"Are You Hot?"

There are many times in my nursing career where I have laughed, smiled and joked with my patients and being in Afghanistan has not changed that one bit. The other day a young Soldier came into the bay with his leg traumatically tangled and twisted (later to be amputated) by an IED. My usual spiel includes "my name is Stacy, I am one of your nurses...there is going to be a lot going on for a while here, but be patient and we'll keep you updated as we go...blah, blah, blah" Well this young guy was covered in mud and dirt from head to toe which left him not able to open his eyes and his only question was "Are you hot?" I just laughed and moved along, but its the times like that in the Trauma Bay that leave me smiling and realizing how rewarding this whole experience is. And even in the worse of situations to the average person back in the states, is still another day of an important role we play here. Despite all the BS and bickering, its all worth it in the end. So again I say to my family; don't worry about me! Worry about the guys who are patrolling in uncharted territory and cross the wire on a daily basis. The military takes care of their Medical personal. Promise!

And what's another birthday without a little celebration in Khandahar? I turned 27 this past week and had the best a day can be out here; got to take a nice nap after being post call (in house), played some Hockey, got some Schwarmas (like gyro's) and drank some near beer with friends. What more can a girl ask for?

My ankle was coming along nicely and I even ran yesterday, almost 2 miles without pain...until today when I played soccer without my brace. Big mistake. I cranked it pretty hard and I won't be playing sports for another few weeks now. If I wasn't so stubborn it would be easier :)

Until next time, ciao ciao!!

Opportunist

Stitchin' up

Life in Kandahar is much like groundhogs day, so there isn't too much to update on. My foot is healing well and I hope to start sports again on Monday, 3 weeks post accident. The swelling is down considerably and I no longer need Motrin, so I think I am ready. My 4 Ortho pod's at the hospital ask about it often too...but I just listen to my body and I am all good.

I like to call this True Combat Nursing; I am wearing my flak vest for a drill while we have a patient in the bay

Have gotten to do some cool stuff lately at work. The other day was an intubation (breathing tube down the throat) for a surgery with the assistance of CAPT Pizzaro, one of the anaesthetists. Then later that day I was given the opportunity to scrub in with one of the Dutch Orthopedic surgeons to remove some pieces of shrapnel from a patients arm and finger. It was surely an opportunity far out of my realm, but one I could not pass up. I had a blast, needless to say and learned to cut, stitch and maybe a few terms for surgical tools :)

Until next time...

My foot...Again

Small chip at the malleous (ankle) near the arrow

As you've all read on these blogs, I do a lot of sports here for the MWR stuff in the hospital. Every week hockey, volleyball, soccer, cricket, etc...not to mention I am just a super active person anywho...well last Monday I twisted my ankle hard enough to create a small avulsion fracture which is thankfully treated like a bad sprain. So I am rocking the black brace with green socks look while wearing my shorts :) Its pretty bad ass :) hahaha I am taking it easy for a few days, but successfully can do the eliptical and the treadmill slowly. No running or sports for a few weeks. And yes, its my same foot I broke 1 year ago and had the surgeries on. Trust me, the worst thought that went through my head was I had done that all over again. And though I really enjoy working with the various nations of nurses and doctors (being a NATO hospital and all), its challenging to have 4 Orthopedic Doctors looking at my xrays giving opinions. 1 wanted to do surgery, 2 wanted it to be cast and the last, an American, said I was fine and rest it, ice it, elevate. Simple.

The hospital is getting a bit busier these days. Its still hit or miss like back in the states, but more nights are spent awake with patients when we are "in house" than a few weeks back. The heat has backed off a bit too...but thats fine with me. 108 degrees is not comfortable in May especially. They say it gets to 140!!!

Me and Keith in the OR helping out

If anyone wants to sent anything, I could use V-8 (regular, small cans), rice cakes, rice krispie treats, and lifesaver gummies. I run through those items pretty fast as any combo of the above is sometimes a meal substitute. Or just cards and letters...the little kids letters are priceless...special thanks to Lannie's 3rd Graders at Soo Township :)

Ciao Ciao!

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 :)