| Tuesday, September 09, 2008 |
| When To Celebrate |
A dictionary defines celebration as “a joyful occasion for special festivities to mark some happy event... any joyous diversion.”
Who defines “joyful” or “joyous”? Is it up to each individual? I believe that I tend to celebrate more than others. I clap and say “Yeah!” after I finish a delicious meal that my wonderful wife has made for me. I celebrate with my precious children all the time. Children will celebrate anything. If you have small children, then you understand what I am saying. A child will clap for joy when they put a toy in a pail. A child will laugh with excitement when they see a puppy. A child knows how to celebrate.
As we get older, for some reason we don’t find the joy of putting toys in a pail. We don’t see the wonders of life when a puppy wags its tail. We become so desensitized of the miracles of life. We have lost the joyful purpose of celebration....
I know you are thinking, “Where are you going with this?” I do have a point. I want you to take a deep breath, open your mind and just allow me to explain something to you that you will NEVER see on the news.
When I was deployed to Iraq in 2006, things were a little different. Hardly a day would go by when somebody wasn’t trying to kill me. This is especially true for the first few months that I was there. I know that some will argue that having a random mortar fired towards you is not “really trying to kill you.” Okay, but if you haven’t had a random mortar fired toward you, then what do you really know? And if you have had a random mortar fired at you, then you know that they are trying to kill you. So, I will argue the point.
Anyway, during my six and a half month tour, I did anesthesia for over 280 cases. For those of you that don’t understand case numbers, that is a lot of cases. Of those cases, I am willing to say that nearly 240 of those cases where trauma (or trauma related) cases. I did very little elective cases. I can not even begin to tell you how many units of blood and blood products that I pumped into those patients. I can not remember how many deaths I saw. I can tell you this, I pumped in more blood and blood products in that six and a half months than most civilians will pump in a lifetime. I probably saw more death than any of you will ever see (unless you have been here or you are a mortician). Slightly off the subject - I went to an anesthesia conference a year or so ago. I was attending a course that was being taught by a man that was at “the number one trauma center in the USA”. It sounds impressive doesn’t it? Well, when he told us about the most units of blood that has ever been given to an individual at their facility, I just had to smile. I was thinking, “Really? That’s it?? I have beaten that number on more than one occasion.” For the record, I gave over 120 blood products to a single patient in under four hours. You do the math - that’s kicking.
Now lets fast forward 18 months. I have once again arrived in Iraq. Grant it, I am still in the early stages of my deployment. I have been here for almost two months. But, let me tell you that things have changed. Things have changed in ways that I would not have dreamed.
First lets start with the random mortars. I can’t remember the last one. They are so few and far in between. Second are the cases. I have done a total of 23 cases since I have been here. Of those 23 cases, only four have been trauma. All the others have been elective cases.
Now for the real news, something that you will be hard pressed to see or hear about in the media. There are new schools, new hospitals, new training centers, new communities that HAVE BEEN BUILT. Not by the Americans either, but by the Iraqi people. There are almost as many Iraqi Army Soldiers as there are US Soldiers here. The number of Iraqi Soldiers is growing by the day. There is another HUGE piece of the pie. The Iraqi people are seeing and “understanding” the difference that is being made. Something I thought could never happen. I was wrong. That’s right - I admit that I was wrong. The Iraqi population understands that if they inform the authorities, not only will the bad guys get caught, they will also be protected. So, now the communities are stepping up to the plate. The bad guys may be able to threaten one person, but they can’t threaten them all. So, they are learning to stand up against them.
So, what does this mean? Well, it means that there is decrease in life being lost - on both sides. There is an exponential number of bad guys being caught and killed. The bad guys are getting desperate. Now, here is where I will have to stop giving details. But, I can say that they are truly getting desperate and it shows.
So, why have you not heard about this? Well, it is because that would mean that the media would be responsible for informing the public of the truth, not just its’ agenda. It would mean that the media would HAVE TO ADMIT THAT THE SURGE WORKED!!! Not only did it work, it has changed the community. The media doesn’t want you to know this. They want you to be ignorant of the facts. They want to push a certain person into the Presidential seat so they can have even more power and more money (yea, don’t full yourself - it’s all about power and money).
So, I have to ask. If a country that was full of blood shed just 18 months ago, is now relatively a peaceful country - is that something to celebrate??? I know the children are celebrating......... |
posted by G. @ 6:11 AM  |
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| 1 Comments: |
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That certainly is sum hopeful news. I think that most people here think that it is still total chaos there and that the Iraq people are not helping their selves at all.
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That certainly is sum hopeful news. I think that most people here think that it is still total chaos there and that the Iraq people are not helping their selves at all.