Afghan Terrain--posted by Brian

Well I have now been here in Bagram, Afghanistan for 11 days. The flight here was long and cramped. Due to poor weather conditions we had several long layovers some of which we could not even exit the plane. I arrived Friday, December 19, 2008. The jet lag was killer and I felt exhausted most of the time for the first 4 or 5 days. I saw my first patient the Thursday after I arrived who was an 18 year veteran of the Afghan army for whom I did a flight physical with the aid of an interpreter even though he spoke pretty good English. He seemed like a pretty decent fellow. I saw many more patients (US soldier type) in sick call during the following days. It was good to finally be practicing medicine. After almost 4 months since I last saw a patient I was starting to feel a bit of trepidation about starting to work up patients again. It was silly though and I am back in the saddle again. The Docs and medics in the clinic are great and I think I will really enjoy working with them. Christmas was slightly depressing. We had a small clinic party with a gift exchange and the chow hall put together a pretty good dinner but despite the Merry Christmases in passing separation from family had everyone a bit glum. Monday I started flying MEDEVAC missions picking up wounded or sick soldiers/civilians/Afghans and flying them into Bagram where the main US hospital in Afghanistan is located. It was cool to see some of the country outside of the wire. Tuesday we did a 4 hour flight to several FOBs(Forward Operating Bases) SW of BAF (Bagram Air Field) picking up routine patients. Below are some pictures from that flight. I will probably be flying MEDEVAC 1-2 weeks a month while I am here. It should be a nice way to break up some of the monotony of the clinic. Anyway so far things are going well in Afghanistan. I hope everyone at home is well and enjoying the holidays.

Look closely and you will see a high mountain Afghan estate. You can also see many tiers of mountains. Afghanistan is a rugged place.

This is urban sprawl in SW of Bagram, Afghanistan. This time of year everything is mud brown and even the homes match. The network of walls is pretty impressive.

A closer look at a couple of compounds.

This is me about 3 hrs into our flight looking very enthused that I need to pee and I am getting a little crampy from the hard seats and the fact I can't quite sit up straight because my head hits the roof.

I love you all and miss you.

Brian aka "Daddy"