CNN

Hard to believe we have been here for over 6 weeks already. Things are continuing to go well. There have been a few bumps in the road, but otherwise life is good! The volcanic ash affected mail deliveries and more importantly some staff members arrival/departures as well as patient flow (they got to Germany and then ‘stuck’). Work has been going well also, getting into some more projects and keeping myself busy. It helps the time pass and keeps my mind focused. The sports have been a nice break for sure; cricket, hockey, volleyball, soccer, etc...being 1 of 2 rec people has its perks :) Especially the interaction with the Aussies...love the accent!

In fact just a few weeks ago CNN was filming (though we didn’t know it was them) while we played volleyball with some members of the Slovician Army. The broadcast came out later that week and my parents, as well as a coworker in Bagram saw it. Michael Holmes did a bit about several different nations coming together in Kandahar. It shed a nice light onto this place. It finally came online this week and I have watched it; it sure is me...hehehe....here is the link if you’d like to watch, its about 2 1/2 minutes long.

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2010/04/22/holmes.kandahar.air.base.cnn

We have had some change over for teams at work, Brent, our old team leader went back to Canada after 8+ months here. Now, Shannon, is working with us and has been a great addition. We will have another change in a few weeks as another Canadian counterpart will go back home. Its sad to see them go and I haven’t even been here that long. Thats the good and bad thing about Roto's (Rotational groups) overlapping. They bring a lot of what works/doesn't work and shares knowledge, but then they go after you become good friends.

The spiders here are ridiculous. This camel spider was caught near the hospital. They actually grow to be much larger...ewe, ewe, ewe. Of course I had to share this nasty experience :p

I thank everyone who has sent care packages, they have been GREATLY appreciated by myself, my roommate and co-workers with whom I share. I am fully stocked for a long while and really don't need anything for a few months. I do appreciate cards, letters and postcards. They are pleasant surprises in my day. Thank you for the continued prayers and support of all the Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen and Marines here in Afghanistan!

Ciao Ciao for now!

Pickin Up

Things are getting into a decent routine here now in Kandahar, and to break the monotony we are doing more sporting events via MWR. Luckily I am the recreation person and so I get to go to most everything assuming I am not in house. I have made friends with a few Aussies and got to play cricket this past week, its much like baseball, but with a few twists. This coming week before most of our closest Canadian friends depart we will be having a nurses versus doctors hockey game. It should be pretty interesting :)

At the hospital we continue to stay busy and have some slow, then chaotic days as well. Thats the way medicine goes no matter where you are located. We have also started to move into our new facility, so thats a big step. We are currently in modified structures with tent annexes from when the Canadians first set up shop a few years ago and its so cozy I think I will miss it when we move to a new and modern facility. With increase in facility comes fluxes of patients, so days will be even busier, thank goodness for being on a kick ass trauma team :) Below is a pic of practicing intubations with a piece of equipment called the Glydoscope which allows you a visual of the procedure. Our Corpsman, Jarrod, was our volunteer.

Not too much else cooking here, its staying warm of course, and I think I felt a few sprinkles today, but thats few and far between. Hope everyone is doing well! Ciao Ciao from KAF!

Update

So I made an oops in the last posting; my address is incorrect (wrong zipcode), so my address should read;

LT Stacy Syrstad

Role 3 Hospital MMU

APO, AE 09355

Thanks cousin Julie for noticing. And if you make the mistake; I have received 2 boxes even with the wrong info :)

Things continue to go well here as I am now settled into a few weeks of work. As with anything in medicine and the hospital we have our busy days and our slower days, and most recently I have found my pager DOES, in fact, work in the middle of the night :) The good thing about being on call 24/7 is that when you go in your are doing something that will keep you busy, focused and giving care to someone who really needs it. The only time we get called in is when the primary, in house team, has multiple patients coming in, so its not bad at all.

Over the last 2 weeks I have seen some things I never in my life have see so far and I can just tell myself its a great feature to be able to separate yourself from patients when caring for them. Often I don't get to hear that they have a child, brother, mother, etc...and it keeps my job from being so emotionally taxing. Don't get me wrong, some things are shocking, but we tell ourselves we did a good job and its time for them to move along to the next caretaker (either the ICU, ward or the US).

The Kandahar "krud" has hit in full force and I am finally getting over my sinus infection that stuck with me for 10 days or so. The dust storms are getting stronger and apparently there is a thing called 120 days of wind that starts soon...wind here means sand everywhere! Should be interesting as already there have been days you can't walk across the street without getting sand in your teeth, nose and eyes.

Its been fun getting more settled and being able to play some hockey on the cement rink the Canadians have set up. That as well as volleyball are pretty fun breaks from the monotony :) The Stanley Cup was around for all of last week and though I saw it, didn't have a camera at those times. This week some members from the Soprano's also stopped by the hospital, Tony and Paule. I got a photo with them, though have to admit I never really watched the Sopranos.

Once again I hope this note finds everyone in good health and doing well. Thank you for all the prayers, e-mails and messages so far :)

Kandahar...and last few weeks...

Sorry for the long delay, but have been in transit and settling here in Kandahar the last several days. We had a few days of rest in Kuwait after arriving from Ft. Lewis, but have been busy here in Kandahar. No more playing soldier, I get to be a nurse again! I have started working now and am on Trauma Team. I am pretty excited to be chosen as I am truly an ICU nurse, but have ER experience. So it balances out. I will be working 24 hour shifts with rotating call and we can catch sleep when we can at work. Not a bad deal so far. My address is as below;

LT Stacy Syrstad
Role 3 Hospital MMU
APO AE 09335

I am happy to receive any mail. Honestly out here any piece of anything is exciting as you easily get disconnected from the real world. If you want to send anything, just ask me via e-mail.

Our barracks are really nice and the area is interesting. We have internet in our rooms we pay $100 per "drop" (person) per month, but its so worth it. Not really fast, but its there. Its really surreal; in the barracks its like college dorm, but nicer and then outside you are quickly reminded. I will keep you posted, due to operation security (OPSEC) we can't talk about too much and no pictures really; the internet is tied into Iran and phones via Russia...just imagine the tracking. Oh Vei! Oooh...and multi national all over like aussies, germans, lithuania, british, etc...its been fun to meet new forces. 

Food is decent, lots of different cultural options to try. Getting used to some alarms and the humvees all over the roads...traffic is very busy here. Would be easy to get hit if not paying attention. Bikes seem popular and I am hoping to get one, or by one off someone who is leaving. The hosp is like 1/2 mile, so not a bad walk to work for me. I carry a pager and with mass casualties will be called in, so I must get there ASAP, whether it be running or a bike. A bike is safer :)


Hope this note finds everyone doing well and in good health. Take care and keep in touch :)

Departure Date

M-16 Motion Qual

Finally the time has come to depart the US!!! It felt at times it would never come and now that it's been set, its been jam packed days all the way. We currently have a 2 days pass to Seattle, with overnights; which I am grateful for. Its been awesome to take a break from that insane place of FT Lewis. I do also have an address now, which I may have mentioned before, but I am not giving it out until I get there as the Navy can sometimes (insert sarcasm...'hard to believe') change plans of where people end up.

Motion Qual in action

With leaving we've been issued more gear, more gear and more gear. Its been too overwhelming for me just yet to think about how I am going to compact some things down. I must get it together soon!!! We've also done a bit more with our M-16 for qualifications, as well as grenades and mines. I repeat it as a joke on a daily basis; but something really bad is happening if they are sending an ICU nurse cross the wire to throw grenades or set up mines. But this is all for just in case.

Blue Grenades...aka "Blue Balls"

Might be a bit for my next entry, but my next entry should be from Afganistan. God bless!

Training

Training is trucking right along....I have learned more Army lingo than I could have ever imagined to include such word and terms as I have translated below;

Galley=Chow Hall

You Tracking?=Are you paying attention? Do you understand?

Lets break...every 40 minutes

Glow belts=Safety reflection belts we must wear from dusk till dawn

Weapon appreciation-bringing it with you EVERwhere you go

Latrine=bathroom or as the Navy calls them, 'heads'

Cattle Car=large vehicle much like cow trucks

More acyronyms than I can shake a stick at like NVGs (night vision goggles), EST (simulators), PMI (something about instruction), ACU (uniform), etc....

50 Caliber Simulator

The Army is strange in its ways...but its still been fun playing soldier. This week was the biggest perk with Humvee drivers training completion. I can successfully operate an M1151 HMMWV independently. It was like being able to mudd in the coolest 4 wheel vehicle ever. We did a few night drives as well, and I was able to take some sweet pictures as below. The NVG's can play tricks on your mind, but the view is awesome.

Night Vision Goggle View of skyline

The rest of the past few weeks have been hit or miss with our schedule. We continue to have lots of white spaced time and days off. They have created more unneeded courses, like 50 cal (fun, but will never shoot one) and such to fill our space. Once we have gotten a day pass to Seattle, and we are scheduled to have 2 overnight liberty periods before we leave. Most all of us are of course excited, but eager to get over to Afganistan as well. We are replacing a crew that is waiting on us to get there and have thus been extended. Still glitches in communications, but its all good. We'll be there in the next few weeks. Still no definite word on departure, but sometime before 11 March.

FT Lewis

I have safely arrived and successfully completed just about 1 week of training. There was a delay in arrival due to snow storms in Virginia, and then my toiletries and makeup were stolen from my sea bag...that set me over the top after a long day of travel. But with the help of the people I knew from NMPS and some newly acquired friends, I made out okay. Of course I can live without makeup, but it sure makes me feel better when stripped of all other femininity.

This week has gone by very fast and has included; weapons issue (must keep M-16, M-9 on body at all times...or have ENS Locker aka my locker watch them), M-16 and M-19 qualification, Humvee simulator rollovers, cleaning of weapons, simulator shooting, of course uniform issue (cold weather, Kevlar and flack gear). Heavy flack jacket and wearing all gear has been rough on my body, but I am young and I am doing alright with a little help from my friends Aleve and Advil. Its fun to find new bruises and I every time I put my flack jacket on I keep thinking it will be lighter. It hasn't gotten lighter yet :) I will post a few pictures when I can.

The living arrangement could be better....but we have heat, beds and warm water...more than some get. The buildings are circa 1940's built and the beds are about that too. Since I arrived late I got stuck with a top bunk. The showers within the structure are open, but there is also a shower trailer with more privacy and lockers a few buildings down. Computer access is limited, but we do have it in certain buildings and we get time on most days in the evening for access. Important to note also, we are training with the Air Force and our instructors are Army people. They aren't the nicest, I will leave it at that. And they call the Air Force "chair force" for a reason. They are the biggest groups of whiners I have ever met. No disrespect to the ones I have met so far, they take ownership to their whining at least.

That's all on my end, still no address for Afghanistan, standing by :)