learning what has been going on in the Iraqi Health Care System.

I did find a little present that Andy left me when he left. A few days before I left for home, I kept finding a few flakes of oatmeal on my floor and on my bed. I would clean it up thinking maybe I spilled them out of the package when I made a bowl of oatmeal in my room. But this morning when I woke up I noticed that I had oatmeal on my socks. I wear socks to sleep. (Not that you need to know that it is just useless information that I throw out there to fill up space on my blog.) Anyway, I picked up my sleeping bag and turned it upside down and about a quart of dried oats poured out all over my bed. I hope that he is proud of himself. This is a man who went to medical school and yet he has stooped to such levels as this. I thankfully, have higher standards of conduct. I just hope he enjoys the super glue that I squirted into his toothpaste. That should keep him quiet for a while.

We had another sand storm yesterday. My room was so full of dust that I used an entire roll of paper towels and a bottle of Windex to clean my room.

Well, I will write more soon. I will need to do an update of all areas of my blog and get my medical minute, quote of the day, and scripture of the day up to date. Also, I am going to start another blog that will be independant of this blog and will deal with more political matters. I am a conservative but because of my military status I have been unable to speak of my views due to military restrictions. But I have given a great deal of thought as to the nature of this blog and will construct it in such a way that doesn't violate military protocols yet allows us to have discussion of current issues of the day. I will link the site with this one when I get it up and running and will continue with it once I return from home. At that time, I will end this blog and transition over to the new blog. So, I hope you will follow along.

I pray that you are all well and I thank you for your prayers and support.

God Bless,

Jeff

Back to the Desert...

2009-04-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

Well, my leave is over and I will be flying back to Iraq tomorrow morning, Monday. As you can imagine I stayed pretty busy while here. Karis birthday was on the 6th so we had a swim party then a sleep over at our house with her and her friends. On the 9th we went over to Beef and Boards, which is a dinner theater in Indy, and we saw the play, 'Treasure Island.' It was suprisingly good. Karen and I have been season ticket holders for the Broadway series over the years and I must say that this little production was as well done as anything we've seen at the Assembly Hall.

I was unable to meet with Mary and Leslie as time didn't permit and we didn't have time the night we went to Indy for the play.

I did go out to work and say 'Hi' to everyone and to make sure that I still had a job when I return home.

Today we went to Easter Services at 'The Rock' They had a Passion type presentation and we wanted to see that. It was nice.

I did drink a humungous diet fountain soda. We don't have fountain sodas in Iraq so I really enjoyed that simple pleasure.

Tonight, I said goodbye to Karis. She will be spending the night at a friends house because Karen and I have to leave so early in the morning for the airport. She is doing so well with my deployment. She started getting a little bit of an attitude over the last few months with her mother but I straightened that out and now she is back on track.

Below is a photo of Karis that I took tonight before she went to Natalie's house. I am not sure where she gets her taste in clothing. It is so odd as Karen and I are very conservative people yet our daughter is a free spirited 60's type of child. I think she intentionally wears things to stick out. I thought maybe it was just a thing that she liked to do but all of her friends dress the same way. It baffles the imagination but there you have it. I guess wearing over the waist jeans, with an OP teeshirt, three IZOD's, and an Member's Only jacket probably seems weird to her. But I liked that ratted poofy hair that the girls had in the 80's and I also loved my hair parted down the middle and feathered back. Man, I miss those days. The Clash ROCKS!!! :0)

Anyway, I will write more when I get back to the vast wasteland of nothingness. I hope you are all well.

Yes, that is a striped purple shirt with a plaid skirt and red leggings.
Travis dresses this way when he's not on duty but he's a giant so we don't say anything to him out of sheer fear.

Travis and I cooking at the cookout we had right before I came home on leave. The salmonella poisoning that everyone got from the chicken had nothing to do with my cooking.

These are the tents we sleep in when we are in Kuwait. I took this at Ali Al Salem while going home on leave. It is a lovely place and I still have sand in places on my body that I cannot share with you on this family friendly blog.

HOME...

2009-03-30T09:58:00.001-07:00

Well, I've made it home. I left Balad on the 26th and flew on a C-130 to Ali Al Salem in Kuwait. We then convoyed on busses over to Kuwait City and flew out to Lipzig, Germany from there. We had about an hour lay over for refueling then back on the plane and we flew directly into Atlanta. I then hopped a plan to Indy where Karen and Karis met me. The new airport in Indy is up and running and is very nice. I had forgotten that they were due to open that while we were gone.

Yesterday, I spent the day hanging out with Karis. I went to the gym and worked out then spent a couple of hours swimming with Karis. Her spring break ended yesterday so we made the most of our day. After swimming we came back home made peanut butter balls and then Karen, Karis, and I, played 'Apples to Apples'. Karis finally went to bed about 10 p.m. an hour and a half past her required bedtime. It was nice to have a relaxing day and to do normal things again.

As far as the peanut butter balls go, I am sending you guys in Iraq a package of them. Ashley's mom thinks that she has the market cornered on 'Buckeyes' and she is the big hero around the clinic because she sends these delicious tasting peanut butter delights, but I am here to tell you that she is about to be dethroned. So, you should be receiving prime quality, A-1, peanut butter, chocolate balls from an expert.

I got a great deal on a large vat of peanut butter. Apparently, there is a company trying to get rid of a ton of peanut butter because the government says that it is tainted with Salmonella or E-coli or something like that. But you know how the government is and I have been assured by the company that the peanut butter is safe...So enjoy. :0).

Anyway, I will update you as I near the end of my leave. Thank you to the guys in Iraq for covering for me and I will see you soon.

Jeff

Bryan's Big Adventure...

2009-03-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

Good Evening All,

Well Mike and I took Bryan to Catfish Air, which is our helicopter airport, and we sent him on his way. He will be covering for a physician who will be coming here for a few days. Steph, I don't want you to worry about Bryan, he will be fine. There will only be two things that will concern Bryan when he gets there; Is there internet service, so that he can talk to you and is there mold on the shower curtain. He tends to be a little germaphobic so it will be a muxt that he has sterile showering quarters. In all seriousness, he is just up the road and will be back and a couple of days. I want to thank him for stepping up and taking on this mission.

Well, LTC Tim Barnard came by last week for a visit. Tim is one of our Indiana providers and he is stationed at Camp Buerhing in Kuwait. He was up for a conference. He came by to hang out with us. He is a great guy and has a story for everything. We came up through the officer ranks together. He has always been a couple of years ahead of me. That just means he's older.

We took a few photos together while he was down. They are kind of blurry but there not to bad. I will post them below.

Kudos to Travis as he was interviewed by a television station to talk about orthorpaedic injuries, more specifically about non-combative ankle injuries. Apparently, the interview will be picked up by the Pentagon channel and broadcast all over the world. Yes, he is going around asking people if they want his autograph.

It turns out that my little article on skin cancer went out over UPI and has been picked up by some papers in the United States. So, that is exciting. The article if fluff but hey it is something worth bragging about.

Well, everyone it is March Madness time. It is an exciting year. There are about 6-7 teams that could win it all and about 4-5 Cinderella teams that could spoil their chances. One of the teams that we are watching closely is Butler University. Mike teaches there and Travis and Bryan graduated from there. So, we are rooting for this small school of 3,000 or so to make their impact this year. I think Pittsburgh and Memphis are the teams to watch, although Memphis is struggling right now against CS Northridge.

Weather has cleared up and it has been very nice. We have had a hiatus in the mortar attacks, so pray that that continues. I am getting excited about going home. I almost forgot what it was like to go to see a real tree. Karen and Karis showed me our cat Tybalt on Skype the other night an he has gotten so fat. I need to get home and get him to work. He waddles around like a penguin.

Today is Dr. Mike Jones birthday, so happy birthday to him. We will celebrate tomorrow. He is having some difficulty urinating as his prostate is getting so big and he has had some difficulty finding his socks in the morning, so we send over a soldier to help him dress in the morning. Yesterday, he asked if Truman had been re-elected. It is sad...but we take care of him.

Samantha Hatfield and Beth Theiman just stopped by and wanted to borrow my 9mm. They wanted to go over to the PX and they thought it would look 'cool' to wear a pistol. I am going to make them clean it for me before they return. Today was also Hatfields birthday. She is 20 years old. Can you imagine...They are just babies.

Getting back to business. We will be having a cook out on the 24th of March. That day will be one of the two days where we will have all of the providers together at the same time. We are tasked out so much for other missions that we are hardly ever together. Hopefully, I can get some pictures up of that next week.

Well, I want you all to know that we appreciate the support that you provide for us while we are hear. It is so nice knowing that we have you all to come home to.

God Bless You,

Jeff

L-R: Travis, Tim, Me, Mike, Bryan

Mike and myself

Mike having a 'needy' moment. He's very touchy feely.

10 Days To Go...

2009-03-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

A quick note.

Firstly, I hope you are all well. Secondly, I will be leaving here on the 26th to head home for leave. I am excited. I look forward to going around to see you guys. Karis has a birthday coming up so we are going to have a birthday party for her and of course, a sleep over. Entertaining a household full of ten year old girls is kind of like being caught in a tornado. Stuff flies through the air, landing willy nilly everywhere. Sometimes you have to wrap your hands around your head and duck and cover. Then when the storm passes you have to get out and assess the damage. Maybe I should upgrade my home owners insurance. :o)

On the 9th, I believe, Beef and Boards in Indy is presenting the play 'Treasure Island.' So, we are going to take Karis and a friend to that. So, I am excited to be able to be home for her birthday. I missed Thanksgiving and Christmas this year so I am eager to be there for her special day. I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming. She has a sensitive heart and she loves the Lord. What more can a father desire in a daughter.

As far as activities here, Andy will be back on the 20th and Mike should be back around Wednesday of this week. Bryan has a mission that he has to go on for three or four days, please pray that he returns safely. I am sure he will do fine. He is a veteran of the Somalia conflict and so he is on top of things.

Later this month, we will be having another medical conference with Iraqi physicians. In January, we led a conference for them. This time they will lead the conference for us. It will be interesting to learn the protocols that they use in their practices.

We have had several sand storms over the last two weeks. Sand lingers in the air like fog and the day becomes orange as the sun filters through the dust. The other day it actually rained during the middle of a sand storm. The droplets of water mixed with the floating sand and as a result it was raining mud. Our uniforms were covered in little drops of mud. These limited visibility days are also an opportunity for our enemies to launch attacks on our base. I believe everyday that we have had a sand storm, we have been mortared or received a rocket attack.

The sand storms here are not exactly what you think they are. What happens is that sand is blown around many miles away from us. The result is that a large cloud of dust will float lazily over our base and simply hang around in the air. The dust is so fine that it actually floats in the air. Ther is no wind involved like in the movies. It is more like a heavy fog, except instead of water mist, it is sand. It can play havoc on our atopic troops who are prone to allergic antigens.

The mood here is good. I am so proud of our medics. Many of them have come so far since our arrival. We have done so much teaching and mentoring of these soldiers and they have sucked up the knowledge like a sponge. I remember when I couldn't get enough of medical information. I wanted to do everything and I looked for anyone to teach us something new. We have a saying in medicine that goes: 'See one, do one, teach one.' Basically a soldier observes a procedure, then performs the procedure under supervision and then teach that procedure to other troops. Most of our soldiers are at the point of teaching others. We have invited medics from a unit in Washington, State over to have our medics teach them the skills needed to run a clinic. The Washington medics are glad to learn new things and our medics are eager to show them. I have said this before but it is worth repeating. Medicine is not ours to keep but ours to give away. Our soldiers are giving back to their profession. I love seeing that.

Dr. Sami who is an Iraqi/American came by today to share good news with us. He is a practicing physician in San Diego and he came back to Iraq where he was raised to try and build a stable health care system. He says that the State Dept. will be setting up a multi-service clinic in Balad where doctors and health care providers from around the world can come and volunteer their time in two week rotations. What a wonderful opportunity for our profession to give to those who have the greatest need. Short term missionary work has such an impact on the local population. I was in Haiti a few years ago with my brother in law and I worked in a small clinic and provided care to local villagers. These poor people were so grateful to receive care for their children and family. They would walk miles through rough terrain and wait for 2-3 days just to be seen in the clinic. The people here are in similar situations. They simply want to have a normal life and take care of their family. I pray that Dr. Sami's program goes well. He has such a passion for this mission and he is a blessing to us and to his fellow country men and women.

Well, that is a quick update. I hope you are all doing well. I can't wait to see you guys when I get home and I pray that you are all well.

God Bless,

Jeff

2009-03-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

"How wonderful it is that nobody need to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

Anne Frank

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few years ago I took Karen, Karis, and myself to Amsterdam Holland to visit the house that Anne Frank and her family lived in during their flight from the Nazi's. The house is a reminder of a sanctuary in dark places. In her diary, young Miss Frank put her thoughts down in writing. Her words are well articulated and to the point. She was living in times of persecution and fear. One would think that her thought would gravitate to the anger and hopelessness that often comes with those in similar situations. This was not the case for Anne. Her diary is full of quotes that revealed her heart. Despite living with death at her door, she remained optomistic. Her diary is filled with quotes like:

"Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart."

"I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains"

"I simply cannot build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery and death...I think...peace and tranquillity will return again."

And

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be."

I thought about Anne Frank today and remember the day that we went through her house. I tried to imagine living for two years knowing that at any minute they could be discovered and their lives taken from them. I tremble when I think of my family being in a similar situation. Yet here was a young lady who had faith that the Lord knew what he was doing and that the world would one day be a better place. The first quote on this blog, Anne says that, 'no one needs to wait a single moment to help improve the world.'

I have to admit that I had a rough week this week. We have been so busy, we are all feeling a little on edge and I have had recent situations where I am reminded that my actions have caused harm to those that I cared for. I have spent a great deal of time wondering how to reconcile wrongs and yet the answers have not always been readily available. I realize that trying to fix things without Godly direction rarley works things out effectively. I am reminded of an old statement that goes..."If you want to make the Lord laugh, tell him your plans." I have, on so many occasions tried to do that which seemed right to me but failed to consult the Lord on my plans. I was reminded this week to listen to the still small voice that provides guidance. So, I accept that what has been cannot be undone, but despite this, good can start today. Praise the Lord that he has given us his Holy Spirit to guide our actions.

So, getting back to Miss Franks Diary; As I read Anne's statement, I was encouraged to understand that despite our sinful past we can no longer waste time thinking about that which we cannot change. We can start this day to improve the world by leaving those hurtful things in the past and utilizing every opportunity to make our world a better place to live.
The Gospel of Christ will only be shared by those who utilize the now to take the Word to those who are lost. It is our mission and the reason that our Lord created us.

Take sometime this week and read some of Anne Franks diary. You will be amazed and encouraged to service by this young preteenager. Her wisdom was years ahead of her time.

When you think of those things that Anne Frank wanted to do to make the world a better place but could not because of her hiding, we have to feel encouraged to carry on this special childs dream. Wake up today and ask the Lord to use you to change the world. To use you to be a blessing to someone today. Ask the Lord to guide your path and place you on the road to another journey. May the road rise up to meet you as you carry the Word to the world.

I hope you are all well and God Bless.

Jeff

Dust Storms and Sunburns...

2009-03-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

Good Evening Everyone,

Well we are again in the middle of a dust storm. The dust is so thick that our hair gets covered in sand just by walking to the gym. As usual, the enemy uses this opportunity to launch attacks. When the weather is like this the tower guards can't see them and so they launch motars and rockets. Our drones patrol the skies but they can get their attack off before the drones can get to them. Tonight we were hit just down the road from us. I am not sure if anyone has been hurt at this time as the attack just finished. We have not had any casualties show up in our clinic. Let's pray that they didn't hit anyone.

Well we should be getting Andy back on the 20th. This will be great help for us as it could free us up to actually have a day off. Right now we get one day out of eight off and that is our post call day. So we generally sleep that day.

Below I added an article that was written for a military news paper. I was interviewed about skin cancer. As you can see, I talked about wearing sun screen and protecting your skin. Well, three days ago, I was post call and so I went up to the roof of our clinic and layed out on one of those long fold out lawn chairs. Well, I fell asleep and I was out there for an hour and a half. Now, I am as red as a lobster. I have taken so much heat for this as everyone saw that irony of me ignoring my own articles advise.

Working with the guys that I do is sort of like riding the bus in Jr. High School. Everyday someone is going to get picked on by the others. Well, yesterday was my turn. It's a little like the Lord of the Flies. Tomorrow I'm guessing it will be Bryan's turn to take the heat.

Below is the article about skin cancer. It is that time of year coming up so protect yourselves and wear sunblock and limit your time in the sun.

As far as our time here goes it is going quickly. The weeks go by quickly but the days tend to drag out. Today, I received some very tastee snickerdoodle cookies from Monica Allen. She is a Nurse Practitioner that I work with. Despite her being a Nurse Practitioner she is a very nice person. ;0)

I want to thank Mike our dentist for his work. Since he has been here he has provided orthodonic care for many of our troops. The Army does not pay for orthodonic care for soldiers in theater, but he has provided these services on his own time and has paid for the orthodonic supplies out of his own pocket. As you know, retainers and braces can be very expensive. So, he does us a great favor and we are so appreciative of his work.

Above is a picture that I received from my daughter. She colored this for me. All I am saying is that she is a genius. I think this is right up there with Monet, Picasso. If you ask nicely, I can get her autograph for you. :o) I am so proud of Karis. She has been such a blessing to us and we could not have asked for a more compassionate and well mannered child. Her honesty and positive outlook on the world humbles me and at times I feel like she teaching me valuable lessons in life. I am reminded of the scripture when Jesus invited a child to him and said, "Unless you become like a child, you shall not enter the Kingdom." I pray that I can become like that. Innocent and optomistic, honest and open, Godly and full of wonderment. As we grow and age, we end up knowing things and experiencing things that we wish we could forget about. Those things can harden hearts and prevent us from being child like. I pray for the innocence that my daughter has.

Well, I have talked about Maj. Jones and LTC Perez. Well here they are. Dr. Perez is on the left. He is such a blessing to us. Dr. Jones is on the right. You probably can't see it but he has a this magical dimple on his left cheek and all the girls just love it. I personally think it is nothing more than a facial deformity and have encouraged him to get it fixed. I think it is a deadly weapon and there is a chance that his dimple can be used for dangerous purposes. That large deformity has made him the Golden Boy of the Medical Corps. He gets choice duty assignments, promotions, and preferential treatment every time he whips that thing out and uses it. I have encouraged him to use his dimple for good and not evil, but it has gone to his head and he puts it on display regularly for everyone to see. Now, I am not jealous. I am just concerned about his well being. I want to get him help. Because I'm a giver. I think he needs dimple counselling. I will continue to help him through this and make sure that he is able to reaclimate to the world of normal people.

I have a favor to ask. We have become friends with a group of contractors from Turkey. We go over to their compound and have dinner with them every Sunday. The problem that they have is that the military will not let them utilize the post PX or the dining facilities. As a result, they have to obtain basic essentials from Turkey. When I say basic essentials, I am talking about soap, shampoo, toothpaste, feminine products, etc... They have ordered these products from Turkey but the Iraqi customs will not let the products enter the country. I believe there are tensions between the two countries. So, I would like to ask if any of you are willing to send some of these basic items to me so that I can dispense them to these kind people.

My address is:
Major Jeffery S. Romig
215th ASMC
Joint Base Balad
APO AE 09391

Any help that we receive would be greatly appreciated. We have sent them some things already but it fall short of what they need.

Well, I will close for now. You guys are awesome and I have appreciated your e-mails and encouragement. Please continue to pray for peace.

God Bless,

Jeff

A Quick Update...

2009-03-02T08:38:00.000-08:00

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

Sincerely...

2009-02-21T12:37:00.000-08:00

2 Corinthians 4:7-10 &16-17
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed…Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

I took the pictures on this blog when I was at Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, Canada. The city where Butchart Gardens is located is Victoria, Canada.

Good Evening Everyone,
Tonight I am on call so I was in the clinic a little later than usual tonight. We had a couple of meetings still ahead of us when I sat down in our office to have a chat with Dr. Perez. Now to understand Dr. Perez you have to know that he is a man of few words. He is kind and gentle and full of wisdom. He also is a treasure chest of useless information. He is your typical Jeopardy contestant. Anyway, we were talking when suddenly he said, “Do you know the etiology of the word ‘Sincere?” Well, I am no dummy so I said, “of course I do… It comes from the word, sincerely.” He just stared at me with a stoic look. I think he was trying to discern weather I was worthy of the information that he was about to provide me.
After a few seconds of his silent contemplation, he must have decided to take a chance on me and so he continued... He said that one theory of the origin of the word comes from one belief is that the word sincere ultimately derives from Latin _sine cera_, meaning 'without wax'.
I nodded my head politely, wondering why in the world he was telling me this. I thought well he is old and maybe his mind is drifting :0). He must have heard my thoughts because he slapped me in the back of the head and said, “Pay attention.” He then went of to say that the word sincere means ‘without wax’. Sincere" is sometimes said to derive from Roman quarrymen's temporarily concealing imperfections in marble blocks, vases, or jars of clay by rubbing wax on them. The item would still be useful but the value of the item would be less as it is no longer perfect. The word 'sincere' then would be the opposite of rubbing wax to cover a defect. Therefore, sincere describes a vase that has no flaws. Now, I am not sure why he decided to share this with me, but immediately I thought about 2 Corinthians 4.

I started thinking about verse 7 that says that, ‘We have this treasure in jars of clay that this all-surpassing power is from God.’ What a fitting comparison. We are jars of clay fragile but useful, practical yet plain, replaceable but very much needed. But to the Lord, we are like a priceless vase… elegant, beautiful, and priceless. Over time however, we allow sin to cause us to stumble and fall. As a consequence we crack and sometimes break. We try very hard to cover our cracks with wax, hoping to hold water again and to have a purpose. The trouble with this type of repair job is that the wax may seal the vase but it fails to hide the small crack that was formed when we fell. What sin does to our body is very much like a vase. Sin beats us, shakes us and roughs us up, and as a result we develop cracks. Now, we can try to take matters into our own hands and try to repair the damage using our own wisdom. This type of repair will not, however, cover the obvious flaws that are left behind. Or we can submit ourselves to the one who can make us like new again, flawless and useful, honored and valued.

I often wonder what we would look like if our body showed the wear and tear of sin. What if every time we sinned a small laceration formed on our body? And what if those wounds never heal or if they heal but a scar is left behind? What would our bodies look like then? I would venture to say that we would be almost unrecognizable.
The wounds and scars left behind by sin are noticeable to everyone and as a result our value as a Witness is tremendously reduced. But praise our Lord that he does not repair our sinful wounds with wax. He removes the cracks completely so that we can maintain our value as a cherished piece of art.
I would ask you all to take a moment and perform a self-evaluation. Look at the sins in your life that are beating you down and get rid of them. Cast your sinful nature to the foot of the cross and become a useful witness again.
I praise the Lord that he does not allow sin to permanently damage us. We have all sinned and blown our Witness as some point in our lives, but through Christ we can be renewed. I can’t imagine where I would be if not for the redemption through Christ. I have made many mistakes in my life and rightfully I should be covered in scars. But the Lord did not give up on me. He remolded me and made me feel cherished and useful again. He is ready and willing to do the same for you.
Well, I pray that you are all doing well. I am so thankful to you for checking in on this blog. Your encouragement has really been important to me and I value your friendship dearly.
God bless you all and may our Lord fill you with His Holy Spirit.

Jeff

A Quick Update...

2009-02-18T10:08:00.001-08:00

Good Evening Everyone,

I haven't really updated you for a while on what has been going on with us, so I want to give you a quick review.

We had a nice decrease in the number of patients that we treated in the month of January, however, February has not been so kind. Our numbers have increased as new units move into the area. We have also been short of medics. Our numbers have decreased because several have been sent home secondary to injuries and one of our finest soldiers who was our Personnel Clerk went home on leave and returned pregnant. So, she was sent home. We are also rotating leave among the troops. So, at anytime 10% of our troops are home on leave and so others have to step up and cover them while they are gone. Currently, our medics are working between 48-72 hours a week. But I have to say, not one of them are complaining and their quality of care is still top notch.

As far a providers go, we are still short. Travis went home on leave in January and Andy was sent to another base at about the same time. Travis finally returned, thank goodness, as we desperately needed him. But Mike is getting ready to take his leave and Andy has yet to return.

So we are going to remain short for approximately another month.

We did receive a new physician who has been a God send. His name is LTC Perez and he is a physician from Guam. He is a wonderfully gifted man and has served as a mentor to us and has provided us with his calm assurance and his timely wisdom. I will get a picture of him a little later. He is like a father figure to our troops and to us providers and we are trying to see if he will stay longer. Wish us luck.

We received a new pharmacy tech. named SPC Smith. She is getting her legs here as she is used to working in a large hospital pharmacy. Here she has to get used to the bare essentials so it is quite and adjustment.

We will be having another summit with some Iraqi physicians towards the end of this month. We are trying to evaluate their needs and attempting to bring their clinics up to speed as far as equipment and personnel training goes.

One of our most dedicated NCO's, SSG Julian, was sent home last week. This has been devestating to us as he is perhaps our most competent NCO. He was having pain in his neck and then lost feeling in his arms and so we air evacuated him to Germany where it was determined that he had a cervical nerve root compression and he needed surgery immediately. As a result of his loss, we have had to have others step up and take a leadership role among our enlisted troops.

We also had Tim, our RN, go home for emergency leave as his father had a stroke. We miss him tremendously and we are praying for his father and his family.

We received a new dentist within the last few weeks. His name is Dr. Mcleary. He is a good ole boy from Alabama. He actually did some work on me today and I got a little nervous when he looked into my mouth and goes, "I didn't know that adults had 32 teeth." Apparently in Alabama he has never seen such a mouthful of teeth. Seriously though, he is awesome and fits right in with us delinquents.

Finally, we have found out that Dr. Mike Jones is coming next month for a rotation. Mike is one of our own. I have worked with him for over 10 years and he is going to be a great fit. He used to be the commander of this unit, so most of the soldiers have worked with him. He is even more of a trouble maker than we are. So, our command is going to have their hands full when we all are here at one time.

Well, as far as our mission goes, we are staying busy. Everyday is like Ground Hogs Day. It is the same everyday. But the Lord has blessed us this month as we have not had to treat any war injuries this month. I did notice that a young man from Beardstown, Illinois was killed recently and that just breaks my heart. We all get so angry when we hear of another soldier who has given his/her all. It is the life we have chosen but it is still a tough pill to swallow.

I want to thank everyone for your prayers and for your words of encouragement. I want you to know that the Lord is working and moving here in Iraq. I believe that as long as a servant is willing to carry the Word, then their is hope. We have hope for this country and faith that the Lord will change the heart of our enemies. I pray for them.

I hope you are all well and I will keep you all in my prayers.

Thanks,

Jeff

Ten Things I Miss...

2009-02-16T11:26:00.000-08:00

Good Evening Everyone,

Today I was talking with a couple of our Lieutenants and we were discussing some of the things that we miss from home. I would like to share ten things that I miss.

1. I miss the laughter of children.

2. I miss petting an animal.

3. I miss having my own bathroom.

4. I miss a quiet nights sleep that isn't interupted with the sounds of helicopters,
jet, or explosions shaking me awake at night.

5. I miss regular television commercials.

6. I miss wearing my own clothes.

7. I miss being able to go to the kitchen and cooking my own food.

8. I miss going for a drive in the country or for a drive anywhere.

9. I miss my daughter jumping on my belly and attempting to tickle me as I lay on the couch.

And lastly but certainly not finally,

10. I miss being able to go through the day and not be reminded of this awful war.

I pray for peace and I pray for Godly intervention into this conflict.

"May peace rain down from heaven..."

Peace is the first thing the angels sang.
Peace is the mark of the children of God.
Peace is the nurse of love.
Peace is the mother of unity.
Peace is the rest of the blessed souls.

Peace is the dwelling place of eternity.

Pope Leo the Great

The Winner Is...

2009-02-14T06:37:00.000-08:00

Stump!!!

Congratulations to 'Stump' a Sussex Spaniel for winning the 2009 Westminster Kennel Club, Best in Show.

Stump is ten years old and actually came out of retirement to compete in this years contest. However, unlike Michael Jordan and Brett Favre, Stumps return to the game was a rousing success.

Here are 10 other things you might like to know about the new Champ.

1. His official name is Ch. Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee
2. He was born is Dec. 1, 1998
3. He is named "Stump" ... because he has stubby legs, is brown and resembles a tree stump
4. He has sired pups named Root, Forest and Myrtle
5. His favorite chew toy is a plush Grinch doll
6. He weighs about 50 pounds
7. He lives in Houston, Texas with the 2001 Best in Show winner J.R., a Bichon Frise
8. He didn't train at all for his return to the ring
9. He is the oldest dog ever to win Westminster, that title was previously held by the 1999 winner, an 8-year-old Papillon
10. The Westminster show was his 51st career best in show win

Workers...

2009-02-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

Good Evening All,

Well tonight our company took some time and had a night of fun and fellowship. We have all been under a great deal of pressure lately and so tonight we had a bonfire and cooked hotdogs and made smores and had some fun activities. I think that has done alot to ease tensions. I will post photos of tonight soon.

Tonight, I want to go over some thoughts with you. I was laying in bed last night praying and when I was done, I was thinking about ways in which I could improve my Witness. Suddenly a thought came to me that often times we worry about the things that we as Christians shouldn't do in order to be a good Witness. We work on our behavior so that we don't swear, lie, cheat, steal, gossip, etc... These adjustments are appropriate but I have to think that perhaps God is less concerned about what we don't do, but what we do. In 1 Corinthians 3:8-9 Paul says,
'The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, God's building.

Paul is making it very clear that the Lord wants us to do good works in his name. I think that often times, when I am trying to improve my life and Witness, that I focus on all of the things that I should avoid and I fail to dwell on those things that will help build the Kingdom. I think about James and John. Jesus called them to be disciples and to me they seemed like an odd choice. I get the impression that James and John were boisterous, loud, perhaps argumentative, and at times maybe not the most appropriate gentlemen in the world. But I think Christ saw something in these men and that is that they were devoted workers. When they said they would do something, they kept their word. I believe the Lord honors that type of devotion. In 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 Paul again instructs us to: 'Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anyone.'

The point here is that people may not always associate the things that you don't do with your devotion to Christ. For even non-Christian people can be good and morale people, but their works will not reflect their devotion to Christ. But if you are devoting your life to the service of our Lord, then our Witness will speak loud and clear. We do the things we do for a purpose. I pray that our purpose and our work is to serve Christ and build His Kingdom.

I pray that you are all well,

God Bless you,

Jeff

P.S. I need to put in a disclaimer. Please forgive me for any spelling errors that you will most certainly find on my post's. Spelling classes stopped after the 8th grade so, I am good only up to two syllable words. After that, I am winging it. Additionally, I will be coming home for a couple of weeks of leave in March. I will fly out on the 24th of March and will hopefully be home by the 26th. It will be Karis spring break and 10th birthday, so I am really excited about celebrating with her. She is awesome!

Appreciation of Mothers

2009-02-10T10:43:00.000-08:00

I just want to write a quick note to let all of you mothers know how important you are to your children. Often times in the process of raising your children, you can become wore out and your task may seem tedious, but the positive impact that your love and direction has on your children cannot be measured. As a mother, you have the responsibility of instilling values, knowledge, and hope into your child and those are gifts that you give that will last your child a lifetime.

It is also important to know that you are not just raising a child but a future adult, a future spouse, and a future mother or father. The values that you instill into your child will point them in the direction that will carry them on their journey through life. Your child will look to you as a mother, as well as you fathers, to see what it means to be a parent. How you treat your child will often times be an indicator of how your son or daughter will treat their child.

The sacrifice that mother's make to raise their child pay quiet dividends that sometimes only you will enjoy. But deep inside you can be satisfied that you have devoted yourself to molding and developing a young child into a responsible and loving adult.

We have a saying in our company that goes, 'Let our work allow us to leave this place better than when we received it.' As a mother, you are leaving our world a child that will ensure that our society is better than when we received it.

God Bless you mothers for the love you give to our children. It is not often that mother's hear that they are appreciated, so I want to tell you all that your work does not go unnoticed. We as husbands and fathers see your love and kindness and though we don't say it often enough, we are grateful.

Mass Casualty Exercise...

2009-02-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

Good Evening My Friends,

I mentioned that I would go over our mass casualty exercise that we performed a couple of weeks ago and so I have had some time to post the pictures. As a back brief, we had some Iraqi physicians visiting and they wanted to see how we perform in the event of a mass casualty, so we put on a demonstration. A mass casualty is when the number of patients exceeds our capabilities to deliver appropriate care or overwhelms our services. So, we have a procedure to triage these patients and move the more seriously injured patients up to a higher echelon of care.

Lt. Welch was put in charge of the exercise and was the OIC. Whereas we have all been through numerous mass casualty drills, Travis has the most experience and a deeper knowledge base on the subject. He has been involved in real world events and worked with the 101st Airborne and so he was our natural choice to run the exercise. Lt. Nott was our triage officer and SSG Julian was our NCOIC of the exercise. He was in charge of the enlisted troops. My job was to serve as the liason for the Iraqi physicians. I led them through the exercise and showed them how we implement our protocols. Fortunately, Travis did such a great job of running the show and explaining each area of treatment that my job on this day was made easy. So, I served as a tour guide.

Before I show the pictures, I want to share with you how happy I have been with how many people have been checking in with this blog. You are all a blessing to me. I was very happy to hear from Lt. Mary Delucio yesterday. Her and Cpt. Leslie Good are two of my most favorite people in the world. They are both RN's and I have worked closely with them and I can say that I don't know two more dedicated workers and honorable friends. Also, I want to thank Robert McBeath who is an old friend from high school for following along. He is the man who led me to the Lord when I was about 15 years old. His willingness to tell me about Christ changed my life.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures. So, here we go:

Here we have some of the Iraqi physicians watching as one of our medics uses the patients own weapon as a splint to immobilize a left leg injury. I am explaining some field expedient methods to the physicians in this picture.

Here I am speaking to the group. Actually I am singing 'Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes...' I have Tim demonstrating for me as I sing. Here he is touching his shoulders. He's very flexible.

Travis giving a class on mass casuatly exercise.

This is SPC. Hudnell. He served as our armed security. In a mass casualty in the military, armed security is a must to prevent any attempt to attack our area as we are all gathered in one location making us very vunerable. Additionally, when troops are injured, their buddies can get very emotional and demand that we care for their friends first and so we need security to keep order.

Travis explaining the Immediate Treatment Protocols. His orange vest let's everyone know that he is in charge of the operation. This makes it easy for everyone to recognize who to go to in the event of procedural inquiries.

Here I am explaining to the physicians the history of the Phipp's TMC. The clinic was named after SGT. Phipps who was killed in action in 2004. He was from Chicago but mobilized with a unit from Paris, Illinois.

Group photo

Here Maj. Hawes, myself, and Travis thank each physician for attending our exercise. Dr. Sami on the left is our interpreter.

Starting our closing ceremony.

Here is Lt. Tim Nott. He is our RN and Triage officer. How can you not love that big kid smile.

Travis putting out information and answering questions.

Tim showing us his backside. Right before this picture he looked back and asked if these pants made him look fat? He is very close to exposing a plumber's crack. I will have to talk to him.

Here our medics are demonstrating how to utilize a rigged back board in the event we have to transport a pt. with a suspected spinal cord injury.

Tim is getting ready to demonstrate the Macarena. Tim's an expert dancer. He can even do the Electric Slide. But the last time he tried that, he pulled a muscle in his back and was laid up for 2 weeks.

Either Brandon is signalling a touch down or he is doing an impression of a French Soldier and is surrendering.

Major Mike Roscoe going between patients, looking for the most injured so that he can give them some sort of medical lecture.

SSG Julian. He is in charge of our enlisted guys. He is a police officer in Indianapolis and so he carries a tazer around in case one of the officers gets out of line.

Here Travis is singing a Toby Keith song that goes something like: "It's all about me, it's all about I, It's all about number 1, me, my, me, I..."

Mike has found a soldier that he can give one of his college lectures to. The soldier was conscious and in good health when Mike started, but after the third hour the poor troop fell into a deep coma and was unable to complete the class. I think most of you Butler student's know exactly what I am talking about. Your professor is in top teaching form over here.

Pts. being brought to the triage site.

Medics have accessed the Mass Casualty Care boxes, grabbed their medic bags and are preparing for the rush of patients.

The red flag indicates that this area is where we will handle the immediate patients, or those who will need the most urgent medical care.

We have been notified of the Mass Casualty and so the exercise begins.

Lt. Nott, Maj. Roscoe, and Lt. Latino. Three amigos.

Travis is fielding some questions from the Iraqi physicians. They have a completely different method of handling a mass casualty. Instead of triaging patients. They grab the most injured patient and treat them, perform surgery, and get them to post op, before they even look at any other patient. They have no method for stabalizing less injured patients. Part of this reason is because they do not have medics and their nurses are not educated to provide care.

Spc. Jackson checking the eye pressure of one of our Iraqi physicians as a demonstration.

Here I am going over the eye equipment. Our optomety dept. has a slit lamp, glaucoma screening machines, visual acuity device, and other equipment. I am explaining how the machine checks the interocular pressure of the anterior chamber of the eye.

Spc. Jackson our optician technician.

Here we are showing the Iraqi physicians how we set up our ambulances.

One of our ambulance teams.

Here is a view of our ambulance equipment.

The mass casualty exercise went very well and I am very proud of our medics. They continue to make our company look good by being proficient and professional.

I am also thankful for my fellow officers who are not only my co-workers but great friends. I love them all.

I hope you enjoyed the photos. These are only a few of the photos of the day, but it is about as much as you can take without falling asleep. :0)

Well, God Bless you all and thanks for checking in.

Jeff

Quick Update...

2009-02-05T11:33:00.000-08:00

Good Evening Everyone,
I haven't updated you on the goings on in our company. We are half way through our tour and we have established a routine. We fell in on a clinic that was very busy when we arrived. Actually, at the time it was the busiest in theater. This was partly due to the fact that a Brigade of soldiers from our State of Indiana was here and they were getting ready to leave and so we had a large number of soldiers who had let their medical problems go during their tour, show up at the last minute and seek care. In December and January our numbers fell off a little, but then this month we have experienced another spike as new units move into the area. So, our medics have stepped up and have been working long hours. I have been very impressed with our troops. Many of them have started taking college classes on line and are really working hard at achieving their degree. Additionally, about half of our troops have gotten into physical fitness. We have a large group of people who go to the gym everyday. It has been great for all of us as far as fitness goes and we are feeling great. As many of you know, I gained a little weight after my injury during my 2005 mobilization. I had five surgeries on my leg and as a result I was physically restricted and my tummy showed it. But since coming here I have to brag to you all that I have lost 42 lbs and am back down to my ideal weight. I am proud of that as I think losing weight is one of the hardest things to do. I couldn't have done it if I hadn't had such a wonderful accountability partner as I have in Bryan. Recently, Doug has joined us and it makes it even more assured that we will show up at the gym.

I want to clear something up. One of my recent letters, I talked about our heightened state of awareness after our last attack. I don't want to worry anyone. We are in perhaps one of the safest places that a soldier can be in, in Iraq. We had a period of time where attacks were minimal, so when we received mortars and rockets hitting an area close to our housing area, we were reminded of the importance of not becoming complacent. But rest assured our living areas are surrounded by blast walls and we are heavily protected. I don't worry for us as much as I do the young soldiers who leave the base and perform operations outside the gate. So, please don't worry about us. Medical officers are the first to hide under a desk or in a bunker because we are scaredy cats. Our medics are brave and generally laugh at us when an explosion goes off and we are the first in the bunker. The other day a door slammed shut and made a loud bang. I looked around and Bryan and Travis were under the desk hugging eachother. Travis was reassuring Bryan saying, 'Don't cry, I will protect you.' It was kind of embarrassing but that is how Travis is...he's a nurturer and protecter. Bless his heart.

Andy is still with the artillary unit. He did call and was a little peev'd that we replaced his under pants with women's panties but when I asked him if he was going airborne or did he resort to wearing the womens garment, he admitted to the latter. So, I just want everyone to know that...'ANDY WEARS WOMEN'S UNDERWEAR! ANDY WEARS WOMEN'S UNDERWEAR!!!
O.k so our maturity is a work in progress.

We have had some our ambulance platoon medics come up and rotate with us. I have been concerned that they will lose some of their clinical skills so we have them come up and focus on more of the clinical training so that if they are tasked out to another clinic, their skills will be up to date. We will be sending some of our medics down to the ambulance platoon and update their EMS skills.

The Iraqi elections are underway and so we are bracing for any violence that may come from that. We are praying that these elections are peaceful. We are also preparing for the implementation of the SOFA agreement which will start the process of sending our troops back home. This may cause an influx of soldiers to our base as they withdrawl from the cities. This would increase the demand of medical services, but I think we are prepared.

We were able to convince the Air Force construction guys to build us a stair case to the roof of our clinic. They asked why we needed access to the roof and our Sergeant told them that we needed access to the electrical wiring and satellite located on top of the building. But I think our true intentions were exposed when they discovered a row of laying folding chairs and a couple of bottles of Tropicana tanning lotion sitting in the center of the roof. They built it for us but I think we may have to give up space for them to come over to our tanning salon whenever they want. Knowing the Air Force they will have a hot tub a swimming pool and a putt putt golf course on that roof by summer's end.

Well, I want to thank you for your prayers and for checking in. Your loved ones are doing well here and everyone is safe. We all miss you guys and are eager to return to the States. We have developed a family bond here but nothing can compare to home.

I hope you are all well and you are in our prayers.

God Bless,

Jeff

Pearls for Good Health...

2009-02-01T11:44:00.000-08:00

I just want to give a few suggestions for good health. I hope you find these useful.
-See your doctor for an annual physical exam to include routine labs, CBC, CMP, Lipid Profile, and TSH. Women an annual PAP smear is a must.
-After 40 years of age you will need a mammogram if you are a female and both male and females should receive a digital rectal exam to assess for rectal bleeding which can indicate colon cancer. After 50 years of age everyone should receive a screening colonoscopy and a bone density test.
-Take all of your medicine as directed not only when remembered.
-30 minutes of exercise 3 days a week will make you feel so much better and help you lose weight.
-Wear shower shoes in public showers. Toenail fungus is almost impossible to treat successfully.
-When using lotion to moisturize skin remember that lotion is a barrier. If you put lotion on dry skin, you can prevent the skin from becoming hydrated. Lotion is best used when you put it on after you shower or after the skin has been recently wet. The lotion will help keep moisture in.
-When using calamine lotion for poison ivy remember to use it only on a rash that is weeping. Calamine is a drying agent. If you put it on a dry or non-weeping rash then you will cause the skin to become excessively dry and that can cause itching. Try hydrocortisone on a dry poison ivy rash.
-Mega dosing vitamins will do nothing to improve your health and in some cases can be harmful. Your body will only use what it needs so if you take more vitamins and minerals than you need your body will urinate it away. But beware, fat soluable vitamins like A,D,E,and K can have an accumulative build up in the body and cause problems. (Although, I am not sure anyone has ever had so much vitamin E to cause any neurological side effects)
-600 mg of Motrin will provide the same relief as 800 mgs. So, if your provider wants to write you a script for 800 mg of Motrin save your kidneys and liver some work and ask for the 600 mg dose.
-Brushing your teeth is great but if you want to combat halitosis, try purchasing and using a tongue scraper. You will be amazed what comes off of your tongue. Don't worry about damaging your taste buds as they regenerate if they are damaged.
-If your fingers crack in the winter from the dryness or if you get a paper cut, try using a light coat of super glue over the wound. It will stop the stinging and super glue is non-toxic.
-Men who are between the ages of 15-40 should perform monthly testicular exams. Remember, testicular cancer is a young man's disease and presents as a painless lump about the size of a BB. If found and diagnosed early the chance of survival is very high.
-Women when being treated for a UTI, be sure to ask for a 150mg tablet of Diflucan to combat the inevitable yeast infection that will occur when you take the antibiotics. Take the Diflucan towards the end of your course of antibiotic treatment.
-When having a migraine, try drinking a cup of coffee or chug a Mountain Dew. Caffiene is a vasoconstrictor and can reduce the vasodilitation phase of the migraine which is when the headache is the most severe.
-Most runny noses and sore throats are caused by viruses and will not be helped by an antibiotic. So, don't be offended if your provider does not write you a script for an antibiotic. Viral illnesses will run their course and you will be fine. Just keep hydrated.
-When trying to get into shape, try adding wind sprints to your regime. You will be amazed at the cardiovascular improvement you will get from this simple change in your workout routine.
-When visiting your doctor or if you are in the hospital, be sure to listen to your nurse. Your nurse has most likely see it all and have great medical advice. So, listen to them as they are better at explaining your problems than your doctor and their base of knowledge is more than you think.
-Paying extra money to purchase name brand medication is generally a waste of money. The active ingredients in generic are the exact same as the similar trade named product.
-Floss your teeth.
-Diet soda's may not help you with weight loss. Diet soda's fool your body into thinking that sugar or glucose is being consumed. When this happens insulin is released in the blood and it is looking for sugar that will never arrive. So, with all of this insulin floating around your body will send a signal to the brain asking for sugar. This will initiate the hunger response and you will want to eat. So, limit your diet soda intake.
-Stretch daily. Increased flexibility will reduce injuries during exercising and will help with joint mobility and reduce the effects of arthritis.

-Have your doctor examine your skin once a year. If you notice a mole that is changing size, color, or shape and is bigger than a pencil erasure then see your doctor.
-If you have acne, don't waste money on acne washes or acne topical over the counter products. Simply use soap and water and wash your face. Acne isn't a matter of dirt or 'oily build up' on the face. Acne is secondary to a hormonal shift. If you suspect an infectious folliculitis then see your provider and they will treat you with an oral antibiotic.
-If you are going to travel out of the country, go to the CDC website and look up the vaccinations required for the country that you are visiting. They have an awesome site where endemic diseases and travel medical advice is given. Most hospital groups have a Travel Clinic that can offer you the vaccines that you need prior to leaving country.
-There are many more medical pearls and I will post some more at random as the year progresses, but perhaps the most important thing you can do for your good health is to pray. God blesses those whom he loves.
I hope you are well and I thank you all for your prayers. It is hard to see where the Lord leads us but I have to believe he knows where he is going. Also, please pray for the soldiers on our base. Violence and attacks on our base have increased and so we are on a heightened state of alert.

The Lord will use those who are willing to go...

Prayer Request

2009-01-29T10:11:00.000-08:00

Good Everyone,
I just want to ask you guys to pray for Karen and me. Deployments are hard on all families and we are no different. Karen has to be mom and dad and I have little ability to take care of matters at home and it is frustrating. My life here is consumed with the military and I have zero time to myself. I spend my entire time taking care of troops. Karen, spends her entire time taking care of the homefront. She teaches, and runs Karis everywhere, takes care of the PTA stuff and still we try to maintain a relationship. It is hard at this point in the rotation. We are about six months in and it is like a cold day in February. When will the sun come out!?!

So, keep us in your prayers that we survive this deployment with a deeper understanding of eachother. It is hard and we need your prayers.

Thank you,

God Bless

Love...

2009-01-28T10:16:00.000-08:00

“You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.”

Henry Drummond

Appendicitis

2009-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

Good Evening Everyone,
Well we had our mass casualty event today. We had dignitaries from the Army and Air Force attend as well as a group of Iraqi physicians. The exercise went well and in the next few days I will post photo's and give a brief description of what we accomplished.

Today, however, I would like to discuss a medical topic. It is a rare day that I do not evaluate a patient with a complaint of abdominal pain. For those of you in the health care field know, abdominal pain is a pain to work up. So many illnesses can present with a complaint of abdominal pain. Most commonly I am asked by my patients, "Do I have appendicitis?" I even had a young lady who had already had an appendectomy as a child, ask me if I thought perhaps her recent abdominal pain was related to another case of appendicitis. I simply chuckled and reassured her.

Anyway, tonight I would like to discuss the all to common condition that is appendicitis.

Anatomy:
The appendix is actually called the Veriform Appendix and is located as a small pouch off of the Cecum portion of the large bowel. The small intestines connect the terminal portion of the stomach where the duodenal sphincer is located and the Cecum. The Cecum is the beginning portion of the large bowel and is part of the ascending colon. See Diagram below:

The appendix is an appx. 10 cm pouch that extends from the medial edge of the cecum and extend normally toward the midline portion of the abdomen. The appendix size can range from 2-20 cm in length and can extend in any direction depending on a persons anatomy. Because the fecal matter from the small intestions or more specifically the ilium portion of the small intestine, is emptied into the cecum in a liquid state, the appendix is prone to filling. Normally, this filling is not a problem, but there are times when the appendix pouch can become infected and inflammed. Weather the inflammation is secondary to stagnating fecal fluid or from a bacterial infection that infects the tissue of the appendix is not always known, but the result is the same. Abdominal pain will develop and this is what we call appendicitis.

Signs/Symptoms:
Appendicitis can present with a variety of clinical complaints. Most commonly a patient will experience, early on in the course, diffuse abdominal pain, nausea, anorexia and/or lack of appetite. As the infection progresses, the patient will begin to experience a localizing of the abdominal pain to the right lower quadrant of the abdomen. As the pain localizes, the patient will start to spike a fever, become diophoretic (begin to sweat), vomit, and have sharp abdominal pain with motion. Patients will be very guarded and will complain that even the ride over to the hospital caused abdominal pain, secondary to hitting bumps or potholes in the road.

Diagnosing:
A good clinical exam should point the provider in the right direction for appendicitis. So, a thorough evaluation should start the diagnostic process. Bowel sounds may or may not be decreased. Pain will be illicited on palpation of the abdomen, especially in the right lower quadrant. The odd finding of rebound tendernous or pain that is more severe with the releasing of palpation is often noted. The patient will have pain to the right lower quadrant by simply tapping firmly on the bottom of the right foot. This jarring sensation will irritate the inflammed appendix.
A rectal exam to check for rectal bleeding is appropriate. If the pt. has right lower quadrant pain upon the digital rectal exam, then appendicitis should most certainly be in the differential. A digital rectal exam will not only cause abdominal pain but a hemoccult or test for rectal bleeding can be assessed.

Fever and vomitting is often times the part of the presentation of appendicitis so a complete set of vitals should be obtained. If the patients, blood pressure suddently drops, then septic shock should be ruled out.
Labs should be drawn to assist with the diagnoses. A CBC (Complete Blood Count) should be drawn. A CBC contains a white blood cell count which will be elevated during an appendicitis. This is an indication of infection. The CBC also monitors the hemaglobin and hematocrit in the the blood. If either of these are low, then the patient is anemic, which could indicate a loss of blood, perhaps through rectal bleeding. A CMP or comprehensive metobolic panel should also be drawn. A CMP will assess kidney funtion through measuring of electrolytes. Electrolytes tells us the hydration status of the patient and assesses the sodium, potassium, chloride, and carbon dioxide of the patient. Additionally the CMP will assess the liver function and other kidney funtions through blood urea nitrogen and creatinine levels.
We assess the function of other vital abdominal organs to ensure that the cause of the pain and other symptoms are being caused by anything other than the inflammed appendix.

Once a provider has a high index of suspicion that the patient has appendicitis then an ultrasound of the right lower quadrant of the abdomen or a CT scan of the abdomen should be performed to give a final diagnosis. Many people have asked my why we just don't go straight to the ultrasound or CT scan and avoid all of the other work ups? We don't do this because more times than not, abdominal pain is not due to appendicitis and other disease processes can be identified with the previously mentioned battery of test.

Differential Diagnosis:
Appendicitis doesn't alway present with textbook symptoms and so a list of differential or alternate diagnoses should be considered as the patient goes through the work up phase. Other pathology that should be considered are ovarian cysts, pelvic inflammatory disease or PID in a woman, kidney, bladder, or urinary tract infections, (always ensure a urinalysis is performed), Cholecyctitis or gallbladder inflammation, colitis, Crohn's disease, fecal impaction, and mesenteric ischemia or an obstruction of blood flow to the bowel.
Any of these illnesses could cause similar symptoms as that of appendicitis.

Treatments:
Once the diagnosis has been made then the patient needs to be sent to a surgeon for surgical intervention. Older protocols directed that a patient with abdominal pain should not be given pain medications as symptoms could be masked. Now, recent studies show that the usage of analgesics, to include narcotics, does not delay the diagnosis of appendicitis. So, be sure that the patients pain is adequately managed. Remember pain is that 5th vital sign and should be assessed and managed aggressively.

Surgical intervention is almost aways the treatment of choice of a confirmed appendicitis. Several method of removal are available. First method of surgery is the open abdominal approach. This method is where the surgeon makes an apprx. 15-20 cm incision in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen, exposes the bowel and removes the appendix. This method has fallen out of favor as abdominal wall muscle are cut and damaged, the risk of infection is higher than other procedures, and recovery time is prolonged.
The second and most common method is the laproscopic approach. This is where a surgeon will make three small incisions on the abdomen. One incision is in the right lower quadrant the other on the lower middle quadrant and then the middle portion of the mid abdomen. The incisions are small and a should only be large enough to insert a camera and instruments into the abdominal cavity. This should be apprx. 1-2cm in diameter. The abdomen is filled with carbon dioxide to inflate the belly to increase work area around the appendix site. Then instruments and a camera are inserted and the appendix is removed. When complete the surgeon may place one suture in each incision and the patient is sent to the recovery room. Sometimes sutures are not used at all as the incisions are so small that the wound edges approximate themselves.
Recovery time and risk of infection is quicker and lower for this procedure versus the open surgery.
Finally, a new technique for appendix removal is finding favor. This procedure is the incision free, alternate orifice removal. This is where the surgeon will take a camera and instruments down the throat and through the stomach into the duodenum. A small incision is made in the duodenal wall and the instruments and the camera are passed through and extended down to the appendix, by passing the small intestines. The appendix is removed and brought out of the abdominal cavity through the stomach, up the esophagus, and out of the mouth. No external incisions are made and the patient is sent home the same day.
Pain management post operatively and prevention of infection is a must following surgery. Often time the patient is treated with vicodin or similar strength narcotics and given an antibiotic. The use of narcotics should be kept to a minimal as dependency can occur and the bowel motility can be reduced causing a secondary complication of constipation.

Appendicitis is a very serious and painful condition. If left untreated the appendix can rupture and the patient will develop peritonitis and die if left untreated.

We will all have abdominal pain at some point in our lives, but hopefully, now you will be able, more easily, recognize the difference between abdominal pain caused by virus or some other etiology and a true appendicitis.

I am thinking about all of you a great deal lately and I pray that the Lord continues to bless you. If you have any prayer request, please pass it along and I will pray for your concerns.

God Bless You All,

Jeff

Out of the Mouth of Babes...

2009-01-24T07:51:00.001-08:00

Good Evening,

Just a quick note. Many of us received Christmas cards and correspondence from elementary school kids. Some of these children had no problem asking whatever was on their minds. They wrote, we wrote, and they wrote back. It has been a joy to have that communications with these kids. They have made us laugh and made us cry and their child like insight has often times given us a reason to pause and remember what is important in life. Well, Bryan received a letter today from a very astute seven year old girl who sent Bryan the following letter. It may be hard to read but it says the following.

"Dear Captain McFarland, Hi this is laura again and I am wondering if you can tell me a little bit more about your life and your family? I also caught a spelling error..." (on your last letter) "You spelled sweat instead of sweet when you were talking about your daughter."

Out of the mouth of Babes the truth is revealed.

Few things can assault your ego more than a seven year old correcting your spelling. Bryan is now in remedial spelling and english classes. He will not have the opportunity to be on 'Are you smarter than a 5th grader' as he hasn't even got past a second grader yet. He has to have all of him medical dictations reviewed by a seven year old before we can approve them for record submission. Bless this young lady and I hope her future husband realizes what he is getting into as she is unlikely to take any flack from anyone. :0)

Andy on the left, Bryan on the right.

Secondly, Andy, who is one of our family practice physicians is being sent to an artillary unit somewhere in the middle of nowhere. He will be there to provide medical coverage for this unit's soldiers. Please pray for him as this mission is not without its dangers. It is important to note that Andy is a practical joker and at some point has gotten everyone of us. He took my clothes one night when I was showering and left me with nothing but underwear. Our showers are in our clinic, so I had to go out to the front desk in my boxer-briefs and ask my medics for some help. Yes, they took great pleasure in my humiliation. He took Bryans hat and sewed his captains bars on sideways and Bryan wore his hat with pride not knowing that he was looking a little silly. I was on my Army email when I called called to see a patient. I didn't close out my email and while I was gone, Andy wrote Dr. Baez and told him that he had been extended in theater. As this type of information is generally filtered through me, it seemed to be official to him. He then sent Bryan an email from me and told him that I was developing feelings for him. Bryan and I have been friends for years but we are not that close. So, we had to take action prior to Andy's departure.

Andy leaves early in the morning, so he has packed his bags. I sent a few of the guys on a mission and had them take Andy with them. Meanwhile, I convinced the supply sgt. to give me a key to Andy's room. I took all of his underwear out of his bag and replaced them with some very nice, soft, and extremely attractive women's panties. Not the granny panties but the waist cut, bikini type of panties. I am quite sure the the Artillary boys will love their new doc. Please do not feel sorry for him as this is a most appropriate payback for his juvenile actions. The rest of us are, of course, above such childish behavior. Yes, this is your tax dollars hard at work.

Listen, I pray that you are all well and that the fills you with His Spirit. God Bless you.

Jeff

Tossed About...

2009-01-23T08:43:00.001-08:00

Good Evening Everyone,

Before I start, I want to thank those of you who have been following along with my blog. One can never be certain if other people even care what you have to say, but I have had some very nice comments and I am truly appreciative. So, thank you so much for checking in.

We have been busy. We have been fortunate lately. It appears that the number of attacks that we have had on our base have decreased, but over the last few weeks we have been rattled a few times. Let us hope this isn't a trend. Our ambulance platoon has been busy with patients coming in from the local villages. Unfortunately, some of the patients have been children. I don't mention military conflict much on this website as I have to be careful, but I am so proud of my staff and of our EMS soldiers and paramedics. They are doing such a great job and at the end of the day, no one will even know all that they have done. It is thankless work but our guys take great pride in what they do.

Well tonight I want to talk a little about Christian maturity. For many years, I have had a touch and go relationship with the Lord. I would fall into his presence and then fall away only to return back to a state of immature faith. I have found that constant communication with the Lord and the willingness to submit all things to Christ is what develops a true relationship with our Lord. It takes a great deal of committment to surrender all aspects of our lives issues to the Lord, but the joy that comes from the relationship with Christ far outweighs the effort.

In Ephesians 4:11-14 it says: 'It was He who gave some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

I read this and am reminded of the man I used to be. Unstable in my faith. Allowing the smallest of temptations to take me out of the presence of God. How ashamed I am for allowing myself to be like that. Praise the Lord for His patience and guidance and love. We are all in danger of being tossed about and being overcome with fear due to lack of faith. When the disciples were literally being tossed about by angry waves, they became afraid and lost their faith and they were with Christ. But what was Christ doing? Sleeping peacefully. He was confident of the Lord's protection and power and so he had nothing to worry about. Waves could not toss Christ around. We are no better than Christ disciples and need to strengthen our relationship with Christ so that when temptations come, we can go to the One who can overcome the Devil.

It is my prayer for you that '...out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)

I pray the Lord is blessing you.

Before I go, I want to show you a picture of Karis from Halloween. My wife just sent me this and I find it amusing. It looks as if she went as some oriental ninja princess. I am not sure that the ancient Japanese wore nylon lace leg warmers or whatever they are called but it looks as if she is ready for some superhero action. I am glad that she uses her superhero powers for good and not evil. She has a variety of Superhero powers. She can procrastinate homework, run late for school by trying to decide what outfit to wear, and of course the most powerful of super powers, she can roll her eyes. Is this exclusive to my daughter or do all daughters have these powers?

My wife is dressed up like a mother who has been trying to manage a nine year old on her own. It is a great costume. :0) Bless them both, they look great and I am so appreciative for my wife's ability to be both mom and dad to Karis. It has been rough but she is a strong woman and is really doing a great job. I owe her so much for her allowing me to do my job for the military and understanding the committment that soldiers have to eachother. I will be home soon and get back to my civilian job and hopefully return to a normal lifestyle.

Well, my friends, keep the faith and believe that the Lord is wanting to move in your life. We are so blessed to serve Christ who provides us with hope and direction and salvation. What more shall we desire?

God Bless you all,

Jeff

Breast Cancer and Self Exams.

2009-01-21T12:05:00.000-08:00

Good Evening Everyone,

Well we have had a busy week. We had two of our docs rotated home and Travis went on leave so that left only for of us providers to cover the clinic. We have been working around the clock. So we were very happy to have Dr. Perez arrive tonight. He is coming for a three month tour. Additionally, Travis came off leave yesterday and so he will be added back to the schedule as of tomorrow.

We have been working on our mass casualty exercise that will be coming up on the 27th. We will be hosting a group of Iraqi physicians on that day. We will be teaching them some medical classes in the morning and then in the afternoon we will have them participate in our mass casualty exercise. In this environment, real mass casualties are nothing new but we are now trying to prepare the local physicians to manage their own mass casualty event. I will be giving the physicians a class on how we run our exercises and how we utilize our personnel. The Iraqi health care structure has historically excluded or margianalized their ancillary and non-provider staff. Nurses for example, are nothing more than hand maidens for the physician. When I presented our system of health care to the Iraqi's at our December conference, the physicians were amazed that our nurses were not only officers but college educated. They were equally suprised to learn that often times females are in charge of many aspects of our medical health care system. So, I look forward to this collaborative training exercise. Please pray that our efforts are a blessing to our Iraqi friends.

Tonight, I am presenting a medical topic in my main blog area because I feel that the topic is of the highest import. I have always been an advocate of early detection and preventative medicine. Tonight's topic is breast cancer and if there was ever a disease where early detection and preventative measures are essential then this disease is it's poster child.

Let's take a moment and look at the devestating disease that is breast cancer.

Women often are reminded to obtain yearly breast exams from their provider and encouraged to perform monthly self breast exams. The reason for this is because breast cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in women just behind lung cancer. This year alone, over 200,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer. The current statistic shows that 1:8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lifetime.
Whereas breast cancer can develop in completely healthy women, there are risk factors that may increase the likelihood of cancerous growth. The first and most common risk factor is one that cannot be controlled and that is increased age. Increased age doesn’t necessarily mean being elderly when it comes to increasing risk. The age at which a young lady starts menstruating can increase risk. The younger the onset of menses, the more likely breast cancer will develop. Additionally, the older a woman is at the time of her first pregnancy the more likely she is to develop breast cancer. Other factors include the use of exogenous estrogen, increased body weight (Obesity), alcohol consumption and of course, family history.
Detection of breast cancer is sometimes difficult.

Monthly breast exams are encouraged as breast cancer is often times, painless and masses or nodules are not easily palpated. Often times a woman’s sexual partner is the one who detects a cancerous lesion first. When performing self breast exams, a woman should be methodical in her approach. Using the fingers of the right hand a woman should palpate her left breast in a circular pattern being sure to assess for any masses or small nodules then switch hands and do the same to the other breast. Cancer will frequently present as a small BB sized nodule that will be solid and painless. Be sure to palpate the entire breast as well as the axilla or armpit. Enlarged lymph nodes in the axilla can be an indicator of breast cancer so careful inspection of that area is important.

Once palpation is complete, be sure to squeeze the nipple and assess for drainage. If blood is expressed or fluid is returned in a non-lactating woman then notify your provider immediately.

Visual examination of the breast is of noted importance. Be sure to stand in front of a mirror and examine the breast for symmetry. If you notice a change in the size or shape of one breast then notify your doctor. Additionally, be sure to lean forward when visually inspecting the breast. If you notice that indentations or spiculations form when the breast are dangling then you will need to follow up for further testing. In some moderate to advanced cases of breast cancer a tumor will form and then spread in a web like fashion and attach itself to the chest wall. When this happens, the tumor becomes bound down and when a woman leans forward the breast will fall with the exception of the attached tumor which will stay suspended and an indentation or spiculation will form.

Additional methods of breast cancer detection commonly include mammogram screenings and ultrasound evaluations. Mammograms are recommended for all women over the age of 40. If there is a family history of breast cancer, then an initial mammogram should be performed at the age of 35 or as directed by the physician.

Treatment for breast cancer depends on the type and staging of the tumor. Diagnosis of the specific type of tumor can be obtained through a biopsy. A biopsy can be performed through a fine needle or through a lumpectomy. Once a cancer has been identified then the tumor is staged and metastasis is determined. Methods of treatment will be determined through the collaborative efforts of an oncologist, surgeon, and pathologist. A CT scan or MRI maybe necessary to determine the metastatic progression of the cancerous cells.

Possible treatment options are chemotherapy, radiation treatment, and/or surgical removal of the mass or of the entire breast, mastectomy. There has been some recent debate as to weather or not a preventative mastectomy is beneficial in the treatment of breast cancer. Studies have shown that women with a mother or sister who had breast cancer or women who have a genetic predisposition to breast cancer would benefit from having the breast removed prior to even having a diagnosis of cancer. This type of treatment is aggressive but I believe maybe an appropriate course of action. This type of decision should only be made once the patient has been fully educated on the risk and benefits of the procedure.The identification, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer can be a difficult process. Often times the emotional stress involved with this disease can be as devastating to the patient as the disease itself. It is important that anyone with the diagnosis of breast cancer be offered and receive appropriate counseling to assist with developing a positive self image post mastectomy and utilizing coping mechanisms to deal with the trauma of the disease.

Breast cancer is a serious and all too common pathology among women. Diligent efforts need to be implemented in order to ensure early detection. Simple self breast exams are essential and painless. Constant vigilance, awareness, and education is the key to combating breast cancer and can save your life.

OPTIMISM!!!

2009-01-20T10:45:00.001-08:00

MR. PRESIDENT

Congratulations to President Obama,

Let us all pray that this man will use his position for altruistic purposes. May the Lord bless his decisions and may the Holy Spirit fill him and guide his actions. As many of you know, I did not and would not vote for this man, simply based upon my faith and convictions, but we must all believe that the Lord knows what he is doing. We must have faith that our prayers will be answered and that the President will be good for our country. It is easy to criticize, but it takes a noble and honorable person to be optimistic in the face of doubt. Let us all give this man a chance and trust our Lord who is the One who is really in charge. Praise the Lord for the amazingly diverse country that we live in and for the peaceful transition of power. I am hopeful that President Obama's election will help to break down the walls that divide us and allow us to move forward with a united confidence based not on race or gender, but on common ideas and an optimistic hope. May the Lord bless us all.

Baghdad Conference

2009-01-14T10:42:00.000-08:00

Good Evening Everyone,
I am sorry that I haven't written in a while, but we have been extremely busy. Bryan and I had the opportunity to attend a PA/NP conference at the Al Faw Palace in Baghdad. We were able to pick up 27 much needed CME hours. While we were there, we had the good fortune to take a tour of the area. Below are some of the pictures. It is hard to believe that so much money and resources were utilized for the pleasure of one man. It is enough to say that, Saddam had quite the ego and the taste for the exquisite.

Picture 1: Al Faw Palace. One of 89 palaces that Saddam had built in his honor.

Picture 2: This is Qusay's house. He was one of the evil son's of Saddam.

Picture 1: This was Saddam's house of horrors. He would have some of his thug's pick up girls as young as jr. high schoolers. He would rape them and then return them to their fathers who were then instructed to kill their child because she was now no longer a virgin and thus unclean. However, to save the father's the burden of killing their daughter, Qusay would kill the girls for them.

Picture 2: Saddam's helocopter pad.

Picture 1: Bath party headquarters. This is where Saddam would meet with his party leaders. This is a pool that decorated the grounds. Here a J-Dam missle took this building out, killing over 250 of Saddam's party members.

Picture 2: Saddam had two son-in-laws who fled the country with party secrets. Saddam convinced them to return and he promised not to harm them. As soon as they returned, he had them killed. As a gift for losing their father's, Saddam had this 'Flintstone Village' built for his grand kids. It was fully staffed with cooks and maids and servants.

Picture 1: This is the Victory over America Palace that Saddam was building. He titled it Victory over America as a symbol to his ability to stay in power despite the first Gulf War and his continued defiance.

Picture 2: This is one of the several ball rooms in the Palace. This palace was hit with missles during the Shock and Awe attack at the beginning of the war.

Picture 1: Here is Bryan next to Saddam's painting.

Picture 1: This is a swimming pool that is in the Bath Party building. The pool was never used for swimming. It was apparently used for executions. When our military took over the building they saw that the walls were covered with these dark spots like the one next to the ladder.

Picture 2: Upon closer inspection, you can see that this spot is blood. They left one spot remaining, I suppose to show people the truth behind Saddam's murderous regime.

Picture 1: Bath Party building. This is the main meeting room where Saddam met with his leaders.

Picture 2: One of the hallways hit by a missle.

Picture 1: This is the room where Dan Rather interviewed Saddam prior to the war.

Picture 2: A mosque.

A Royal Bathroom

Picture 1: This is a chair given to Saddam by Yassir Arafat (sp?) Notice the silver head rest is decorated with the same pattern of the head scarf that Arafat wore.

Picture 2: Al Fawl Palace.

MRAP vehicles. These vehicles are fully up armored and allows most soldiers to survive a direct IED attack.

Picture 1: This was the lobby outside of our conference room. Here Bryan is darting toward the snack table.

Picture 2: This is the lake outside the palace. The fish are carp and as you can tell, fed frequently by military and civilian personnel.

Picture 1: Our conference room.

Picture 2: This building was where one of Saddam's daughters lived.

Picture 1: The foyer outside of Al Faw Palace.

Picture 2: View from balcony of Palace.

Al Faw Palace.

Thank you for taking time to check in. May the Lord bless and keep you safe and in His Spirit.

2009-01-01T10:40:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon Everyone and Happy New Years to you.

Well the holiday season has come and gone and I am thankful to say that we all have come through safe.

The holidays have really weighed heavy on our hearts as we miss our family and friends. But we have become a family here and we help eachother cope with our situation. Last night we had a cookout and we all had a really nice time.

I am supposed to be coming home for leave at the end of March, beginning of April. It will be Karis' spring break and on the 6th of April, Karis will also have her birthday. So, I am hoping to be there for both. My leave will only be two weeks, so I will need to make the most of it. I am planning to go to Bloomington, Illinois to try and reconnect with a friend that I haven't seen in 20 years. At some point, Karen, Karis, and I, will take a mini-vacation. Either down to Gatlinburg or Myrtle Beach. We haven't decided. We haven't decided yet. I would like to get down to Disney World again as we had purchased the 7 day super pass and we have yet to use all of days. Karis' pass is only good until she is nine years old then we have to convert it to an adult pass. The last two trips to Disney, we were unable to use all 7 days, so we could possibly consider that option.
Anyway, I am droning on. Last week I took some pictures of some of the base. I have posted them below.

Before I get into the pictures, I would like to say that I am praying that you will have a nice 2009. New Years is always a great time to refocus on what is important to us. I hope that this year will be a time of growing in the Lord. Now is the time to submit to the Lord's will and simply ask God, "How can I serve?" I think that simple question will be answered quickly and with clarity. So, use the start of this year as an opportunity to develop a relationship with Christ. The fields are ready for the harvest. The Lord needs workers to bring in the crop.

Now on with the pictures.

Picture 1: We visited one of Saddam's bunkers. Bryan, Andy, and myself grabbed a couple of flashlights and went exploring. The picture here is Bryan and Andy standing next to a window that was shot out during our invasion.

Picture 2: Here is Andy standing outside the bunker. You can see the bullet holes on the concrete wall behind him.

Picture 1&2: Bryan and Andy outside the bunker.

Picture 1: Here is, from left to right, Dr. Dave our dentist, Jose, myself, Travis, and Mike. The bar I am holding is actually a barrel from the weapon behind us.

Picture 2: This is the famous burn pit that has been on CNN and in the newspapers. This is where we burn all of our base trash and other materials. The pit is in the news because some soldier's wives have related their husbands cancer's to the fact that they served in the area around the burn pit.

Picture 1: This is a picture I took of the outside of the fence. We are about a mile away from the Tigres river. The area between the Tigres and Euphrates rivers is known as Mesopotamia. This area is believed to be the place where the Garden of Eden was located. It is hard to imagine that this dry and dusty area was where paradise was located, but when I look at the beautiful trees I can begin to understand why the Lord chose this area.

Picture 2: This is the control tower at our airport.

Picture 1: This is one of the many guard towers that enclose our base. The towers are manned by Ugandans.

Picture 2: Another shot of trees.

Picture 1: This is the air field. This hangar is where the 101st Airborne Division is located. I have a special place in my heart for the 101st as I was stationed with these guys when I was at Ft. Campbell.

Picture 2: A broader shot of the airfield.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

2008-12-27T09:26:00.001-08:00

Good Evening Everyone,

I am posting some pictures from our Christmas Eve and Christmas day celebrations. I played Santa Clause for the Christmas Eve party and then again for the Base Parade. The padded suit was hot and scratchy but it was a great deal of fun passing out candy and cookies to the soldiers.

Picture 1: Bryan asleep on Christmas day. He got up early to open his gifts but before he could make it to the tree, he grabbed his blanket and he doggy and fell asleep. And he was on duty.

Picture 2: Bryan is getting ready to go to lunch, but something isn't right. Look at his hat. Andy had taken his hat over to the ladies who sew patches on our uniforms and had Bryan's rank sewed on sideways. It isn't the first time Andy has played a practical joke. I will tell you about his antics later.

Picture 1: This is our vaccination section and a few of our medics. They were all in the holiday mood.

Picture: Yes indeed! SFC Ski is actually working. We had switch day at work on Christmas. The leadership took the place of the enlisted troops and we let them have the day off. Here Sgt. Ski is actually scrubbing the base boards as Lt. Clifton-Mason looks on in disbelief.

Picture 1: Here is Sgt. Easom. The pictures here were taken by her. She is are unit photographer and an awesome medic.

Picture 2: Here is Lt. Nott, Lt. Latino, and Cpt. McFarland. You can see how hard they are working on switch day. It really is the same work they do on every work day.

Picture 1: Here is Sgt. Beechler in the background, Corporal Gilbert in the foreground and then there is Spc. Buchmeier giving his thumbs up. Buchmeier just returned from Germany. I sent him up there to have a septoplasty. He is a professional wrestler, who wrestles under the name, 'The Physical Fascination Brandon Bishop.' If you go on YouTube you can see some of his matches. He is actually the nicest guy I have ever met.

Picture 2: Here Spc. Burke. I think she is a little suspicious of getting a cookie from me. I think she thinks I laced the cookies with Ex-Lax.

Picture 1: Here is our supply guy, Sgt. Hougeson.

Picture 2: I think Bryan has some issues. I had to walk around all night with him clinging to me.

Picture 1: These are our optometry crew.

Picture 1: Here Buchmeier is having wrestling flashbacks.

Picture 2: Dr. Jose Baez on the left and Tim our RN is on the right.

Picture 1: Lt. Latino and Santa

Picture 2: Here is Mike and Dave. They both still believe that Santa Clause is real. It's just sad, really.

Picture 1: This is our XO Cpt. Schroeder

Picture 2: SSG Thomas. He one of our four horsemen whose job it is to protect the leadership element of our company from all enemies foreign and domestic and they are also in charge of appropriating equipment that we can't get through appropriate channels. Anyone who has been in the Army knows how valuable guys like this can be.

Picture 1: Here is Spc. Hudnell and our Christmas Tree. He is like 6'8 and had a scholarship to the Citadel and turned it down to go to a civilian college. He is getting ready to be commissioned as a second lieutenant. He is going to be a quality officer.

Picture 2: Here is our parade vehicle. It is an FLA, (Ambulance). It wasn't the most comfortable ride in the world but here Santa and his helpers are tossing out candy.

Well, these are some of our Christmas activities. I want you all to know that the troops here are well cared for and are doing well. We are a family here and our closeness helps to take away the ache that we all have from not being at home. Thank you for your support and kind letters and care packages. We always cherish a word from home.

God Bless,

Jeff

Linus Van Pelt says it all...

2008-12-26T11:13:00.000-08:00

Good Evening Everyone,

I hope that you all had a very nice Christmas. Our unit had a nice Christmas Eve celebration and then on Christmas day our post had a parade. I will share those pictures with you tomorrow. But for tonight as I reflect back on another Christmas I can't help but to think that somehow the true meaning of Christmas has been lost and I am afraid it may never be found. So, I was wondering if anyone even remembers the true meaning of Christmas? I thought about it almost all day when out of the blue I remembered a scene from 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' Towards the end of the program, Charlie Browns sad tree had been decorated to look very pretty. Linus decides to stand up in front of everyone at the party and remind his friends what the true meaning of Christmas was all about. Here is what Linus said,

8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.' That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

"Out of the mouth of babes the truth is spoken."

God Bless that Linus, he may have been the last person in America to be able to tell the truth about Christ on National T.V.

I have nothing more to add to Linus' Scripture recital. He has said it all.

May the Lord touch your lives and may your holiday season be safe and joyful.

Jeff

The Road to Balad and Back.

One Year Home...

Veterans, School Children, and a Trip to the Arch...

In the Best Interest of the United States...

Lt. Hudnell's Commissioning Ceremony...

~~~~~~~HOME~~~~~~~

One Final Repair Before Leaving...

In Transition...

Sand Storms and Generals and a Final Note...

For the Love of Guam...

25 Days To Go...

Another Day at Work...

Fun Photos...

Happy Independence Day...

Another Important Step Towards Freedom...

Karis Around the World...

Appreciation for My Family...

Adjusting to Home...

Mass Casualty and 65th Annversary of D-Day

Requested Relationship Advice...

Honoring the Fallen...

A Quick Update...

Rising Star...

Where the Heart Is...

Mother's Day...

Swine Flu, a Horse That Flew, and the Passing of a Senator...

Deeper Devotion...

Bryan's Leave...

Another Day...

New Blog Up and Running...

Return to the Mesopotamia...

Back to the Desert...

HOME...

Bryan's Big Adventure...

10 Days To Go...

Dust Storms and Sunburns...

A Quick Update...

Sincerely...

A Quick Update...

Ten Things I Miss...

The Winner Is...

Workers...

Appreciation of Mothers

Mass Casualty Exercise...

Quick Update...

Pearls for Good Health...

Prayer Request

Love...

Appendicitis

Out of the Mouth of Babes...

Tossed About...

Breast Cancer and Self Exams.

OPTIMISM!!!

Baghdad Conference

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Linus Van Pelt says it all...

~HOME~