Still alive...not really kickin'

Many people have been asking if I still use my blog...and yes, I do. I admit that I have completely neglected it, but cut me some slack, my life is chaos. So just a quick update.

I finished up my two months in Austin, then packed up my life in Shera and headed over to Houston, where I have been for the last four weeks. I'm working at St. Joseph's Hospital, which isn't that busy; plus, we have 13 residents here, so there hasn't been much to do. Actually, I drain a lot of pus. And the other day I amputated someone's leg.

In any case, St. Joe's is a rotation that we had even before the storm, so they have four 1-bedroom apartments that they put us up in. Unfortunately, since there are so many of us up here, we are doubled up, meaning that I am sleeping on an air mattress. Don't worry, it's a really comfortable air mattress, so I don't mind. I am living with one of the third year residents, which has been fun (shout out to Spogmai and Aaron!).

Let's see...oh yes, I am officially homeless now. Since my apartment has been condemned, I had to move all my stuff out of it. I guess I could have kept it there for a while, but I was starting to get worried about it getting moldy (it was), stolen (it wasn't), or torn down (not yet). I was planning on getting my friends to help me move, but then I remembered how much everyone hates moving people, and I decided to just fork out the cash and pay some moving men to do it. And it was totally worth it. I sat on the floor and munched on crackers whilst they did all the work. So now everything I own is either in the apartment in Houston that I'm in, or in storage in Texas City. My wonderful supportive friends have pointed out, "see, Casey, you can either have a car or a home, not both." Awesome.

My schedule has been a little hectic, as I have only had three days off the entire month. I was on call Christmas Eve, and at 2 AM on Christmas Day I was doing CPR on a patient who ended up dying. Fortunately, I was able to do a little something fun on Christmas, and my roommate and I went and hung out with her boyfriend and his mom in Galveston. Then last night we went to a restaraunt in Houston that is inside an aquarium, which was cool. I am on call again today though, ick.

I have been a little concerned about myself lately though. I think I am just so emotionally drained and need a break. Not that work is that difficult, and I know I haven't had the typical intern year, but it has been very stressful moving every month around the state of Texas, getting used to a different hospital every month, and not knowing if I'll have a job in the next few months (more on that below). I have also been homesick the last week, which has been hard. The good news is that I am coming home on New Year's Eve, and I can't wait!!! I'm going to frolic in the snow, eat Graeter's ice cream, and sleep a lot. Oh yeah, and study for the ABSITE exam.

As for work, the hospital in Galveston is supposed to open January 5. Supposedly the cultures have been negative for mold in the operating rooms the last couple weeks, but I have still heard some recommendations not to drink the water. So most of us are going back to UTMB for the month of January. I'm going to be staying with a friend for a while until I'm sure the hospital is going to stay open, because I don't want to get stuck in a lease and have the hospital close again. There is also some concern that the Residency Review Committee is going to come visit us. If they come and see that we are not getting our case numbers (some of the upper levels are not), that we're being moved around the state (we are), that the faculty are leaving and getting fired (they are), and that the program isn't providing us with an education (it's not), then they have the right to suspend the residency (which is what happened to Tulane). That means that we'll all become what's called "orphan residents" and have to find other programs. Apparently UTMB is still interviewing for surgery interns for next year, so I think the RRC is going to have to make a decision before Match Day. We'll see.

Everything in my life is up in the air right now. But I have come to accept that uncertainty is the way it's going to be for a while.

ATX and Xterra, y'all

Wow, it has been a while since I updated. I guess there just hasn't been many developments as far as the hurricane, so I guess I'll just go back to my normal posts. Sorry for the disappointment.

So, after the hurricane I came back to Austin and lived in a private dorm for a month (see below). I was doing my pediatric surgery rotation at Dell Children's Hopsital, which was a good experience. Everyone was nice and friendly and the hospital is brand new.

Well toward the end of the month, we got word that we were being kicked out of the dorm. Ok, I guess not officially kicked out, but basically they said we had to start paying $880 per month (not including meals) or we had to leave. Awesome. The only problem is that we don't know how long we're going to be in Austin, so we weren't able to sign a lease for an apartment, and I refused to pay almost 900 bucks a month to live in a crappy little dorm room.

To make a long story short, myself and one other resident scrounged around for some housing and a nice family in Kyle, Texas (about 25 miles south of Austin) offered to take us in in their extra room. So the day before Halloween we made the move to Kyle, and now we're living together in a spare room with two twin beds. I have also been moved to Brackenridge Hospital, which is the busy county hospital in Austin. So far it has been chaos, but I've already done 10 cases within my first week, which is pretty good for an intern.

I did find out a few days ago that I'm going to be moved to St. Joseph's Hospital in Houston for the month of December. I guess I'm moving progressively closer to Galveston, although I'm not exactly sure when I'll get back there for good. It all kind of depends on how many surgery floors and patients are up and running. Although we found out yesterday that all the operating rooms had to be re-closed because the fungus counts were too high in the ventilation systems. Surprise. And my apartment in Galveston, as of right now, is not being restored, so I will have to eventually get all my stuff out of it and start looking for a new place to live.

The most exciting thing in my life recently has been the purchase of my new car (name TBA.) I'm pretty pumped, especially since I have been sans car for almost 4 months. It's nice to own something. And I feel like atleast this part of my life is coming together at last. Now if only my job and living situation were a little more permanent.

Today I was able have lunch with my good bud Jamie and her fiance Michael, who lives in Colorado but who is actually from Austin. A random but enjoyable meeting. See picture above. I'm not sure if the big hair, SUV, and Texas driver's license makes me an official Texan or not. But I am ashamed to admit that I have caught myself saying "y'all!" Oh boy.

Oh, another exciting thing was my recent armadillo sighting. Unfortunately, there was a dog on the hiking trail behind me so he scared the little critter away from me and my camera, but I was pretty pumped that I got to see my most favoritest animal in the wild. Now if only I could have one as a pet, my life would be complete.

Hurricane Ike Update #30

Friday, October 3, 2008, 9:14pm

They have put most of the students up in the University of Texas dorms, and most of the residents, if they have no other options, are in a private dorm. These are some pictures of my dorm room/crappy hotel room that will be my home for the next 8+ weeks. Atleast I have my own bathroom, and I have an extra bed for visitors! They give me one meal per day at the dorm, and then I get two meals per day at the hospital, plus money for when I'm on call. Not a bad deal.

I also finally got my address and mailbox, so I have forwarded my mail. This also means that anyone who wants to provide some resources for the surgery residents in my program, please feel free to send things to this address, and I can distribute them as needed:

Casey Boyd, UTMB
2021 Guadalupe Street
Dobie Center, room 2503C
Austin, Texas, 78705

I personally don't need anything, but there are many, many other residents in my program that were no so lucky (see previous posts). Anything that can be given will be appreciated--I think giftcards would be best (Target, Home Depot, Walmart, Kroger (all on the island), Bed, Bath, and Beyond, etc).

Please let me know if there are any questions. :) Thanks to everyone who keeps reading these posts!!!!!! Your support means the world to us "refugees!"

Hurricane Ike Update #29

Friday, October 3, 2008, 8:53pm

Ok, so I am finally getting around to posting these pictures from Galveston from last week. I had to go back briefly to get some stuff for working and living in Austin, so of course I tried to capture the feel of the island at this point in time. And of course, once again, I messed up the order of the pictures, so I'm just going to go through each one and explain.

1. There are Papa John's and Verizon wireless trailers everywhere! The Verizon trailers were offering one free phone call per person and free cell phone chargers. I think I saw more Verizon trailers than Red Cross trailers. Interesting.

2. Everyone has just thrown out the nasty trash and belongings from their homes. This is a picture looking out from under the covered parking area of my apartment. There was just a bunch of trash, furniture, and toys lying on the ground.

3. Even though Wendy's had some damage, they were still open for business! I was really excited that I was able to get some 99 cent chicken nuggets and a can of Dr. Pepper (no ice available).

4. Despite having no power or water in a good portion of the island, activity was starting to pick up. I saw a bunch of signs like this one, including one that I didn't get a picture of that said "BOIs are survivors--kiss our ass, Ike!" (Sidenote: taking pictures while driving is tricky and highly dangerous). Oh yeah, and a "BOI" is a person that was "born on the island."

5. I'm anticipating Home Depot getting a lot of business in the next couple months!

6. I think this was the saddest part, and I cannot express how devastating it felt to drive through the streets of Galveston. Everyone has placed the entire contents of their homes in big piles on the street, waiting to be picked up by the trash trucks. The people are then sitting on their porches. In addition, because everything is rotting--furniture, carpet, cattle--the entire island smells.

7. This is one of the Murdock's piers.

8. This is the other one of the Murdock's piers.

9. You will be happy to know that The Spot survived the hurricane, and there were plenty of people enjoying the outside bar and eating area that The Spot has to offer.

10. This was also really sad--someone had placed this muddy stuffed bunny on a ledge outside my apartment. I tried to capture the stark contrast between what used to provide comfort, and now is being tossed out on the streets in light of the hurricane. Hurricane Ike has changed everything about people's lives.

11. I was also very excited that Casey's Seafood Cafe came through relatively unscathed. Not that I love seafood that much, but how sad would that be if my namesake was destroyed! Symbolic? Perhaps.

12. This is the Flagship Hotel, which I'm sure everyone has seen on the news. If you go back and look at my photos and video, you can see the Flagship at the very beginning of the storm.

13. This is actually the church that I attended while in Galveston. It was nice to see it up and running despite the hurricane.

14. There is traffic everywhere on the island, mostly because there are few functioning stoplights, and a lot of debris. They are diverting everyone onto the sidestreets, and the National Guard is directing traffic, which, of course, is very helpful (sarcasm).

I really felt a strange contrast as I was driving around the island. The business part of the island is starting to pick up--some traffic lights, some restaraunts, some grocery stores are working. But then as I headed to the residential areas of the island, that's where the devastation sets in. How do you go about picking up your life after this? And,

How is this going to affect the tourism on the island (6 million tourists per year)?
How is this going to affect the economy of the island?
What about the residency programs--are any medical students going to interview here after the hospital has flooded and the island has been ravaged by a hurricane?
Are any changes going to be made in the evacuation protocol?

A few things to ponder.

Hurricane Ike Update #28

Wednesday, September 24, 2008, 10:31pm EST

So, I have received some requests for updates, but I really don't have much to say right now.

I'm still in Ohio, and I'm continuing to hear terrible, horrible, no good, very bad stories from my fellow residents about their homes.

I also found out that I'm going to be doing an 8 week rotation at Dell Children's Hospital in Austin, starting this Monday. I'm planning on flying back this weekend and driving over to Galveston to get some stuff. They are finally letting people back on the island, but with many warnings--mosquitos, snakes, and rotting cattle carcasses are everywhere. Electricity, sewage systems, and running water are nowhere. I'm planning on taking some more pictures this weekend when I head back to G-town.

In addition, I recently found out that I'm going to be moving into the University of Texas dorms while I'm in Austin (think tv movie: "Dr. Casey Does College." They have promised me a private room, air conditioning, tv with cable, coin laundry, bus pass, recreation center pass, and $8 per diem to eat dorm food (plus two meals a day at the hospital). My dad wants me to meet Colt McCoy, but I'd rather meet Aaron Piersol. :)

Sounds like a guaranteed adventure...

Hurricane Ike Update #27

Friday, September 19, 2008, 11:58am

A few more pictures of the causeway from Galveston Island to the mainland. It's crazy--you're driving down the street, and there's a yacht, in the middle of the road! Actually, dozens of yachts. Everything got pushed/thrown up onto the causeway with the flooding and the swells. Not sure how they're going to get all those off there...

As for me, I'm still in Ohio, with tentative plans to start in Austin next Monday. They are still working on housing for us, and I still have to book a flight back to Texas, and I still have to get my work stuff from Galveston. Phew! They are only letting E1 and E2 personnel onto the island, so it's a good thing I kept my E1 ID badge.

Another personal story from one of my fellow residents...

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I hate to be the bearer of bad news...but the description your friend gave is accurate. I had the opportunity to see my own house today and it is far worse than I could have imagined!!! I definitely lost just about everything I own...especially because the only thing that I took with me was about 5 days worth of clothes. I don't even know where to begin. I hope you all are doing OK.

Hurricane Ike Update #26

Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 2:24pm

They are slowly letting people onto the island, (although I think it is only if you beg and show your UTMB ID) and people are finally getting to see their homes, or what is left of them. But I wanted to share a few personal stories that I have received (names removed) from my fellow surgery residents. I hope reading these makes the destruction a little more personal...

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My Galveston visit:
I drove to the island today. The destruction is heart breaking.

I found my condo completely destroyed. I got almost 4 feet of water inside my house (up to kitchen counter). Furniture floated during the raised waters. Everything was disarranged beyond imagination. The dirty water smell and heavy air hit my face when I walked in. I've never been in so much shock.

I was not ready for so much damage (and I know no one is). While having a look I though I can only save the most important things and those that are not so important but meaningful. At least I was able to recovered most of my surgery text books and some clothing. My place will need complete reconstruction.

At least I am safe, healthy, have a place to stay, and a residency to continue with life.

MY advise for those who live in Galveston: GO NOW and assess your property or valuables. IF something can be safe from the mud, water and moisture, now is the time. The roads are clean to drive. Be safe, we got hit by another car on Broadway (even before I got to my place!). The check point to get into the island will ask for drivers license, you can also show UTMB ID. Remember the curfew - 6am to 6pm.

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I just got a call from a friend that was able to get on the island yesterday and he went by our house in Fish Village. He wasn't able to get inside but he said the water line was above his head. We had just bought this house and completely redid it ourselves. My husband had just refinished all the wood floors and repainted all the rooms and ceilings. He had just completed the total gutting of the bathroom and rebuilding of it. He had just built a wood fence and gate that is completely demolished. With the water line being where it is means that everything we own was under water and destroyed. Our friend said it smelled like filth and death. No amount of insurance can replace what we have lost. We are just trying to stay positive and remember what we do have. All of you are in my prayers.

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Another resident told me yesterday that his home had 30 inches of standing water in it.

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Another resident told me their entire garage was flooded and their home had about a foot of water in it. Many items were damaged, including their hardwood floors, furniture, and kitchen appliances.

**********

I am still in Ohio (where many people's homes had damage and many are still out of power). More to come.

Hurricane Ike Update #25

Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 11:38pm

HI everyone,

I still have a few more pictures to upload, so I will do that soon.

In addition, I have continued to hear from other residents regarding their homes, condos, and apartments on the island, and the tales they have about the destruction are just heart-wrenching. Many have several feet of standing water in their homes, with complete destruction of their furniture and other belongings. They are trying to salvage their valuables and head out, and then are waiting for their places to get fixed by their landlord, or destroyed.

As far as our residency, we received news today that we are being placed at other hospitals until atleast November. About 12 of the general surgery residents will be at St. Joseph's Hospital in Houston, while the other 8 will be at Seton Hospital in Austin (I'm in the latter group). The program directors and coordinators are working on finding housing for us in those cities. Apparently it's going to be more than 2-4 weeks before UTMB is up and running and fully functioning.

***Many of you have expressed interest in sending things to us down in Galveston, and I have decided that I'm going to start some "resident relief efforts" to help the residents whose places got damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Ike (and by residents, I mean the surgery residents in my program). I have already contacted all the residents, and they are going to send me any specific needs that they may have. I will then put up an address for people to send things to, once we get established (it may be either Houston or Austin, since no one will be in Galveston for a while), and I will also email it out to everyone I know. We're not expecting anyone to send furniture or anything major, but it seems like most people are going to need simple things like kitchen gadgets, maybe even some gift cards, or food. I know we're doctors, but the idea of starting your life over from scratch is a scary prospect...

So I hope everyone keeps reading this blog and can help us out in whatever way possible! More info when I have it. Thanks a million!!!!!! :)

Hurricane Ike Update #24

Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 12:50am EST

Hi everyone! I made it safe and sound back to Ohio, and man am I glad to be out of that dark, hot, stinky hospital! I was able to get some pictures of some of the island today, but, since we were on foot, we were unable to venture too far down the seawall.

It's pretty impressive how trashed the island is. The west end definitely got the worst of it, as it is without the 18 foot seawall to protect it. Of course the seawall itself got a huge blast, with Hooters, Murdocks, and the Balinese Room completely destroyed (these are the pics that are usually featured on the news).

The biggest thing that impressed me is just how much debris there is. I mean, literally, there are trees and trash and brush everywhere. I'm not sure how they're going to clean it all up, nor do I know where they are going to put it all. It's hard to maneuver through the streets because of all of it.

On a positive note, I'm going to try to put together some relief effort for the UTMB residents that had homes and apartments destroyed by the hurricane. A lot of you have asked where to send things and what to send. So I'm going to poll the residents to see what/if people need things, and then we'll start up the relief. Until then, hold off sending anything because I don't know what we need, nor do I think the USPS will be up and running in Galveston anytime soon!

We're still waiting on more information regarding our residency training, but for now, those of us that were held hostage/essential personnel at UTMB are off the hook, and I'm planning on enjoying a real shower and a real bed and some air conditioning! :)

Hurricane Ike Update #23

Monday, Septemer 15, 2008, 7:27am

Good morning! Just wanted to post a few pictures before trying to escape.

DMAT has officially taken over and are triaging the patients. Even the ER faculty have stepped back. There still aren't that many patients in the ER anyway.

Last night we all crammed into Dr. Mileski's air conditioning suite and watched Moby Dick. I don't know if anyone was paying attention to the movie, but it was a nice relaxing, air conditioned end to a crazy 84.5 hours. Notice how everyone is so happy!

More pictures later after we leave the hospital and drive around town...

Hurricane Ike Update #22

No new news as of right now. However, I have potentially ruined my phone, which could be annoying during travel tomorrow. I was "showering" this evening (and by that I mean I dumped a gallon of distilled water over my head and used some bathgel to suds up my hair), and as I was leaning over the shower stall, my phone fell out of my pocket. Well, I didn't notice and I continued to dump water for a while. I'm trying to dry it out as much as possible, but it is having progressively less function each time I try to turn it on. The other residents have told me to stop bothering it, so I'll try again in the morning.

I guess if all I lose in this disaster is a phone, that's not too bad.

Hurricane Ike Update #21

Ok, so here's what I know about the area (sorry, no pictures, just what the residents have told me):

49th and Q--Several feet of water, so houses or apartments on the ground floor have been flooded. Houses on stilts or up some steps are ok.

Villa Marina (Ferry Road)--about 3+ feet of standing water was in the apartments on the first floor, with all furniture and belongings destroyed. The resident who lives here described it as looking like "everything just got swirled around." She has already applied for FEMA aid.

19th and Post-office--about 7 feet of standing water was also in these condos and apartments. The water was soaking into the walls and making a creepy gurgling noise! The strand area was still flooded as of yesterday afternoon, and there was also a huge house fire within the flooded area, which was unable to be extinguished for several hours.

Port Au Prince--second floor apartments were fine. Can't comment on the first floor apartments.

Sealy and 7th--no flooding on the first floor, but severe wind damage, with a broken window (and therefore lots of rain damage), screen door torn off, porch destroyed, debris covering the driveway).

12th and Market (me)--the water level was about 4-5 feet, so I can only imagine what happened for first floor apartments. The second floor, as we saw earlier, was ok.

That is honestly all I know about housing on the island. I will get more pictures of the island before I leave tomorrow, so stay tuned! :)

Hurricane Ike Update #20

Sunday, September 14, 2008, 7:22pm

So, I don't have any pictures for this post, but if I did, it would be of all of us with huge grins on our faces and doing happy dances!

Why, you might ask? They are releasing us tomorrow morning!!! Well, that being said, it is because the hospital is shutting down. All healthcare activities are being shut down for a minimum of 2 weeks, and they are releasing all of us tomorrow. The DMAT people have taken over the ER, so once all those people are taken care of, everything will be shut down and have to be cleaned, de-molded, dried out, etc.

What am I doing, you might ask? Well one of other residents and I are heading to Dallas tomorrow (that is, if the car double-parked behind her moves). Then I'm getting on the soonest/cheapest flight I can to Columbus, Ohio for a two week vacation! Dr. Mileski has told us all to get one way flights and just wait to hear from them as far as when to come back. I think I might use this time at home to go car-shopping. He has also assured us that this will not affect our residency time, graduation date, etc. All five of us surgery prisoners/residents are getting out of town!

I'm going to post again in a minute about the other residents' homes...

Hurricane Ike Update #19

Sunday, September 14, 2008, 2:44pm

"Air freshener is not going to be the cure for this place."

Haha, I decided to make that the quote for this post, since the hospital reeks! We tried to search through some cleaning supplies for some bleach or air freshener, but we didn't have much luck except some odor remover we found at the nurses' station.

We are all getting frustrated. This is no longer a "fun camping trip." And it's true that "there's nothing we can do about it," but that just makes it all the more frustrating. We are allowed to be frustrated. People in the outside world don't know what it's like in here. It stinks. Literally.

I want to make it clear to everyone reading this that I am not in a position to go around and check out specific addresses. If I start to do that, I will never hear the end of it. And besides, we are not allowed to be gone long from the hospital, and I don't have a car anyway. Later on tonight I will comment on the four locations where the other surgery residents live, and the rest can be extrapolated.

I'm sorry this is such a crabby post. But, I'm trying to post the honest truth about what's going on in here. And this is it.

Hurricane Ike Update #18

Sunday, September 14, 2008, 10:51 am

So, the other residents and I decided to venture out individually to our homes, then we're going to reconvene after lunch to walk around the island some. Sorry for the delay in island damage pictures, and the ones I did upload are not in order, since I had to upload so many.

As for my apartment, I have minimal damage. You can see in some of the pictures above that there was quite a few trees blown down and debris. You can also see the water level on the side of my apartment building, and I live on the second floor, with the Xs on the sliding glass door. I had to step over a lot of debris to get up the stairs to my apartment. I did have some water come in under the front door, likely due the "wind-drive rain," but luckily my rug stopped most of it, and none of the water got on my carpet. I think my sliding glass door came off it's track as well, since some of the blinds got knocked down. The parking area of my apartment is nasty and covered in mud as well. While I was there I did snag some more clothes and some canned food. I didn't have the energy to tackle the refridgerator and whatever is growing inside of it...(by the way, I am kind of annoyed that at some point I'm going to have to make my way to the grocery store and restock my entire refridgerator--condiments and all).

Outside the hospital is mostly just wet, muddy, and covered in debris. You can see a huge tree blocking the sidewalk I usually take to work!

Apparently they are also bringing in some De-mat people--I don't know what that stands for, but apparently they are like mobile healthcare people, that set up tents and can take some of the pressure off the ER.

I also wanted to comment on some of the feelings of the residents at this time. One, regarding the people coming to the hospital for help: it's a little frustrating. When I went down to the ER for the first time yesterday, I was just overwhelmed with feelings of annoyance, and almost anger. I mean, these people had the opportunity to leave the island, even the transportation was provided for them, and they refused. There have even been some people bringing their children with them to the ER. You can endanger your own life, but don't endanger your children's lives just because you're stubborn. I mean, these injuries could have been prevented.

Also, we're not really sure what we're doing here, as far as us surgery residents. Like I mentioned before, we're not going to do surgery and we're not going to suture up any lacerations...so we're just waiting around in this hot, stinky, dark hospital. We are in no way capable of taking care of patients at UTMB at this point, except for some minor cuts and scrapes, so why are they making us stay? To quote George Costanza, "the residents are getting frustrated!!!"

Although I have to say once again thank you a million times over for everyone who is posting and calling and texting and sending their thoughts and prayers. Every post I get I share with the other surgery residents, and it brings us relief daily to know that we are not forgotten. I feel truly blessed to--literally--have people all over the country thinking about and praying for us. I especially feel blessed that my apartment is still standing and livable. I'm afraid that some of the other residents may not be so lucky, and I may have a couple new roommates for a while if worse comes to worse...

Hurricane Ike Update #17

Sunday, September 14, 2008, 9:43 am

Still sitting in the dark. The emergency generators are working, but our call rooms are still in the dark. We have requested some lanterns for our room, so we have to go pick them up from the Command Center later today.

This picture is of a group of us eating breakfast in the TDC cafeteria. They are starting to get creative with the meals--stale biscuits + lunch meat + cheese slices=biscuit breakfast sandwich! Add some cold gravy, and there ya go.

Supposedly we are going to get some port-a-pottys, portable showers, and a portable kitchen today. They are saying that we're going to be in emergency mode through this week, although they say that we are going to get some relief in the next couple dys, but we're not anticipating any surgery replacements.

They have also established an employee health center, where people can go for basic things, blood pressure meds, coughs, colds, and also psychiatry.

They're letting us out today to check out our homes, so some of us are going to venture out to check out our places and also the seawall.

So far I don't think anything can be sent here. They are not letting anyone on the island, including the postal service. I will let everyone know when I know where to send things.

Off to check out the island--more pics to come.

Hurricane Ike Update #16

Saturday, September 13, 2008, 11:03pm

So, we ventured down to the first floor today, and there was standing water everywhere on the first floor of the hospital (see pictures). It's nasty. We even tried to escape out to the courtyard to check out the destruction, but we got yelled at. Everyone wants to get out and check out their homes and try to minimize the water damage, but Galveston is still under curfew and they are not letting anyone leave the hospital. One of my fellow residents snuck out to visit her apartment, which, unfortunately, had quite a bit of damage, with water lines at 3 feet and her furniture destroyed and all over the place. Apparently my street flooded up to 7 feet high, but since I'm on the second floor, I'm hoping there was minimal damage. However, a good portion of the island is still flooded, including the west end, and the strand (Historic District). I know there was about 15 feet of standing water at some point in the strand. The fires are still continuing. The only people that are being allowed to drive onto the island are emergency personnel.

So far there have been about 16 patients in the ER, still nothing surgical. However, since we have no running water, minimal power, and no surgical suites, we are fixing people up and sending them to other facilites. Honestly, we are in no way capable of handling patients at this point. The search and rescue helicopters are taking people directly to the mainland for treatment. They have found only a few dead so far on Galveston Island, but there have been a couple apartment buildings that collapsed, and there hasn't been much investigation into them yet. There have also been 22 (I think) found dead on Bolivar Island so far; they got hit pretty hard as well. Even if patients do need surgical intervention, we have been instructed that we are unable to do surgery on them, and we are not even going to be suturing closed lacerations due to the high risk of infection from the nasty bay water.

The hospital is starting to stink....big time. The sewage water is still in the basement, combined with the heat, toilets full of poop, and sweaty personnel...it's gross.

As far as being relieved....one of the residents had a discussion with some hospital administrators today, and they said that they are expecting to use the same staff until Thursday. The thing is, no one is being allowed to come onto the island, and even if SOMEHOW they recruited some surgery residents to get back on the island, they are going to have to deal with their own homes and property damage. It is starting to look grim as far as getting out of here anytime soon.

In addition, there are several attendings that are predicting it's going to be weeks before the hospital is up and running again. They have to come in and clean out all the flooding, and everything in the Operating Rooms has to be tested (since it got all wet and had to be evacuated), which could take a long time with 26 ORs. We have gotten no word as to what we're going to be doing (as far as residency) until then.

Thanks again for all the comments. I can't believe my blog has gotten around the country! I only hope that my blog can provide some education for everyone in the "outside world."

Oh, I know a lot of people have asked me about specific doctors and homes here on the island. Honestly, I cannot comment on these right now. I have not been out of the hospital, and if I am allowed to leave at some point, it will be to go home and sort out my own business and get more supplies, and come back. But, once everything has settled down, I do plan on riding my bike around the island and taking lots of pictures of the destruction.

If anyone has any specific questions, please post them, and I will do my best to answer in my next blogging.

More tomorrow.

Hurricane Ike Update #15

Saturday, September 13, 2008, 4:24 pm

Sorry for the delay in posting--I'm sure all my readers must be in suspense! Heehee, just kidding. I'll try to give some updates:

Facilities--We are still out of power. In addition, overnight about half the generators broke, so the ER and a good portion of other buildings were out of power. John Sealy Towers still have generator function. I just woke up from a nap, and it seems like all the generators are now functioning. The elevators still aren't working, and I tell ya, I'm getting really tired of taking the stairs! Some of the nurses on the 8th floor rigged up a TV with some emergency power, so earlier today we all went and gathered around it (see picture), but most all the reports were about Houston, because no one can get into Galveston yet. The basement is still flooded, and a lot of it is sewage, since the city drains drain to the bay, and everything got backed up from there. Eww. There are several broken windows and some water damage, and I think one of the buildings caught on fire, but I'm not 100% sure. Oh yeah, an we don't have any running water, so toilets are a prime comodity (if you catch my drift), and showers are an impossibility. Add that to the no air conditioning (and the sewage smell), and you can imagine we're in for a ride...

Patients--we have started to get a slow trickle of patients as people are able to make their way to the hospital. So far nothing surgical, a lot of bumps and bruises. When the ER generator was out, they had to temporarily move the ER to the Surgical ICU (see above), but with the return of the generator, it' back to it's normal location. There are many helicopters going in and out, with search and rescue as their first priority.

Food--so, this is becomming an issue. They still don't know how long we're going to be here, so they are rationing the food. That makes me cranky! Good thing we brought some snacks. They have some bottled water and big gallon jugs, but people are only being allowed 1 bottle at a time.

The island--so far we know very little about what the rest of the island looks like. The streets outside the hospital (except for Harborside, which has already drained) are still underwater, and we've not been allowed outside. I guess there were quite a few house fires, but actually, news crews have not been able to even get on the island to document what the damage is. And of course the firefighters and rescue teams are having a hard time getting around the island as well. I have taken a few pictures from the ambulance bay--notice the shrimp boat up on the dock!

Us--so we finally got a picture of our surgery team--that's us outside the ER with our chief trauma surgeon and fearless leader, Dr. Mileski. Everyone's spirits are pretty much up, although I have to admit, I am so sweaty and tired and dehydrated, but am afraid to drink too much for fear of not having anyplace to pee. I also didn't get much sleep last night, because, as I realized, it's hard to sleep when you don't know if you're going to have a place to live. I did in fact call in to CNN early this morning, about 4:30am central time. Apparently I was on live, so who knows how many people heard me! Kind of fun.

I'm glad to be back in touch. I know this blog keeps everyone else informed, but it is also good for my own sanity in keeping in touch with the outside world.

I'll try to post more after dinner. Thanks for the happy thoughts and prayers, everyone!