There’s a Fungus Among Us, A Virus Beside Us and If That Wasn’t Enough, Bush Is Here!

I haven’t been very lucky with holidays this deployment. Sickness strikes again! There’s a cold – a pesky little virus going around base, and as you can imagine, being a closed environment, things spread pretty quickly. Body aches, chills, congestion, sneezing, phlegm, all lasting a week to 10 days. I’m at day 4, and I think I had the worst of it last night. I couldn’t sleep at all and I just kept staring at the red digital clock …12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30. Finally at 0500 I turned on the TV and there was a fireworks show at Penn’s Landing that I decided to watch. It was pretty good, but fireworks just aren’t the same on television as they are in person.

So now I’m sucking on Halls, taking decongestants and I decided to look on the bright side – it’s easy to watch your weight when you don’t have an appetite! That bright side ended really fast though when I got out of the shower this morning and noticed that I had red bumps all over the soles of my feet and red patches on my ankles and on the top of my feet – yup, you guessed it, I finally got Athlete’s Foot! But as twisted as this may sound, it’s a good thing. I have to admit, there are quite a few Marines that I’m treating for Athlete’s Foot right now and when they come in for follow-up, I’ve been down playing it a little. (I mean, I treat everyone but when they don’t listen to your advice, you just want to say “Suck it up then!”) My point: it’s good for Doctors to get their patients’ ailments sometimes – it enables them to empathize that much more. I’m freakin’ out about my slightly itchy and red feet when there’s Marines with feet ten times worse than mine. Needless to say, I won’t be undermining their condition anymore.

I saw Air Force One yesterday. The President and the Joint Chief of Staff made an appearance on base yesterday and their plane landed right across the way from our squadron spaces. While I didn’t actually see the President, I wasn’t all that impressed with his plane. (It actually looked more impressive when Harrison Ford was attacking terrorists in it during the movie ‘Air Force One’, but then again, that was just a movie). I probably could have gone to his speech but opted to watch it on TV instead. He pretty much re-iterated what the other Generals that have visited here said. Basically, that Al Anbar province has become a model example of what we would like all of the provinces in Iraq to be like. That Suni tribes that used to pledge their allegiance to the insurgents and Al Queda, are now pledging their allegiance to Coalition forces and turning in the insurgents and forcing Al Queda out in the open where they can be captured. Yes, I do believe all of that is true and that makes me feel like we’re doing some good over here.

But yesterday I started thinking about what I would ask the President if I ran into him and he asked me outright, “Lieutenant, do you have a question for me, any question at all?” If afforded this rare opportunity, I think I might ask, “Do you know if there really is an Area 51 in Nevada and if an alien spaceship really DID crash on this planet decades ago?” Just kidding, we all know that’s true. Let’s see, I might use the opportunity to express some of the views that I know one of my colleagues would love to so delicately address, “I think your ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ Policy is complete bullshit. I mean, aren’t we way past the point in our development where a man or woman’s sexuality should have no bearing on whether they should be allowed to serve for their country? I mean, come on Mr. President, I know several gay active duty members – Jags, Officers, Martial Arts Instructors, Doctors – don’t you think it’s crap that they have to live their lives in secrecy because of your policy?” Alright, maybe I’d stick to something a little more practical and a pros pro, like “Do you honestly think that we’re going to establish a democracy for a country like Iraq whose socio-politico-infrastructure is based on a completely different fundamental than our own?” All in all, I think I’m kind of glad I didn’t run into him, although I would have liked to see him eat the Beef And Noodle entrée at our chow hall right before he gave his speech. (Yuk!)

I got 2 awesome care packages today. One was from my friend Steve and the other from my sister! Steve’s had some magazines in it, a CD (a DJ RJ blast from the past from the year 2000), some Swedish Fish, Pop Rocks Candy, a paddle ball and some snacks. Kelly’s had some pictures hand drawn from my niece Kiera (which I hung up), some gym clothes, some bubble yum bubble gum (another blast from my past) and some mail! These 2 packages really brightened up my day and they were just what I needed to make it through the 140 degree day with a cold and with itchy feet!

I finished a book my sister sent me entitled “Doctor On Everest” about a Doctor who ventures to join an expedition to summit the highest peak on the planet. I liked it a lot and it started to get me in the habit of reading at night before bed (that would make the 2nd book I’ve read since I’ve been here). While this may not seem significant, Jan will tell you that RJ doesn’t have the attention span nor the patience for reading. But I’ve been finding that I enjoy reading, and it helps me to calm down at the end of the day, to focus my thoughts and relax. I think this may be a good habit to bring back with me. The next book I plan on reading is called “On Call in Hell – A Doctor’s Iraq War Story”. A Soldier’s Angel sent it to me and for the life of me I can’t remember who (if you’re reading this now, remind me it was you, please and forgive my ignorance!) I have to mention that another Angel sent me a bible with some passages marked for me and I started reading a little bit of this bible today. One particular passage from Proverbs (16:9) I found particularly inspiring. It reads, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his step.”

Well, I hope you all had a fantastic Labor Day weekend! I’ll leave you with this…I’m entertaining the idea of scrapping the Toyota Hybrid SUV and Jet Ski (because I’m hearing that areas to ride are severely restricted in Oahu) and buying a hot sports car instead! So if you were to buy a sports car, what would you buy???

P.S. Those aren’t my feet above, they’re one of my Marine’s. Just didn’t want you all to feel THAT bad for me. Also, I didn't take that picture of Bush, I got it off the internet.