25 DEC 2007 Bahu dores

"Christmas in Iraq came bright and clear. I'm back on my bike after a short break and trucked in today. Like a bad, bad safety pup I forgot my helmet, but wore my green tuke (The PX was all out of regulation black). The morning started full of cheer. I wrote a letter to my sister, and that made me think how lucky I was to have such wonderful people in my life. I had been so cynical and disappointed about spending Christmas here that when the day actually arrived, it felt far better than I had imagined.

There were several maintenance operations to do, so I signed on for two. After changing into scrubs, I played Santa's elf. A friend's wife had sent me his gift in the mail a few weeks ago, so I placed it in his stocking, and asked the chief of the OR to direct him to the stocking when he came in. After my improvised Christmas device had been set, I hit OR 4 to wash out burns and shrapnel wounds on all five of a man's extremities. Once his wounds were dressed, I switched to OR 1 where Colorectal Surgeon J. and I reconnected a man's intestines then washed the stumps where his legs used to be. Every time we moved him, we found more wounds so I ended up stripping burned skin off his back, cleaning the wound over a broken bone on his right arm, and washing a small puncture on his right. He did well.

After surgery, I found that my elf efforts had paid off, and my buddy was quite surprised. It was good to be a part of that. It helped make the day seem a little like Christmas."
Made a Difference for that one: