A month done!!

Wow, the time has flown. We have been busy; thank goodness not
with many Canadian casualties, but busy nonetheless, meaning that
people are still getting hurt. We have no children with us at the
moment, which is a relief. The OR teams are enjoying the down
time we get on our 2nd call days, although we ran two rooms
simultaneously the other day for the first time in our tour which was
very interesting. As of yesterday we had done 54 cases in the OR
since the 5th of August when our group officially took over. Our
"record" is 6 in one day, the average is 2 or 3. We've only had one
or two days so far where we didn't do any cases.

There is not much new to report except that the girls in my room
have been busy compiling a list...

You know you're in Afghanistan when...
...you can't remember what colour your shoes used to be
...you ask your patients who shot them and they say "Taliban"
...if you forget your sunglasses, you can't see where you're going
...you need an extra blanket with the A/C set at 74F
...your biggest fashion worry is whether your pistol holster matches
your shorts
...you blow your nose and half the dust on camp comes out
...the latest taste sensation is a new flavour of Crystal Light to add
to your water bottle
...there's no need to look at a weather forecast
...you get excited when there's new stuff in at P/X (American
version of Canex)

All remains well here - I am homesick by times but we are quite
comfortable and work is very interesting. We are truly learning
something new every day!

I meant to mention...feel free to write and ask questions if you have
them...I will do my best to answer them!

Hope everyone is well at home - my love to all of you.

Lindsay

TGIF - not that it matters around here!

Just wanted to share some photos...the one of myself was taken
today at work...and the others are pictures of the entry into
our room and my little space. It's very comfy and I have
great roommates so I am happy!

Will write another update soon...

Love Lindsay

Me at work

Entering the batcave

My room

Settling In

This is a photo
of the area
where we
"hang out"
and process
all the
instruments
and trays
for
surgery.

So here's the best news so far - we've
moved into our new quarters! Quality of
life has improved exponentially.  My room
is at the end of the hall, and - get this
- right next to the bathroom!  O joy of
joys. We are four to a room, but with the
beautiful Afghan blankets we scammed from
the last crew used as dividers and
the big closets in the room, there's actually
quite a lot of privacy.  One of the only
downsides to the new location is that we are
much closer to the "poo pond" as it is
affectionately called.  This is where all
the sewage produced on the camp ends up, and
when the wind is blowing in just the right
direction...look out!  Luckily, you can't smell
it inside the building.

The other (and only other) downside is that we
are farther from the hospital.  It's a 15-minute
walk to get to work.  Most of the time, this
is fine, because on the bright side, in this
heat a 15-minute walk over big chunky gravel is
a great workout!  Obviously it's worse if we
need to be there quickly, but they're sorting
out vehicles for us to use so it shouldn't be
a problem.  We are now right across the road
from the phones, the gym, the mess, and Canada
House (where there are 2 big screen TVs,
movies, newspapers, more phones and computers,
and a small canteen).  Also we are much closer
to Tim Horton's, Pizza Hut, Burger King and
Subway, all of which ALWAYS have huge lineups
(go figure - this is about as exciting as it
gets here at Kandahar Air Field).

At the hospital we have been just busy enough
to keep us out of trouble.  The hardest thing
for me so far came last week when we were
called just after supper (after working all
day) for two 12-year-old Afghan boys who had
been burned (one worse than the other) two
days before and had received virtually no
treatment until they came to us.  The one boy
we brought to the OR was burned over 45% of
his body, and that he had been suffering for
two days really got to me. The next day I felt
pretty down, but it was comforting to see him
with nice dressings on and lying more
comfortably in bed.  We changed his dressings
twice in the OR, over the course of almost a
week.  This morning when I came to work I was
shocked to hear that he had died overnight
last night...it seems so sad and unfair to
have lost a poor little soul in such a cruel
way...but in the end I know he is probably
better off now, with no more suffering and
without the prospect of a difficult life
ahead of him. Still I feel so sad...

The majority of our patients this past week
were Afghan police with traumatic injuries we
might see at home once in a while - here they
are a daily occurrence.  The Afghans we've seen
are incredibly stoic, obviously more accustomed
to a life of hardship than we North Americans.
Just look at me - I couldn't even handle walking
500 feet outside to the bathroom!  There is no
question that we are incredibly lucky to be
blessed with so much.

And so I am hanging in here, in my new little
space on this sprawling camp, with pictures of
Robert and the kids taped to my walls so I can
see them all the time...thank goodness the time
is going quickly so far.  Thank you to everyone
who has sent me messages - they are a joy to
read and truly keep me connected to home.

Lots of love,
Lindsay

p.s. Our little burn girl went home to her mommy
a few days ago (very devoted dad was staying with
her here) - it was so good to see her well
enough to go home.  I pray she does well in the
rest of her life...

Two weeks in

Hello again from sunny Kandahar.  I have now figured
out where most things are on camp, gotten used to
the heat (a little bit) and gotten into a little
bit of a routine.  In the OR we have two teams, so
we alternate 24hrs of first call and 24hrs of second
call.  So far things have been fairly quiet since
the first week, which was pretty crazy.  I hope
that it stays that way, but it doesn't seem likely
considering the team before us did over 350
surgeries in 6 months; also considering seven have
died in the short time I've been here.  This last
soldier who was killed was a medic, which shook
our group quite a bit as a few people knew him and
had worked with him.  The medics attached to our
Role 3 facility should rarely (if ever) have to go
outside the wire, and I know that if they ever do
we will all be holding our breath until they get
back safely.  (It's the Role 1 medics who go out
with the soldiers on a regular basis.)

The ramp ceremonies (so far I've attended four)
are solemn and dignified; we form up on parade
and salute our fallen comrade as a piper plays.
It's hard not to feel angry seeing young people
returning home like this, in a casket instead of
on their own two feet, but there is a lot of
honour in the bravery they have showed in being here
and in trying to overcome an enemy like terrorism.
Being here, I am better able to understand how
truly brave it is for these young men and women to
go out there and try to help these people who have
so little. These soldiers have to believe in their
mission; they do, but it's not without its cost.
Six months of wondering "is today my day?" takes its
toll, even on those with great courage.  That's the
nature of this conflict, and these soldiers deserve
all the support we can give them.

On the other side of this experience, we have a wee
two-year-old Afghan girl in our care who was burned
over 25% of her body with hot cooking oil.  She has
been coming to the OR for dressing changes and skin
grafting and she is almost ready to go home.  I think
we feel protective of her, in the sense that we want
to give her the best possible chance at a full
recovery, but we also have the knowledge that we can
only do that while she's in our care.  It's a
helpless feeling, knowing that children in this
country just don't have what they need to truly thrive,
especially not with an injury like this little girl's.
We comfort ourselves by trying to clean the dirt out
of the creases in her little hands and feet - but
in our hearts we know this is more for us than it is
for her.

In the face of all this I am grateful to be surrounded
by people who love to laugh, and who help each other
keep things in perspective.  We share stories of our
families at home - we all understand what it feels
like to miss our loved ones.  An experience like this
helps to bring people closer on a human level - I
didn't feel this in Bosnia because it wasn't the same.
I realize now that I dreaded leaving home to go there
because it didn't have the same meaning - I never
truly felt like what I was doing was making a
difference.  Here, while progress may be slow,
I know that our care prevents more Canadians from
going home draped with a flag, and that makes it
feel a lot more worthwhile.  This is what makes it
easier for me to be here in spite of missing my
family like crazy!

We are still living in our BAT, and have heard that
the move to more permanent living will be happening
next weekend.  I am not holding my breath, but still
hopeful.  Oh, to have a bathroom less than half a
kilometre away! I don't think that's too much to ask.
(Actually the bathroom isn't quite that far but in
the middle of the night when I have to climb down off
my top bunk, knock everything over in an attempt to
find my shoes, and walk over the treacherous rocky
gravel just to go pee, it might as well be half a
kilometre away!)

Other than this, and wishing I could see Robert and my
babies, I am doing quite well.  I wish I had more time
to write to everyone individually, and I may get a
chance here and there, but we are limited to 1/2 hour
per session on the computers and they are usually in
high demand.  I am thinking of everyone and will write
another update as soon as I can.

Love Lindsay

p.s. for the pictou crowd...Saturday nights at the
mess is lobster tails...not sure where they get the
lobster from but I'm pretty sure it's not around here!
:-)  

Hello from Afghanistan

Hello
everyone,

I finally
havea few
minutes to
write and
tell you
all about
my little
adventure.
I'm sure you have all heard we lost 4 more
soldiers, and we are seeing the survivors of the
attack as well so it has been a bit
of an initiation by fire, so to speak.  We are all
getting more familiar with the hospital, so as we get
oriented to our new jobs here we feel more and more
confident to help those who are getting hurt.

The trip over was pretty close to unbearably long.  I
went without sleep from Saturday morning to Monday
night, and I have sweated more than I thought
possible.  We are slowly recovering from the shock of
traveling for so long and immersion into this heat.
Everything is covered in dust; the finest, powderiest
sand I have ever seen, and it is always blowing.

The hospital has a really good reputation among the
troops, and I felt this firsthand the other day,
talking to one of the guys who regularly go outside
the wire - he asked us where we were working and when
we said the hospital, he said "oh, you guys have taken
such good care of us - you guys are awesome!!"
Knowing that we have a positive effect on their morale
is a great reward for us.

Right now we are living in a "BAT" (big ass tent) in
bunk beds.  It's not so ideal, kind of like sleeping
with a hundred of your closest (or not so close)
friends.  We have divided male and female with our
ground sheets around the edges of the beds, but that's
about as private as it gets.  The word is that we will
be moving into brand new accommodations (not tents!)
in about a week.  Fingers crossed - we are looking
forward to this with great anticipation.

Most of the buildings are air conditioned (thank
goodness, as the temps have climbed upwards of 50
degrees C these past few days).  I am getting used to
being soaked with sweat, a bottle of water permanently
attached to my hand. Sleeping is not so bad, as
unbelievable as that sounds, because even though it's
probably still 30 degrees at night, it feels SO much
cooler and the A/C seems to work a lot better.

The food is not bad, typical mass-produced cafeteria
food but there's a fairly good range of choices at
each meal.  Right now I'm barely making it to each
meal time without starving to death (slight
exaggeration) but it's obvious my body's working
pretty hard to manage this transition.  I have been to
Timmie's on camp and had an iced cappuccino -
aaaahhhhh.  It will certainly be a nice treat once in
a while - I can't imagine drinking coffee in this heat
and the lineups at Tim's are usually pretty long.
Definitely good for morale to even see that Tim
Horton's sign here!

It is surreal in so many ways to be here and
experiencing this firsthand instead of just hearing
about it on the news.  It is so real, and certainly
makes me question whether war is the answer.  But if I
can help those who are fighting so bravely to
eradicate terrorism, and a few of the local people
along the way, I will feel that my job here has been
worthwhile.

Must go now, as my time is almost up - thinking of
everyone back home and grateful for all your support
and encouragement.  I will be in touch.

Lots of love to everyone!