Saturday, August 26, 2006

A Message From The Doctor




The following is a 'Guest Post' from "Dr. Turtle", my husband who has just returned from serving at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, in Germany. I thank him for his selfless service and thank you all for what we do on behalf of our injured military. I expect a couple more posts from him after he adjusts to being back home.



Hello,

At the request of "Mrs. Turtle," I am sending a guestpost to all of her friends at the Lake regarding my experiences at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center(LRMC). Although I am not blessed with Mrs Turtle's gift of writing prose, hopefully I can convey to you what it is like as an anti-war military physician taking care of wounded soldiers.

As I have told Mrs. Turtle, this experience was very hard for me emotionally. Before arriving at Landstuhl, I had naively expected that the majority of the people
working at LRMC would be opposed to the war, given the everyday horror seen in the intensive care unit. This was not so. There were very few people I encountered
who were as vocal as me regarding their disgust of what we are doing in the Middle East. Perhaps, as Mrs.Turtle says, military people are scared of making
statements such as these, afraid that it will affect their military career, or that they will be "watched."

When a soldier arrives at LRMC, naturally the physicians and nurses would like to contact the soldier's family to let them know what happened to the patient, etc. The rule is that a member of the medical team is not allowed to contact the family until a member of the patient's unit has done so. This did not seem like a big deal at first, until I made efforts to contact the military liaison/casualty affairs to find
out if the family had been contacted by their unit so I in turn could do so. These two offices are extremely disorganized and each tries to "pass the buck" to the
other with regards to initiating contact. There was a soldier admitted to LRMC while I was there whose family found out about their son's condition on myspace.com before the appropriate military offices had called them. This is reprehensible.

There were times when I was fed up and called the patient's family myself, rather than making a dozen phone calls to find out if someone had already done so, and still having no answer. I dreaded those phone calls. I can only imagine the pit in their loved one's stomach when I introduced myself on the phone, and where I was calling from.

One positive thing I can say about LRMC is that everyone there (whether pro- or anti-war) is there for the soldiers. This is a kind of patient care and compassion I have not seen before. Although the hospital in many ways is inefficient, every single
person I encountered in the intensive care unit works hard to make sure the patient/soldier receives excellent and efficient care. I think it may be this way because everyone feels that it is the least they can do.

That's all that I have to say right now. Thanks to all of you at the Lake for being a good friend to Mrs. Turtle. Lastly, thank you for your kind words regarding my service that were relayed to me by Mrs. Turtle. You all make her very happy.

Best regards,

Dr. Turtle

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dr. Turtle, thanks so much for taking the time and the energy to help us understand what is happening there. I can't imagine the sadness you must have felt throughout your stay. I hope you have time to reflect on your service and know how much you have contributed to those lives.
Take good care of yourself, and of course of Mrs. T!

Anonymous said...

Doc, God bless you, you have no IDEA how glad we all are that you're home again, and safely. I can't believe you've already had to go back on duty, though. Well, scratch that -- yes, I can, given the glimpses of FUBAR that you and "Hope" have already shared with us.

Anyhow, I look forward to catching more of whatever you need to spill about this experience, and if knowing you have about a bazillion friends-unseen helps you heal from your own trauma --

well, kiddo, feel that? You're soaking in it!

Well done.

Kathryn in MA said...

Welcome home, Dr. Turtle, and blessings on you and everyone in the ICU. We are doing all we can to keep other kids from being hurt.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Turtle, Thank you so much for all you've done to save lives and spirits of the men and women who are in your care. HopeSpringsaTurtle is a valued member of the FDL community.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Turtle, I admire your compassion, dedication, and your attitude so much. Thank you for your service to our country and especially to our boys and girls who get caught in the meat grinder. You are a TRUE patriot, though I am sure a lot of hawks can't see past your opposition to this insane war to acknowledge that. F*ck 'em, I say. Peace and love to you and Hope.

SteveAudio said...

I want Glenn Reynolds, Mark Steyn, Cristopher Hitchens, Jeff Goldstein, Rick Moran, Charles Krauthammer (too deliciously named) and all the other fascist warbloggers to immediatly get down on their knees and ask forgiveness from whatever passes for a Diety in their sad, small, lives.

Bastards!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your words, Dr. T. I appreciate your efforts on behalf of our soldiers and their families. Your compassion counts lot. We appreciate Hope at the Lake so much...And you're so welcome too.....Old Sow

Anonymous said...

Free Report on Turtle Care might actually stop you from having to take them to the VET. HEY its worth a LOOK.