Key West or Iraq

March 19

We had an outdoor concert here with a group called Key West who travelled all the way from the states. No, they weren't a local band. They are Jimmy Buffet-wanna-bes. It was something to do so many of us went. We were joking because they sale all sorts of near-beer here. We thought we would pick up a six pack but the only thing we would get out of it is the need to burp and pee. And we wouldn't even wobble while we were peeing!

For those who are unaware, near-beer is like O'douls. NO alcohol. I didn't realize all the different brands available. But these men sure like to drink it - I take that back. The marines and army like to drink it. We navy folk have our pride. It is either the real thing or nothing at all!

Oh, and the concert wasn't half bad. It was just so darn chilly. The band actually sounded like most of the groups they were imitating.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

March 17

Well we had our first "holiday" here so let me tell you how we celebrated. No hats, no clover, and no green beer. We all wear green t-shirts so no one even got pinched. I did get a card from my brother Dave and sister-in-law Kim. Thank you both. It was the first mail I had received since arriving. Oh and I got a cute little souvenier button from the car rental place that states, "I celebrated St. Patrick's Day 2007 in Iraq". Now seriously, who would rent a car here and where would we go? But I got a button!

Where am I?

Many of you have asked, " Where are you?" I reply, "I am in Iraq." Okay, okay that is pretty obvious by now. But I am actually on one of Saddam's old air fields called Al Taqaddum or TQ for short. It is located west of Bagdad up on a plateau. If you google the name, a map will come up, otherwise we are not located on a regular Iraq map.

While sightseeing after shooting my pistol, I was able to get some pictures of the Iraqi planes that our folks dug up under the air field. There are quite a few that Saddam had tried to hide. But our CBs have excellent metal detectors and in no time they were able to uncover them.

Sightseeing in Iraq

I thought that might get your attention!! The best part of shooting had to be seeing the huge lake that borders our base. Apparently Sadam spent a lot of money getting this lake up to his standards. It is blue and beautiful!! The bus driver who I talked to extensively on the ride over, took us past Sadam's ranch which is also on this base and overlooks this big lake. Try to pull up the picture and zoom in for better view.

She then drove us past the little town right outside our base. I got lots of pictures so here are a few for you to see. I wish they had come out better. For those of you who may have concerns, we never left the base. I didn't realize how huge this place was until we were driving around. I actually saw three trees!! Yes, I took pics of them too!

Shooting in Iraq

March 11

Sunday we had to go shoot our pistols that we literally were issued as we were getting on the bus to catch our flight. So, although I had shot a 9mm, I had never shot my issued 9mm. Well the powers that be decided it would be a good idea to skip church services and let us go shoot 10 bullets. Yes, ten bullets! We got to the range and were given our bullets to load. Then we sat around for over an hour waiting on the Army to stand guard at the roads. When we eventually got to shoot, you men would have been proud of me. I put six of my ten in a tight circle in the middle! I was shocked.

I also got to watch our marines shoot their M16s. Thank goodness I don't have to carry that with me every where. As it is, this 9mm strapped to me gets in my way. Do you know how hard it is to keep it from falling in the toilet when you gotta go? or pull you pants up afterwards? Many have purchased a shoulder hoster for that very reason. Sooner or later I will have to break down I am sure. Luckily, I don't have to wear this helmet and vest all the time. It weighs over 30 lbs.

Now I am told we might get a second chance to qualify for a ribbon while here. Keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer for me.

Arabic 101

My friend Claudette in San Diego is providing me with Arabic lessons. I thought I would share some with you. Thanks, Claudette!!

"Here are some arabic words to go with your tea time;
tea: chai
milk: hallib
sugar: sucre
give me: attini
filled cookies: ma'amoul
and of course you know baklava"

subbi is a boy, ibin is son, bint is a girl.

One of our "Windtalkers" (yes, just like the movie and WWII) is teaching us on Tuesday mornings. But it is boring medical terms. Claudette's is much more useful!!

Tea Time

March 9

Well many of you may have heard of tea time in England. It is usually at 4pm. The Iraq people also have tea time. It starts at 8 pm here on base. We have a tea hut, in which our friendly Iraq folk serve tea and cigars. I got the opportunity to go last night with some of the outgoing folks. We sat outside under the stars, drank tea out of shot glasses, and got sick from second hand cigar smoke. It was great!! If you can't have alcohol - drink tea!! Instead of getting sleepy - you get wired. What a great concept! I will look forward to enjoying my tea time on Friday nights.

Children in the Hospital

Unfortunately we get civilians - children to be specific, who have been caught up in the turmoil. This is Ahmad, a 10 year old boy who lives in the little town outside the gate. He broke his arm playing soccer (football in this country) and had it set by a local doctor. They do not have an xray machine so he came to us to see if it was correctly placed. Unfortunately, it wasn't so we took him to the OR to set it again. He has the most beautiful eyes! Of course, I wouldn't tell a boy that but he does.
We noticed that we have even fewer kids items here. When looking for something to give Ahmad, I noticed we only had a few boy items. I had to replace his shirt with a man's shirt. And most of the few toys we had were for girls. Luckily, I found a puzzle with a train on it. So any childrens clothes, toys, books, etc would also be useful. Our patients range in age from babies to teens. (Notice the scratchy green army blanket he is laying on and covered up with.)

Please see my previous posting to get my mailing address if you have anything to donate.

Thank you to all who have already collected items to help the marines in the hospital. The clothes will be greatly appreciated.

My Patient's Needs

For those who are really wanting to send something worthwhile, I ask you to think about my patients. All of them have their entire uniform cut off so we can evaluate them and often it is days before they receive clothes from their units. Many charity groups as well as schools have started sending sweat pants, t-shirts, and a variety of mens under wear for them to wear here in the hospital until they can get their own clothes.

Since originally sending out this email, we have received lots of clothing for our troops. So much so that we are now storing it outside in a trailer. The troops want me to say thank you to everyone. If you want to help what I encourage you to send now are DVDs, books, magazines, soft blankets (we only have those green scratchy wool army blankets), etc. These do not have to be new stuff. What ever is lying around not being used at home will be greatly appreciated. Although it is unusual for anyone to stay more than 3 days with us, it is amazing how bored they get sitting in a bed or wheelchair. One of our patients went through and straightened up the charity food locker, clothes bins and etc. If only he did windows, we'd keep him around!

As for me, I am satisfied with what I have at the moment. But I'd take a good chick flick or magazine.

I am posting my address for those who wish to send items. We have found that smaller boxes get here faster due to more space available on the helos.

LCDR Neptune, Elizabeth
2d Maint Bn (-) (Rein)
Surgical Co.
Unit 73619
FPO AE 09509-3619

Work Begins

March 1

Work has already been exciting. I have to get over all the dust on the gear. We are waiting on the old crew to leave before we make any big changes but I am already comfortable with my job. I am just dreading the heat to come. Right now it is very comfortable. But I know that will change soon. The last OR nurse said he has lost 26 lbs due to the heat. We have to keep the Operating Room extremely hot for the patients. Keep in mind he has been here over the cold months. Think how much weight I could sweat off in the summer months. Weight Watchers move over - the Iraq diet plan is taking over!

I've included a few pictures of the operating room here. This is what it looks like with and without patients. The coffee pots are actually fluid warmers. We keep bottles of sterile water inside and turn it on when we get a patient. Who would have thought such a simple idea would work?

Next is a picture of the patient "bed". Normally patients are carried in on a stretcher and set on this "table". The blue sheets keep the stand from getting too messy.

Last is the back table with our instruments. We keep one table ready at all times. The blue cloths are "sterile" gowns that yes we do use. My most famous saying has become - "We are in Iraq. This is war." Because most of the sterile technique that has been drilled into us has to go out the window and we have to let reality set in. Our patients get so much antibiotics that we have to do what is necessary to save life or limb and deal with the rest as it happens.

Home Sweet Home

I was fortunate enough to purchase a "room" from one of the gentleman leaving. I aquired sheets, comforter, light, fan, refrigerator, tv, dvd player, stereo, desk, chairs, hot pot, 3 rugs and live plants. How much you may ask? Merely $150! I am ecstatic!! I still need pictures to hang on my otherwise sterile looking metal walls. But I am not complaining.

Okay, so these are the photos of the inside of my room. If you notice, very little pictures on the wall. What was I thinking not bringing family pictures!! My lap top for viewing photos is not as great as I thought. It would be so nice to walk in and see a "memory" on the wall and smile. Hint hint family members!!

My cable is finally installed. I feel very fortunate. The gentleman who used to live there was a Captain, psychiatrist to be exact. I asked him why he didn't get cable when it was offered to him. He told me he liked to keep life simple; but, he had the cable placed on the roof and just never ran it inside. (Say what?) So one day a guy was on the roof spraying it off (you know because of all the sand) and I asked if I could borrow his ladder. After all, I used to be an electronics technician once upon a time. How hard could it be to hook up cable? Well, he was so nice he said he would do it for me. Unfortunately, my cable did not have connectors so I had to run to the hodgie shop to get some. Then he switched it out and pushed it through the AC hole for me because I am a little short. How cool!! I have cable. It consists of 10 channels, most of them news of some sort. But every once in awhile I get HGTV or some of the tv series I like to watch. Once again, I am not complaining!!

Waiting in Kuwait

February 28

(I fogot to show you my pictures of Kuwait.) We made it to Kuwait before the end of February. YEAAAAA!!! Why so happy you may ask? That means I get the whole month of February free of income taxes. A small price to pay for being in such a desolate place away from my loved ones.

This is a picture of our "living" conditions while here. All the women were placed in one tent regardless of the number of females or cots. Yes, they actually ran out of cots which led to a very bad scene for those coming in after us. The model is LT Nicole Stewart, a psychologist from Jacksonville, FL. We became friends while training at Camp Lejeune. And that's me laying on the cot reading a book. I have really enjoyed being able to read more, but I'd give up my books to see one of the boys playing soccer.

Home?

March 1

I must say I am pleasantly surprised at the wonderful accomodations. Imagine if you can a trailer - maybe 100ft x 17ft, then separated into several little "apartments" with each having an outside door. And the first thing you see when you walk out is this huge concrete monolith surrounding the whole trailer. What I like the most is the fact that I have no room mate and my group of trailers are the only ones at this time to have cable. Although, it is not hooked up yet.

Iraq At Last

February 28

Well, I am finally here at my final destination. The top picture shows my friend and LA room mate, LT Lora Martin. She is a nurse from Rhode Island and we met at the Los Angeles Trauma Course. Then there is my partner in crime, LT Stuart Hitchcock. He is an OR nurse I work with in Jacksonville, FL who travelled all the way to Iraq with me. He is wonderful at making us all laugh. I am grateful to have been paired up with both individuals.

The plane ride from Kuwait to Iraq went quicker and smoother than I thought it would. I had packed all my warm gear in my seabag forgetting about the possibility of it being chilly on the military plane. Fortunately, we were on a big one in which all the doors shut. Yes, they do have transportation planes in which the rear door only closes a little thus allowing cold air to come in.