Progress

Shadow seems to be improving quite well.  I only gave her pain meds twice yesterday.  She wants to do more walking around the house than she's supposed to do.  That part is difficult.  She hasn't been in her kennel for years.  Now, we have to kennel her if we aren't going to be right next to her and preventing her from moving.  Whenever I leave the house, I put on an e-collar, too.  Poor baby!  She actually ate some dog food last night.  That's a step in the right direction.  Today she had her first BM since surgery.  I know, more than you wanted to know, but definitely progress.

We have some friends coming for dinner tonight, so I'm spending the day cleaning!  What joy.  How is it that a husband can recognize something splattered all over the kitchen walls and ceiling a month ago, but I'm the one who gets to clean it?  Hmmmmmmmm.  Anybody know how to get blinds off of the wall and how to clean those same fabric blinds?  I really wish I knew what the heck sprayed all over the place.  Gross!

Believe it or not, I have seen some blue sky today.  It's crazy.  I didn't think blue skies still existed in the wild of Wisconsin.  Perhaps they're just an endangered species around these parts?  Of course, Mom tells me yesterday that they're in 115 degree weather.  Oh yeah?  Well, I was in 51 degree weather today.  Ha Ha Ha!  (-: 

Not too much else going on.  I cannot believe that I return to reality in a couple of days.  Wow!  This time home went really quickly and it's the longest I've been home since I left in March.  I'm so glad I've been able to see as many friends as I have.  That means so much to me.

I hope you are all doing well.

--DV

Shadow's Surgery

Shadow made it through her surgery just fine, but the aftermath just may cause me to have a psychotic break from lack of sleep (and it's only been 1 day)!

We went to see her on Tuesday evening.  She was definitely not having good pain-control.  After more than 30 minutes in the room with her and having to call the front desk to remind them that she needed pain meds and to be brought back to her kennel (yes, I guess I'm one of "those" dog-owners), one of the techs finally came into the room.  When I said that she needed more pain meds and to be brought back to the kennel, the woman said (with a scowl), "Oh, so you're already ready to have her brought back?"  I explained that she wasn't comfortable and needed something more for pain.  I asked what they are giving her.  Her reply, "Hydro!"  Imagine how hard I had to bite my tongue at that point?  I said, pleasantly, "Hydro what?"  She told me Shadow was getting Hydromorphone (Dilaudid).  I explained that she probably needed more because she was obviously in pain.  I then asked how they handle it when a dog has to use the bathroom.  She said, "Well, dogs who have had this surgery don't like to walk, so they just go where they lie and then we clean them up!"  I know that humans hate to go where they lie and dogs hate it even more.  I finished with my questions and she then informed me that she was going to go get the muzzle.  A muzzle for Shadow?  Really?!?!  When she came back into the room, I asked why she was putting a muzzle on my sweet dog, especially since Shadow didn't have a muzzle on her when she was brought in.  She responded, again with a scowl and a sassy shake of her head, "Well, she tried to bite us when we brought her in to see you and you don't want us to get bitten, do you?" 

How many of you would have gone off on this woman by now?  Not me!  I remained calm, knowing that giving her a piece of my mind would result in ill-treatment of my Baby-girl.  When we got back to the house, I called the office and got her name.  The pen is mightier than the sword, so I wrote profusely about her on my comment card!  So there!  I also shared with the day tech how nasty this woman was.  She wasn't surprised by what I shared.  Oh well!  At least someone wrote it up.

I promised you pictures of Shadow.  Sorry I didn't send these last night when we got her home, but it's pretty intense taking care of her.  Poor baby!

Who would've guessed she has freckles under all that fur?

Really, a pink cast?  Don't they know her favorite color is Blue?

Even Jorge wasn't upset that she laid on his pillows.  Poor baby!

While we waited to pick her up, we finished the grouting on the backsplash.  That was loads of fun!  Not!!!

It's amazing what a difference it makes.  We just need to seal it and put on the outlet covers.  Can't wait to see the final product!  (-:

I slept on the floor with Shadow last night.  Hence my premonition of a psychotic break!  She is really not supposed to do much walking at all, except for Physical Therapy (right now it's 2.5 minutes of walking 2-3 times a day).  The tech told us that there are aqua treadmills in our area if we'd like to use that for Shadow.  Can you imagine her on an aqua treadmill?  She doesn't even like stepping in wet grass.  Submerge her in water and have her walk on a treadmill?  Never going to happen!

It's still raining and cold.  The good news is it's supposed to reach nearly 70 today, for about 2 minutes, before another cold front and rain storm moves through.  Patience!!!!!!  (-:

One of my buddies left for Germany on Tuesday.  She will be missed.  Thank God for e-mail and Facebook.  My new friends are scattered across the globe and I am really glad I will still be able to keep in touch with them.  I am also glad I can keep in touch with my Wisconsin friends via Facebook.  Now, to figure out how to Skype with my whole family!  Baby steps with the technology.

I hope you're all doing well.

--DV

Things I've learned

So, I've learned a few things since I got home on leave.  I'd LOVE to share all of them with you:

1)  The beginning of Fall in Wisconsin is really cold and wet, especially when you've spent the past 6 months in 90+ degree weather.

2)  Just when you think your dog couldn't get more pissed at you after giving her a bath, make her have surgery on her leg.  New meaning to "pissed."

Talk about the "evil eye!"

3)  When meeting with girlfriends, it's always best if everyone has a margarita and there are several bowls of guacamole at the ready!

4)  When trying to rid your mind of the aforementioned surgical procedure on your dog, tile the backsplash in your kitchen.

We'll grout tomorrow!

5)  Running magazines suggest putting your treadmill at a 1% incline to equal the wind resistance you would feel if running outside.  They don't have suggestions for running in 25 mph winds, though.

It's really nice to be home, but I wish I could ride my motorcycle.  Perhaps the weather will clear before I have to return to El Paso.

Shadow had her surgery today.  The doctor said she did well and we can go see her in a couple of hours.  I can't wait to see my Baby-girl!

That's it for now.  I'll post some pictures of Shady when we get her back home tomorrow.

I hope you're all doing well!

--DV

This is what my last weekend in San Antonio looked like.  Amazing how drab it was, huh?  It was very fitting, though.  Those of us who had to say good-bye to friends felt just like the sky looks.

Now I'm in Wisconsin and it's in the 60's.  What the heck?  I've been living in 80-90 degrees for the past 6 months.  My body is in shock!  (-:

Despite the weather, it is nice to be home.  Jorge and I are doing some projects around the house.  He changed out the fan in the master bathroom yesterday.  Poor guy was covered in insulation when he was finally done.  Today will be yard work.

We had an awesome dinner last night of homemade tomato sauce made from tomatoes out of the garden, homemade bread, and nice wine.  It was yummy.  Oh yeah, there was spaghetti in there, too, but it wasn't home-made.  Move over Martha Stewart!

I am looking forward to seeing friends.  Gym with Peggy today.  A play with Karen Sunday.  Drinks with the girls on Monday.  Friday is with Scottie Dog.  Can't wait!

I'm sending lots of pink light to my sisters as they travel to our grandmother's house today.  It may be the last time one of us gets to be in the house.  The rotten B is selling it.  It's definitely got to be hard on my sisters.  Thank you for going there to get our family heirlooms before the rotten B does a clean sweep.  Remember, there's always Hormel chili!  (-:

I hope you are all doing well. 

--DV

Home

I got back to Wisconsin yesterday evening and Jorge and I had a great dinner at Bravo! How cute are we?  We both had on grey t-shirts, blue bottoms (he was wearing scrubs *shocker* and I was wearing blue jeans), and black shoes.  We couldn't have coordinated it better!  It was definitely what I needed after such a ridiculous start to the day. . .but I'll tell you more about that later.

 Tuesday was my last day at BOLC.  As we were out-processing, it turned-out that the company didn't have my out-processing folder.  As a result, I had to go to the company to find my paperwork.  I walked back to the hotel and hopped into my car.  It made me smile when I realized that I had flowers on my windshield, left from one of my new friends:

I also had an invaluable opportunity to refine my vacuuming skills.  You know, that's a perishable skill.  Go Nurse Track!

When  I finally got on the road, it was after 2:00 p.m.  I wasn't exactly happy about the late start, especially since I had 8 hours ahead of me.  It was worth it, though, since I was able to have 1 more meal with my new friends Tawni, Matticus, and Melinda.  Thank you for a few more laughs, guys!

During the drive back to El Paso, the sky kept me entertained.  There is something magical about sunsets and storms in the desert.

       

Can you believe how beautiful these pictures are?  It took my breath away.

As I got closer to El Paso, I called our buddy Barry and asked if he could give me a ride to the airport the next day.  Turns out he was in the hospital for bradycardia.  Poor Barry.  If he didn't have bad luck, he'd have no luck.  Looks like he'll be getting a pacemaker tomorrow morning.  Barry, it sucks getting older, my friend.

After visiting with him, I checked on my leave form to see if it was all in order.  Surprise, surprise!  It hadn't even been signed by my head nurse.  Out of sight, out of mind, I guess!  I got in touch with him Wednesday morning, at 0700 and explained that my flight was leaving at 0845!  OK, here's the frustrating part of the morning.  I drove like Mario Andriette to the hospital to send my leave form to him again (paperless society sucks).  Once I did that, I couldn't find him to get the form signed-off.  So, I ran down to the company and waited for the acting Company Commander to get into the office.  I explained the situation to him and he signed off.  I had 30 minutes to get from the hospital to the airport and my gate!  Talk about pushing it!  Here's the best part of the story. . .I was in flip-flops the whole time.  How stupid am I?  Thankfully I made it to my gate with 5 minutes to spare.  I'm sure I looked like a complete fool running all over the hospital, airport parking lot, and the terminal.  I thoroughly medicated myself with Dramamine and slept the whole way home.  I barely woke up for the layover in Kansas City!  Better than passing out like I did after my visit home on Labor Day weekend.  It's never a dull moment with me!

Shadow was supposed to have her surgery tomorrow (Friday) but they've rescheduled it to be on Tuesday.  I was pretty ticked-off that they originally wanted to reschedule for next Friday.  I had to pull the Army card and explain that I don't have the flexibility of those who live around here.  She is still going to have a nice steak tonight, despite the reschedule.

Not too much else going on.  I hope all of my new friends from BOLC are doing well.  I miss them tremendously.  I've never felt closer to a group of people in such a short time.  I love you all!

I hope you are all doing well and I look forward to seeing friends while I'm home.

--DV

Time Flies

It's hard to believe that we only have a few more days before Officer Basic is completed.  Wow!  Time flies when you're having fun.

Since my last post, quite a bit has happened.  I celebrated my birthday with most of my new friends from my platoon.  They treated me to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack.  Yummy!  I even got a plastic shark as a memento.

On Friday, we went to dinner at a place called "Dough."  It's been featured on the Food Network show, "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives."  Mom and Lori had seen it on TV the first time I was here and they recommended I try it out.  It's amazingly good.  Next door to it is a Violin and other strings store.  I saw these Basses and thought Gailers might like them. 

We went to a Karaoke bar afterwards.  That was a blast!  When we came back to the barracks, we ran through the sprinklers on the golf course.  Needless to say, we were absolutely soaking wet by the time we got done.  It was so much fun and definitely worth it. 

Saturday was pretty laid back.  We did laundry and some of us got tattoos.  These footprints represent me and my two sisters and the impressions we've made in each others' lives.

Sunday was another day on the river, tubing.  Good times for sure!

This whole week has been spent in classes.  Yawn!

Otherwise, I'm still enjoying myself.  I hope all of you are, too.

--DV

We graduated!

Our graduation ceremony was somewhat uneventful this morning, but we got through it.  I wish I had pictures to share with you, but I couldn't find someone to hold onto my camera.  Oh well!

Today's been a fairly low-key day. 

Tomorrow starts our "Nurse Track." I  get to learn how to be a nurse.  Funny concept, isn't it?  We are going to be in our dress blue uniform all day tomorrow.  Yea!  It's a monkey suit but I like it better than the Class A uniform (the green uniform we used to wear).

Not much else to report.  I'll let you know how this week went.

I hope you are all doing well and that it will, hopefully, get warmer in Wisconsin soon.

--DV

Our final week in the field!

It's amazing how quickly the last 3 weeks flew by.  This last week in the field was an absolute blast.  It started out kinda crappy because we had a 0400 formation Monday morning to get on the buses.  That was a bit early.  Other than that, we had amazing training that really helped us understand how medicine is delivered on the battlefront. 

Monday morning was spent in a mock-up of a Combat Support Hospital.  The ICU has 12 beds (which are nothing more than cots) and would be staffed with only 4-5 nurses.  We pulled a PA from the OR and asked him to act like our Intensivist.  He really didn't have any ICU experience, but we did our best getting him up to speed.

Battlefield Life Support System!

Our ICU Team.  We had fun teaching the PA about the ICU.

On Tuesday, we learned about loading blackhawk helicopters with litter patients.  That was pretty darn cool!  We also did an exercise in level 1 care, which is almost the closest you can get to the front line.  I was selected as a patient and was about to be loaded on the chopper when one of my new friends got too hot.  She has been a near-heat casualty multiple times, so I felt it was more important for her to get to an A/C building than for me to ride the blackhawk.

Wednesday was Level 2 care, and I was part of a litter team.  Talk about an amazing work-out.  The sweat was rolling down that day.  It was crazy hot and running all over the place to pick-up casualties and carry them on a litter was quite the work-out.

Of course, we still had time for some fun in between all of the work we did.

We had chow detail and decided to get creative with the cups!

You don't want to mess with a psychologist who sleeps with a knife and a water gun!

Don't we look tough?  Don't mess with these 2 chicks!

I am glad the field is over so I can get back to normal showers, flushing toilets, etc.  I had a blast out there, but civilization is where I prefer to be.  A couple of my new buddies and I drank a toast with some tequila I had brought on our last night in the field.  See, I don't always follow the rules.

I was lucky to have a 4-day weekend so I came home to Wisconsin on Friday.  Unfortunately, Jorge had to work this whole weekend, so I've been doing stuff around the house.  I leave tomorrow morning, to return to San Antonio.  We graduate on Tuesday and then start our job-specific training.  I cannot wait to learn how to be a nurse!  (I hope you picked-up on the sarcasm!)

I hope all of you are having a great Labor Day weekend.

Take care!

--DV