As most people may or may not know, I like to try out different things and take advantage of all that is made available. For instance, if I am put in business class, I am not going to pass up the opportunity for that free glass of wine. I think that if I have the chance to do something that I may not be able to normally do, it would be foolish to pass it up!
In this same vein, a couple of days ago I was forced by my coworkers (and supervisor) to go to the clinic. I have been having nausea every time I eat or drink anything, and they were getting quite concerned. I have also been very tired and sore as well. So, off to the CSH, (combat support hospital which we pronounce as cash) I went! I gave them my Letter of Authorization (LOA) so they would be able to treat me, but the receptionist sent me back to the back to have the person authorize me for treatment. The Specialist (E-3) behind the desk told me I was only authorized for life, limb, or eyes according to my LOA. This had been a problem before and a letter was sent to them to explain the circumstances. I mentioned this, but he said I had to wait for his NCO to arrive in about 2.5 hours!
I left. I went back to work very unhappy. I don't like doctors to begin with, and this was just the reason I needed to not go at all. Of course upon telling my supervisor, he found and printed the letter and told me to go back, so, sadly, return I did. I showed the letter to the Specialist and he paged his NCO. When the NCO finally arrived, he said that it was fine, so back to the receptionist I went, and I was able to start waiting for the next half hour or more to actually see the doctor.
When I was finally able to see the doctor, she asked questions, did a couple of exams, and then decided that she needed to draw blood. This was done, and I had to wait around waiting for results. She stated that as a result of the examination, she wanted a CT scan and an ultrasound, so I would have to go to a different hospital because they don't have those capabilities at this one. It was an interesting prospect, but not one I was really looking forward to. Still, she went off to make the arrangements.
While I was waiting for blood test results, they found an ultrasound machine and decided to try it out. As the three doctors fiddled with the machine to try to get it to work, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. They worked on the machine for 15 minutes before they were able to get it to work and attempt to perform the procedure. As they were in the midst of the procedure, they realized that they couldn't really see what they were looking for, so they decided to stop. They told me that they had arranged for me to go to the ER in Baghdad and that I was to get my stuff and come back ASAP. They would then call the medivac people to come.
I went back to my CHU (containerized housing unit), packed in 3 minutes, and returned to wait for the medical helicopter that was going to transport me to Baghdad. The chopper ride was interesting. The medic, wearing his helmet with the dark shield down to shade the sun, sat on the gurneys across from my seat, the only one in this part of the helo. He placed the blood pressure cuff over my arm and took vital signs during the whole flight. We had to land and change helicopters as part of this trip, so I was handed over to another medic.
The seats on this were a little different. This chopper was able to carry 4 people sitting, plus the medic (and of course the gunners on each side and the pilots. There was a flash outside the helicopter as we were flying, but as it only caused irradic flying for a few minutes, I figured it was better to forget about it.) Anyway, I finally made it to the ER where they did the CT scan, urinalysis, more blood tests, and an ultrasound. So many fun things including having to drink some concoction that numbed my insides and some type of lemony crystals that expand in your stomach and give you gas (this was to help in the CT scan). They also injected me with something that would make my veins light up so they could see them. This stuff caused me to become warm all over, almost to the point of being uncomfortable... it was really kind of cool!
Then came the arduous task of getting back to my current residence! I spent the night in temporary billeting in Tent City. My tent had about 30 or 40 cots set up, but fortunately most were empty. In the morning I checked out and went to the helo-terminal and registered for a flight. I had to go to a different base where I would have to register for another flight to my base. I did finally get out of there as well, but not until after 9pm..
This morning I didn't wake up until 11:11am! Even given that, I am still a little tired and VERY sore. Because I have no authorization for sick days, I will have to use vacation days for this, so I will probably have to give up my vacation. This isn't the worst thing in the world, but I am not really happy about it. This is all just part of the process of figuring out what is coming next for me.
In this same vein, a couple of days ago I was forced by my coworkers (and supervisor) to go to the clinic. I have been having nausea every time I eat or drink anything, and they were getting quite concerned. I have also been very tired and sore as well. So, off to the CSH, (combat support hospital which we pronounce as cash) I went! I gave them my Letter of Authorization (LOA) so they would be able to treat me, but the receptionist sent me back to the back to have the person authorize me for treatment. The Specialist (E-3) behind the desk told me I was only authorized for life, limb, or eyes according to my LOA. This had been a problem before and a letter was sent to them to explain the circumstances. I mentioned this, but he said I had to wait for his NCO to arrive in about 2.5 hours!
I left. I went back to work very unhappy. I don't like doctors to begin with, and this was just the reason I needed to not go at all. Of course upon telling my supervisor, he found and printed the letter and told me to go back, so, sadly, return I did. I showed the letter to the Specialist and he paged his NCO. When the NCO finally arrived, he said that it was fine, so back to the receptionist I went, and I was able to start waiting for the next half hour or more to actually see the doctor.
When I was finally able to see the doctor, she asked questions, did a couple of exams, and then decided that she needed to draw blood. This was done, and I had to wait around waiting for results. She stated that as a result of the examination, she wanted a CT scan and an ultrasound, so I would have to go to a different hospital because they don't have those capabilities at this one. It was an interesting prospect, but not one I was really looking forward to. Still, she went off to make the arrangements.
While I was waiting for blood test results, they found an ultrasound machine and decided to try it out. As the three doctors fiddled with the machine to try to get it to work, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. They worked on the machine for 15 minutes before they were able to get it to work and attempt to perform the procedure. As they were in the midst of the procedure, they realized that they couldn't really see what they were looking for, so they decided to stop. They told me that they had arranged for me to go to the ER in Baghdad and that I was to get my stuff and come back ASAP. They would then call the medivac people to come.
I went back to my CHU (containerized housing unit), packed in 3 minutes, and returned to wait for the medical helicopter that was going to transport me to Baghdad. The chopper ride was interesting. The medic, wearing his helmet with the dark shield down to shade the sun, sat on the gurneys across from my seat, the only one in this part of the helo. He placed the blood pressure cuff over my arm and took vital signs during the whole flight. We had to land and change helicopters as part of this trip, so I was handed over to another medic.
The seats on this were a little different. This chopper was able to carry 4 people sitting, plus the medic (and of course the gunners on each side and the pilots. There was a flash outside the helicopter as we were flying, but as it only caused irradic flying for a few minutes, I figured it was better to forget about it.) Anyway, I finally made it to the ER where they did the CT scan, urinalysis, more blood tests, and an ultrasound. So many fun things including having to drink some concoction that numbed my insides and some type of lemony crystals that expand in your stomach and give you gas (this was to help in the CT scan). They also injected me with something that would make my veins light up so they could see them. This stuff caused me to become warm all over, almost to the point of being uncomfortable... it was really kind of cool!
Then came the arduous task of getting back to my current residence! I spent the night in temporary billeting in Tent City. My tent had about 30 or 40 cots set up, but fortunately most were empty. In the morning I checked out and went to the helo-terminal and registered for a flight. I had to go to a different base where I would have to register for another flight to my base. I did finally get out of there as well, but not until after 9pm..
This morning I didn't wake up until 11:11am! Even given that, I am still a little tired and VERY sore. Because I have no authorization for sick days, I will have to use vacation days for this, so I will probably have to give up my vacation. This isn't the worst thing in the world, but I am not really happy about it. This is all just part of the process of figuring out what is coming next for me.
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