Day# 97 - Weapon Etiquette

The Golden Rule of weapon's safety is never point your weapon at yourself or anyone else even if you think the safety is on or there is no ammo loaded. Since arriving here in Iraq we have had seven patients that have accidentally shot themselves or someone else when handling their own weapons. The latest victim was a guy that came in last night. He was sitting on a couch watching TV as his buddy was putting away his weapon across the room. The weapon fired and the bullet hit him in the chest causing some major damage to his lungs, liver and spinal cord. He is alive but in critical condition right now and probably will never walk again. It makes you a little nervous when you are around hundreds of inexperienced soldiers everyday that are carrying around a loaded weapon and are exhausted from the heat and 16 hour patrols out in the city. Makes me think that wearing my body armor 24/7 might be a good idea afterall.

Day# 94 - Recent Pics

Things have been relatively quiet here so not much to write about lately, which I guess is a good thing. The weather is hot, 110 degrees today, and we haven't seen any rain since March. Anyway, I decided to post some recent photos of life here in beautiful Iraq since there hasn't really been much to blog about lately. Some pictures from our Luau this past weekend and other random shots from around the compound.

Hanging out with some of our surgeons and the hospital commander ... notice the cheap plastic leis around the necks.

Trying to make my brothers proud. Even in Iraq we managed to set up a make shift dartboard. My partner and I went 6-0 in Cricket that night so watch out Nick and Mike.

Hanging with some of the other guys from Brooke Army Medical Center

Me and some of the ER staff.

Enjoying a cigar and a near-beer with the boys!

Loading an ER patient on a chopper to fly to Kuwait.

Nice shot of our homemade basketball hoop outside the ER.

Iraqi sunset ... if I try really hard I can almost hear the crashing waves on the beach and taste the ice cold Corona in my hands.

Day# 90 - Half Way There

Today is day 90 of the 180 days that I will be in Iraq. Half way there baby!! It's all downhill from here or at least that's what I keep telling myself and Christen. Hopefully it will fly by for both of us!

Day# 86 - Sweet Dreams

I went to sleep last night troubled by some issues that have recently disrupted the usually mundane life of the Cuniowski clan. Despite these worrisome thoughts, I had a very good dream involving my early departure from Iraq. The U.S. government had finally come to it senses and realized we have no business in this God forsaken part of the world. I was on a plane, heading back home three months earlier than scheduled. Thinking about seeing Christen and the kids at the airport, and what it would be like to finally be home again ...

When an enormous boom literally knocked me out of bed. Talk about a rude awakening. My amazing dream about returning back home early was instantly replaced by my attempt at slipping my shoes on while still half asleep and running to the nearest bunker. That is when reality began to set back in. I was still here, hunkered down in the Iraqi desert, where the gentle beeping of the bedside alarm clock has been replaced by the nearby explosion of an IED. I found out later that the blast that rocked our world this morning was a car bomb that exploded about 500 yards from where we were sleeping. Thankfully nobody was seriously injured.

So as I get ready for bed tonight I am secretly hoping for the same type of dream. I am only about half way done with my tour but as I look at the reading on the Countdown Timer in the corner of my screen ... 3 months, 5 days, 10 hours, 24 minutes, and 43 seconds ... doesn't seem too far away.

Day #79 - And So It Begins ...

The heat that is. Since arriving here in Northern Iraq the weather has been suprisingly pleasant. There is the occassional sandstorm now and then but for the most part it has been sunny with highs in the 80s during the day followed by lows in the 60s at night. This week brought an official start to summer here. The high today was 109 degrees. That's right 109 ... and it's only May. July and August are going to be interesting. I have read that the average temp here during those months ranges from 110-125 degrees. It is getting to the point now where leaving the air conditioned confines of the hospital during the middle of the day to make the 1/2 mile walk down to the dining hall is becoming a tougher decision. Lunch may start to consist of cereal and granola bars just so I can avoid the heat. Take a look at the forecast for the week ahead ... it's not looking much cooler from here on out.

Day #74 - BILLY

Yesterday was a first for me. We got a call that we were getting three patients flown in by helicopter with gunshot wounds. No big deal. We had done these many times before and quickly got our crew ready to accept the patients. When they arrived we quickly discovered that our most seriously injured patient had a gunshot wound to the chest. However, this was not the type of patient we were use to caring for... he had four legs, was covered in fur and had a serious set of canine teeth. He was a 110lb German Shepherd working dog, named Billy, who was shot by one of the bad guys during a raid on some local insurgents. With the help of our local veternarian we were able to stabilize Billy in the ER and then get him to the operating room, where one of our surgeons was able to repair the damage inflicted to his heart and lungs by the bullet. After the surgery, Billy was placed on a flight to Germany were he will likely undergo more sugeries and a long rehab ... but he made it out alive and his team was very grateful for that.

Army working dogs are treated just like any other soldier in the Army. They have names, rank and social security numbers. They get promotions and can recieve the same awards and medals that other soldiers get during combat. These dogs are amazingly well trained and are a huge asset to our tactical teams when they go in to capture bad guys. Just last week, some of our special operations guys brought in a terrorist that tried to run during a local raid. Billy had ran this guy down and kept him pinned to the ground until the rest of the team caught up and arrested him.

While Billy was in the OR, we put out a call to the rest of the dog handlers on the compound. They all brought in their dogs and we started collecting blood from the healthy dogs to give to Billy in the OR since he was bleeding badly. It was quiet a scene in the ER with all these huge German Shepards and Labradors being put into beds, getting IVs and donating blood while their handlers tried to keep them calm. Never thought I'd be trying to save a dog's life in the ER but I guess there is a first time for everything. In the end it turned out well and was an experience I will never forget.


Two of the handlers trying to calm one of the dogs down while our lab techs draw blood from him.



Would not want to be one of the bad guys and come face to face with one of these dogs.



German Shepherd patiently waiting for his turn to donate blood.



This is Sergeant First Class Budge, our unit's Black Lab working dog. He donated blood as well.



Two of the working dogs waiting to donate blood for Billy.

Picture below is Billy after his surgery. He is still sedated and on the ventilator. We were packaging him up for his helicopter flight out of Iraq.

Day #72 - Happy Mother's Day!

Just wanted to give a shout out to all the Moms out there today. We love you and appreciate all that you do for us. Everyone keep Christen in your thoughts and prayers today, she is braving her second Mother's Day in a row by herself (last May I was in Ft. Sill Oklahoma). I am hoping she will take some time to relax today and maybe order in some dinner to enjoy once the kids have gone to bed. I wish I could be there for her, and I definitely am going to owe her big time over the next few years. So make the best of it sweetie ... maybe next year we can celebrate Mother's Day somewhere sandy and tropical ... just the two of us!

Oh, and I wanted to share this link cause I thought it was hilarious. This was sent to Christen by her friend Heather. Check it out ... http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=KihbjNWG5TFCuBE2hH0b8TExMDMxMDc0&referred_by=15545083-_3UQZ5x&p=naccra.