One of my corpsmen had to go to Germany for an evaluation for symptoms he was having. When in Germany he was evaluated by a doctor who asked him who he worked for in Afghanistan. He responded 'I work for the greatest allergist in the Navy'. The doctor than stated 'oh, you work for Dr. Tucker?'
When my corpsman called back to tell me this story I was cracking up. Now, I would never claim to be the greatest allergist in the Navy. However, I am pretty confident that I could be the greatest allergist in Afghanistan! In fact, at the moment I am probably the only allergist in Afghanistan.
Hope all is well back home.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Just the other day my grandmother wrote that I should fire whoever is cutting my hair. I posted my haircut that I received by one of our Master Sergeants previously. I am still staying motivated with my high speed, low drag coif. I am just doing the chore myself these days (sorry grandma). We have a haircut hut that is next to the BAS. Usually what happens is someone goes out there to cut their hair or their friend's hair and next thing you know there is a line of people asking if they can get their haircut as well. I have not yet had the courage to butcher anyone else’s haircut.
I have found a few advantages keeping my hair short. 1) Less gray showing 2) No bed head 3) Spend less on shampoo 4) Can visualize that I still have hair at the acme of my noggin 5) It feels so cool to rub my scalp :)
I just finished another book. This time it is Dan Kootz. The book is called Frankenstein and is the third in a series. It is about Dr. Frankenstein 200+ years later making a 'new race' for a better world order and is bruoght down ultimately by the help of his original monster creation. yeah, not very realistic, but a quick read. Ultimately, I do not recommend.
Most recent movie was 'Righteous Kill' with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. Good cop movie with a twist.
Latest series is 'Flight of the Concords' about 2 New Zelanders trying to make it big as a music act in New York. Perfect for Greg and Cissy.
Haircut hut.
I have found a few advantages keeping my hair short. 1) Less gray showing 2) No bed head 3) Spend less on shampoo 4) Can visualize that I still have hair at the acme of my noggin 5) It feels so cool to rub my scalp :)
I just finished another book. This time it is Dan Kootz. The book is called Frankenstein and is the third in a series. It is about Dr. Frankenstein 200+ years later making a 'new race' for a better world order and is bruoght down ultimately by the help of his original monster creation. yeah, not very realistic, but a quick read. Ultimately, I do not recommend.
Most recent movie was 'Righteous Kill' with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. Good cop movie with a twist.
Latest series is 'Flight of the Concords' about 2 New Zelanders trying to make it big as a music act in New York. Perfect for Greg and Cissy.
Haircut hut.
Oh the fun we have in Afghanistan.
Monday, November 30, 2009
cool cases
We had a really interesting week of patients. It all started simply enough. We had a case of a vesicular rash on a Marine’s neck that was causing a burning sensation. It was in a dermatome distribution. He was diagnosed with herpes zoster (shingles), started on acyclovir and is doing much better. (pic below)
Next up was a young Marine who sustained a foot injury as a child. Being that his family was poor and lived far from health care his father latched a 2x4 to his foot for a couple of weeks in an attempt to set it. You can see below the repercussions.
Soon after we got a call about a Marine having a seizure on the flight line. He was noted to have a fever and thus thought to have possible meningitis. He had to be medivac to the hospital where he had a normal head CT and normal lumbar puncture (thus not meningitis). He is now getting evaluation in Germany.
Right after that fellow, we had a fellow get a superior dislocation of his shoulder. I can relate to his pain and suffering as I too have had a shoulder dislocation. At least I can give him good info on rehab.
The past few days have been even better. We had someone show up with chest pain and a history of congenital dilated cardiomyopathy. He was quickly treated and evacuated to the hospital for possible early myocardial infarction. He is doing well, but will soon be in Germany as well for a catheterization.
Then there was the guy who has been impotent for the past 26 months. I know it is common, but not at my age (I hope not) which he happens to be. Apparently he has had this problem since completing a 100 mile long bike race. He had 6 weeks of bilateral lower extremity numbness for 6 weeks after the bike ride as well. He has some subtle neurological changes on exam. So he probably will end up in Germany as well.
But my favorite is the guy with right sided chest pain. Usually, this is not as concerning, unless your heart is on the right side. That’s right, he has situs inversus which means your heart and stomach are on the right side of your body instead of on your left. There is a condition called Kartagener’s that is associated with some of these individuals where you get recurrent sinus and pulmonary infections (due to ciliary defect) and also have high chance of infertility (same defect). Anyhow, he does not have Kartagener’s and thankfully had normal EKG. He instead had a history of recent chest trauma and on CxR I found a cracked rib. If the CxR was able to load, then you can see for yourself below.
I am going to rest my noggin now.
I included a picure of the clouds after a morning rain here. It just goes to show that you can even find beauty in a dustbowl.
Nice party trick.
I itch just looking at it.
Next up was a young Marine who sustained a foot injury as a child. Being that his family was poor and lived far from health care his father latched a 2x4 to his foot for a couple of weeks in an attempt to set it. You can see below the repercussions.
Soon after we got a call about a Marine having a seizure on the flight line. He was noted to have a fever and thus thought to have possible meningitis. He had to be medivac to the hospital where he had a normal head CT and normal lumbar puncture (thus not meningitis). He is now getting evaluation in Germany.
Right after that fellow, we had a fellow get a superior dislocation of his shoulder. I can relate to his pain and suffering as I too have had a shoulder dislocation. At least I can give him good info on rehab.
The past few days have been even better. We had someone show up with chest pain and a history of congenital dilated cardiomyopathy. He was quickly treated and evacuated to the hospital for possible early myocardial infarction. He is doing well, but will soon be in Germany as well for a catheterization.
Then there was the guy who has been impotent for the past 26 months. I know it is common, but not at my age (I hope not) which he happens to be. Apparently he has had this problem since completing a 100 mile long bike race. He had 6 weeks of bilateral lower extremity numbness for 6 weeks after the bike ride as well. He has some subtle neurological changes on exam. So he probably will end up in Germany as well.
But my favorite is the guy with right sided chest pain. Usually, this is not as concerning, unless your heart is on the right side. That’s right, he has situs inversus which means your heart and stomach are on the right side of your body instead of on your left. There is a condition called Kartagener’s that is associated with some of these individuals where you get recurrent sinus and pulmonary infections (due to ciliary defect) and also have high chance of infertility (same defect). Anyhow, he does not have Kartagener’s and thankfully had normal EKG. He instead had a history of recent chest trauma and on CxR I found a cracked rib. If the CxR was able to load, then you can see for yourself below.
I am going to rest my noggin now.
I included a picure of the clouds after a morning rain here. It just goes to show that you can even find beauty in a dustbowl.
Nice party trick.
I itch just looking at it.
Aaaahhhh.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
hump
So yesterday I did a hump. Now even though it involved more than one person, let me assure you that it is not the type of hump you may be thinking. This one requires not only clothes, but a 50 lbs pack load. As I mentioned in previous blog, I am striving to get my FMF pin and part of the requirement is doing a 6 mile hump. This is a waved requirement while in a combat zone, but I am a motivator.
So my partner and I decided to do this hump 24 hours prior and we let some of the Marine officers know our intentions. We got 6 of them actually wanting to go along and another few bummed out that their schedules would not permit. That’s the Marine Corps for you (BTW in TBS which is their officer school they do plenty of humps that culminates with a 15 mile hump with near 100 lbs load).
I paced off a route with our vehicle which encompassed the perimeters of both British bases. We had to wear our uniform, our flak, our weapon and have a 45 lbs pack with our Kevlar attached. The rules were that we had to stop for a gear check and for a 10 minute break midway through and we had to complete the 6 miles in less than 2 hours.
Eight of us left on our mission. Everyone did pretty well through first half. At 4 miles I looked at my watch and made a decision that we would split into 2 units since time was pressing and Mike and I needed to finish within the 2 hours. My group finished with plenty of time to spare. I had been told through the grapevine that one particular Marine 1st LT boldly stated that he was going to drive the Navy officers into the ground. Let’s just say that he was marching off my pace all afternoon and he was a bit more sweaty than I :)
All smiles before the hump.
So my partner and I decided to do this hump 24 hours prior and we let some of the Marine officers know our intentions. We got 6 of them actually wanting to go along and another few bummed out that their schedules would not permit. That’s the Marine Corps for you (BTW in TBS which is their officer school they do plenty of humps that culminates with a 15 mile hump with near 100 lbs load).
I paced off a route with our vehicle which encompassed the perimeters of both British bases. We had to wear our uniform, our flak, our weapon and have a 45 lbs pack with our Kevlar attached. The rules were that we had to stop for a gear check and for a 10 minute break midway through and we had to complete the 6 miles in less than 2 hours.
Eight of us left on our mission. Everyone did pretty well through first half. At 4 miles I looked at my watch and made a decision that we would split into 2 units since time was pressing and Mike and I needed to finish within the 2 hours. My group finished with plenty of time to spare. I had been told through the grapevine that one particular Marine 1st LT boldly stated that he was going to drive the Navy officers into the ground. Let’s just say that he was marching off my pace all afternoon and he was a bit more sweaty than I :)
All smiles before the hump.
Leader of the pack.
Madatory break.
Friday, November 27, 2009
black friday
Well today I got up early to see what kind of 'black Friday' deals I could get. Unfortunately, there are just 2 places I can go to shop the MCX (Marine Corps Exchange) and the local Afghanistan market. I put a couple picture below of some of our finds. Of course at the little market they always have 'a special price for you'. I did price out those swanky suits that I blogged about earlier. I just might have to buy one for future events.
We have recieved a lot of boxes from AnySailor.com recently and have been able to give a lot of the Marines snacks, toiletries, blankets... We also received a lot of Christmas decor. A few of our corpsmen had any evidence of Thanksgiving down and all the Christmas decorations up before I was up this morning. It should be festive.
You will notice a hat theme below.
Got your hokas here.
LT Crandall, Chief and I with an assortment of hats. I especially like the leopard hand warmer.
Tactical Santa.
We have recieved a lot of boxes from AnySailor.com recently and have been able to give a lot of the Marines snacks, toiletries, blankets... We also received a lot of Christmas decor. A few of our corpsmen had any evidence of Thanksgiving down and all the Christmas decorations up before I was up this morning. It should be festive.
You will notice a hat theme below.
Got your hokas here.
LT Crandall, Chief and I with an assortment of hats. I especially like the leopard hand warmer.
Tactical Santa.
Psycho.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving
So today is our Thanksgiving. It is still in essence a workday around here, but we had part of the morning off. I was able to go to Thanksgiving mass followed by the obligatory meeting. I got a chance to run my clothes over to Sadish the laundry guy. Then it was time for football.
Yes we got this idea in our heads that there needed to be a staff NCO and officer football game. I was ‘volunteered’ to play. I suppose it should be a complement that they wanted me to play. I showed them the error in their ability to judge talent by throwing the game deciding interception that was returned for a touchdown.
When we play football, or any other sport, on this field, you are just hoping to come out alive. We have had numerous strains from sliding along the gravel in running shoes as well as many skinned knees, hands, name your body part. I had the further disadvantage having participated in the Marine PFT the previous day which has left my back a little stiff.
I took the Marine physical fitness test yesterday as part of my FMF pin. The fleet Marine force pin consists of being attached with the Marines for a set amount of time, pistol qualification, PFT, 6 mile hump with all your gear on and an oral board about the Marine Corps. The PFT is actually waved while in a combat zone, but we decided to do it anyhow. The PFT is not that difficult. It consists of pull-ups (20 to max points), situps (100 to max points) and a 3 mile run (18 minutes to max points). You are judged on a 300 point total and there are 3 different categories. The most difficult part was the run because we are having some rather fierce winds currently and on certain legs of the run I felt as if I were running in place. You will be happy to know that I got a first class score. If I were to take the test 4 months from now, I would be in a different age category (40+) and would have had to put in a lot less work to get the same class score.
Things that I am thankful for today….
- My health
- My family
- My friends
- My ability to serve my fellow man and my country as both a Navy officer and as a physician
- My faith
- The Marines that keep me safe
- Skype
- Peanut Butter
- Warm clothes
- The fact that this deployment is finite and thus there will be a day soon where I will be able to see all your faces and share laughs with you once again.
May peace and happiness find you and your family. Happy Thanksgiving!
I am in this picture, can you tell which one?
Running a route.
Da Players.
Yes we got this idea in our heads that there needed to be a staff NCO and officer football game. I was ‘volunteered’ to play. I suppose it should be a complement that they wanted me to play. I showed them the error in their ability to judge talent by throwing the game deciding interception that was returned for a touchdown.
When we play football, or any other sport, on this field, you are just hoping to come out alive. We have had numerous strains from sliding along the gravel in running shoes as well as many skinned knees, hands, name your body part. I had the further disadvantage having participated in the Marine PFT the previous day which has left my back a little stiff.
I took the Marine physical fitness test yesterday as part of my FMF pin. The fleet Marine force pin consists of being attached with the Marines for a set amount of time, pistol qualification, PFT, 6 mile hump with all your gear on and an oral board about the Marine Corps. The PFT is actually waved while in a combat zone, but we decided to do it anyhow. The PFT is not that difficult. It consists of pull-ups (20 to max points), situps (100 to max points) and a 3 mile run (18 minutes to max points). You are judged on a 300 point total and there are 3 different categories. The most difficult part was the run because we are having some rather fierce winds currently and on certain legs of the run I felt as if I were running in place. You will be happy to know that I got a first class score. If I were to take the test 4 months from now, I would be in a different age category (40+) and would have had to put in a lot less work to get the same class score.
Things that I am thankful for today….
- My health
- My family
- My friends
- My ability to serve my fellow man and my country as both a Navy officer and as a physician
- My faith
- The Marines that keep me safe
- Skype
- Peanut Butter
- Warm clothes
- The fact that this deployment is finite and thus there will be a day soon where I will be able to see all your faces and share laughs with you once again.
May peace and happiness find you and your family. Happy Thanksgiving!
I am in this picture, can you tell which one?
Running a route.
Da Players.
The food resembled and tasted like a Thanksgiving dinner (despite the pumpkin pie being frozen).
Sunday, November 22, 2009
updates
So, I thought today I would just update you on some things.
The British chow hall turned over their contract to an independent contractor. This has resulted in much less authentic British food and rather bland menu choices. It has also resulted in a lot of people behind the counter who cannot speak English. On the flip side, my young corpsmen and their novice taste buds actually prefer the more Americanized menu.
I am still doing yoga 1-2 times a week. Rodney Yee is still my man :) However, I have branched out a bit and now am trying some pilates. So far, I have only done abdominal pilates by Ana Cabana and she kicks my butt! I do not have the flexibility or control of my balance to get into the positions that that girl does. It mixes up my routine though and for that I am grateful. Namaste.
I had read the ‘The girl with the dragon tattoo’ by Stieg Larsson which I really liked. I just finished the sequel ‘The girl who played with fire’. It was also good, but not as good as the first. Next book is ‘A bold fresh piece of humanity’ by Bill O’Reilly.
This past Friday, we had our first inaugural cigar club meeting. Gil would appreciate the fact that Marines like their cigars and it is no exception out in the field. One of them has been ordering interesting cigars online. Another Marine has made his own humidor. So a pay $10 for 3 cigars and presto I am in the club. I got quite an education about how cigars are made and how they come by their names. Now, I do not condone smoking, but I figure that if I am in an area where I get ‘hazardous duty pay’ and ‘imminent danger pay’ then I should be able to justify smoking a cigar once a week.
Speaking of smoking, my mom asked what they did with all the trash here. Well, they burn it. In fact they burn everything including plastics (sorry Madeline). Heck, in the outlying areas they even burn their @#$%. They have big incinerators on base for the burning. Below is a picture of the BAS with the smoke rising behind it from afar.
Lastly, I mentioned prior that I was asked to play guitar in church despite only knowing pink panther and bluebird at the time. I had been practicing, but had not been able to get a hold of a guitar this week to ‘fine tune’ (like the pun) my strumming. I was stoked today that I was not going to be able to play guitar and thus avoid embarrassment at mass. Only to be tasked to be the Eucharistic minister. My only qualification is that I am probably the most consistent mass attendant at this camp. So I doled out the Blood of Christ today. I can only imagine Ellie beaming with pride and tears welling up in Liz’s eyes at the thought of me at the altar. I can also imagine Cissy thinking ‘he is only doing it because he gets to drain the cup at the end of communion’.
Till next time…
Lot of hot air in this club.
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. Naaahh, just them burning stuff behind the BAS.
The British chow hall turned over their contract to an independent contractor. This has resulted in much less authentic British food and rather bland menu choices. It has also resulted in a lot of people behind the counter who cannot speak English. On the flip side, my young corpsmen and their novice taste buds actually prefer the more Americanized menu.
I am still doing yoga 1-2 times a week. Rodney Yee is still my man :) However, I have branched out a bit and now am trying some pilates. So far, I have only done abdominal pilates by Ana Cabana and she kicks my butt! I do not have the flexibility or control of my balance to get into the positions that that girl does. It mixes up my routine though and for that I am grateful. Namaste.
I had read the ‘The girl with the dragon tattoo’ by Stieg Larsson which I really liked. I just finished the sequel ‘The girl who played with fire’. It was also good, but not as good as the first. Next book is ‘A bold fresh piece of humanity’ by Bill O’Reilly.
This past Friday, we had our first inaugural cigar club meeting. Gil would appreciate the fact that Marines like their cigars and it is no exception out in the field. One of them has been ordering interesting cigars online. Another Marine has made his own humidor. So a pay $10 for 3 cigars and presto I am in the club. I got quite an education about how cigars are made and how they come by their names. Now, I do not condone smoking, but I figure that if I am in an area where I get ‘hazardous duty pay’ and ‘imminent danger pay’ then I should be able to justify smoking a cigar once a week.
Speaking of smoking, my mom asked what they did with all the trash here. Well, they burn it. In fact they burn everything including plastics (sorry Madeline). Heck, in the outlying areas they even burn their @#$%. They have big incinerators on base for the burning. Below is a picture of the BAS with the smoke rising behind it from afar.
Lastly, I mentioned prior that I was asked to play guitar in church despite only knowing pink panther and bluebird at the time. I had been practicing, but had not been able to get a hold of a guitar this week to ‘fine tune’ (like the pun) my strumming. I was stoked today that I was not going to be able to play guitar and thus avoid embarrassment at mass. Only to be tasked to be the Eucharistic minister. My only qualification is that I am probably the most consistent mass attendant at this camp. So I doled out the Blood of Christ today. I can only imagine Ellie beaming with pride and tears welling up in Liz’s eyes at the thought of me at the altar. I can also imagine Cissy thinking ‘he is only doing it because he gets to drain the cup at the end of communion’.
Till next time…
Lot of hot air in this club.
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. Naaahh, just them burning stuff behind the BAS.
The last 2 books I read. Overall, I recommend for both.
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