Hello, from the USNS Mercy! Here are two very different pictures of me but I’m smiling in both, I swear! The left is me eating cake on 4/1, a day before my 40th birthday and the day of the Chief’s establishment/birthday. My birthday was much more wine-free than I would have liked but it will be made up for at some point. On the right is from today when I decannulated a trach, aka pulled it out. It was not really a big deal but PPE is a big deal these days so I was protected!
Things have been slow, but this is a good thing! That is, we’re here to be emergency back-up and LA has it under control. I am a little bored and wish I were doing more but since elective surgeries are a no-go until at least 1 June throughout DoD, I wouldn’t be doing a lot more back at home. So, instead, I eat. Above are a few meals that I’ve had. A little lacking on the fresh veggies but tasty. Bonus: no dishes to clean!
So, how do I keep from looking like James Garretson in Tiger King? Exercise! I’ve run a 5K almost every day and I’ve also done a good number of yoga sessions with the urologist. She’s the only other female surgeon so we call it the Ladies of DSS meeting, usually at 10 am.
I also avoid the ship’s store, which sells unhealthy snacks as shown below:
They are also not good breath friendly, which is tough when we are supposed to wear masks. We are following the CDC guidelines, meaning cloth masks which we are pretty sure do next to nothing. But we are an organization of rule-followers so there’s that-
I have also run the ramps:
I have also run outside, where I sometimes see my friends, mask-free!
We keep a running casualty report. It usually involves the toilets/head:
The galley has machines with bossy signs, some inscrutable and some obvious:
We also stuffed plastic eggs for Easter. The eggs were provided by the USO- thank you!
View from the brow- we are very close to land!
My new favorite painting:
Portmanteau Suitcase 