CALIFORNIA!!!

So this past Wednesday I finished up with my week 13 class which made my corps school graduation finally feel official. I checked in with holding company because apparently there was a few more details I needed to get sorted out with admin. I was told I would be leaving that next day which was the 16th, but after talking with admin they told me I probably wouldn't be leaving till the following week. Ugh! Another week in San Antonio. The next day I had to meet with admin to try and get everything figured out but they told me to just come back on Friday which was the following day. So Friday I show up and get told that I'll most likely be heading out in a week. So I go back to my room, turn on a movie and relax. Around 11:30 I get a call from the guy in charge of my holding saying that they got my plane ticket and that I leave at 4:58! So I had to hurry and pack all my stuff up, get some papers signed, check out of the barracks, and get to the airport. Needless to say, I got everything done in time.

I arrived in San Diego, CA around 10:30pm and another guy that I was traveling with and I headed to the USO so we could catch a ride to Camp Pendleton. The van wasn't coming until 12:30am so we hung out until then. We rode up with some marines which needed to be dropped of up at the northern part of base, so we didn't end up getting dropped off until about 2:30ish. We checked into the hospital and had them sign off on our orders then headed across the street to the barracks and checked in with them as well. By the time we got to our room and got everything somewhat put away it was 3:30am. I collapsed on my bed and immediately fell asleep. Luckily we got here on a weekend so we didn't have to wake up early the next morning. I was able to sleep in till around 8:00. Didn't get much sleep, but it sure felt good.

From everyone I've talked to, life here seems pretty chill. On Tuesday we start up again, so that's when I'll find out what I'll be doing at the hospital. Yesterday, my friend Steph, who lives in San Diego, drove up and picked me up. It was nice hanging out again with a non military friend. Lol. We went to one of my favorite places to eat, Island Pasta. Its in Coronado and is favorite of mine that my brother and i discovered when I lived with him here for a summer almost 10 years ago. We went to a movie then went back to her apartment where I crashed on the couch. This morning she took me to a barber so I could get my haircut. Then we ate breakfast and headed to the beach which is one of my favorite places to be. I love the sand, the sun, and the sound of the ocean. We walked around for a little while and she brought me back. This base is so huge and things are so spread out, that I'm pretty much stuck in the barracks all the time. There is nothing close to me except the hospital and a gym. My next project is to find a way to buy a car so I can at least go to the grocery store. Lol.

Anyway, so far so good. I'll let y'all know what job I get in my next blog entry. Hope all is well.

Richard.

I'm a Corpsman!

I wanted to update everyone but being that I'm not really in the mood to write a long blog entry I'll make it short.

On Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 I graduated from Corps School. For those of you who don't know what a Navy Corpsman does let me inform you. We work in hospitals, on ships, on submarines, and on the battle field. We work with the Navy (duh), the Marines, and the Army. A corpsman works sick call, gives shots, draws blood, inserts IVs, assists in surgeries, prescribes medication, gives stitches, assists dentists, and much, much more. We make sure everyone is healthy, so they can do the job their being paid to do.

My job as a Corpsman will be working with the Marines. That could be in a combat situation, or in a clinic situation. I won't know until they call me up for deployment. All I know is that its my responsability to keep my Marines alive and healthy.

I was chosen for what they call the 13th week (only about 25 out of the 86 people I graduated with got chosen). It's a program that they are testing with a few of the graduating classes before they make it requirement for all classes. Basically it an extra week of class that's a lot more hands on. It's actually pretty great. I feel like this is what all of Corps School should have been like. Oh well.

In a little over a week I'll be heading to Camp Pendleton in California for the next four months. The first two months will be spend working in the Naval hospital on the Marine Corps base, and the second two months will be spent at FMTB (Field Medical Training Batallion) which will teach me how to take all the skills I've learned at Corps school and apply them in the field and in combat situations. Our instructors will be both Navy and Marines. It will be by far the most physically demanding part of my training. But I won't get to in depth with that as I'll be blogging about it in a couple months.

There's a cool poem that we as Corpsman like. It's called the "Corpsman's Prayer". Let me share it with you:

Grant me, oh Lord, for the coming events;
Enough knowledge to cope and some plain common sense.
Be at our side on those nightly patrols;
And be merciful judging our vulnerable souls.
Make my hands steady and as sure as a rock;
when the others go down with a wound or in shock.
Let me be close, when they bleed in the mud;
With a tourniquet handy to save precious blood.
Here in the jungle, the enemy near;
Even the corpsman can't offer much lightness and cheer.
Just help me, oh Lord, to save lives when I can;
Because even out there is merit in man.
If It's Your will, make casualties light;
And don't let any die in the murderous night.
These are my friends I'm trying to save;
They are frightened at times, but You know they are brave.
Let me not fail when they need so much;
But to help me serve with a compassionate touch.
Lord, I'm no hero -- my job is to heal;
And I want You to know Just how helpless I feel.
Bring us back safely to camp with dawn;
For too many of us are already gone.
Lord bless my friends If that's part of your plan;
And go with us tonight, when we go out again.

Author Unknown


I also wanted to share with you the Corpsman Pledge that we took during graduation:

I SOLEMNLY PLEDGE MYSELF BEFORE GOD
AND THESE WITNESSES
TO PRACTICE FAITHFULLY
ALL OF MY DUTIES AS A MEMBER OF
THE HOSPITAL CORPS.
I HOLD THE CARE OF THE SICK AND INJURED TO BE A
SACRED TRUST
AND WILL ASSIST THE MEDICAL OFFICER
WITH LOYALTY AND HONESTY.
I WILL NOT KNOWINGLY PERMIT HARM TO COME TO
ANY PATIENT.
I WILL NOT PARTAKE OF NOR ADMINISTER
ANY UNAUTHORIZED MEDICATION.
I WILL HOLD
ALL PERSONAL MATTERS
PERTAINING TO THE PRIVATE LIVES OF
PATIENTS IN STRICT CONFIDENCE.
I DEDICATE MY
HEART, MIND, AND STRENGTH
TO THE WORK BEFORE ME.
I SHALL DO ALL WITHIN MY POWER
TO SHOW IN MYSELF AN
EXAMPLE OF ALL THAT IS
HONORABLE AND GOOD
THROUGHOUT
MY NAVAL CAREER.


This is us taking the Oath


Me getting my certificate. I officially went from being "Seamen Kelly", to "Hospitalman Kelly".


Some good friends that I made here at Corps School. Most of them got orders to FMTB at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, but a couple of us got orders to Camp Pendleton in California. All of us are reservists.

Almost There!!!

Not a lot has happened since the last time I blogged. Early mornings, bad chow, marching, boring classes, and standing watch have consumed the majority of my time. This past couple weeks I've learned how to put in an NG tube (feeding tube), a urinary catheter, put in an IV, and take a blood sample. The first two were performed on mannequins, but the last two were performed on real people. My classmates to be exact. I was nervous about putting in an IV, but in the end it really wasn't hard at all. The worst part was letting someone put one in me. His hands were a little shaky, and he almost pulled it out a couple times, but seemed to do just fine. Taking blood was another story, I couldn't find a vein on my partner, so I ended up sticking him a couple times without any luck. When he was sticking me he pulled the needle out to early and blood started squirting everywhere. I looked like I had been shot. Now I just have a couple bruises on my arms.

This coming week is my last full week of class. The majority of my class will be graduating on Wednesday the 8th of February, but since me and a few others were chosen to do an extra week of clinicals, we will be graduating on either the 14th, or 15th of February. We're still not sure whether we'll be doing our week of clinicals here at sickcall, or down the road at Brooke Army Medical Center. Just like everything else, I'll probably find out the morning of what's going to happen. I also haven't found out where I'm going next. Will it be Camp Pendleton in California? Or Camp Lejeune in North Carolina? Who knows. I'm hoping all us reservists will go to the same place. It would be nice to go through FMTB (Field Medical Training Battalion) with some familiar faces. Part of me wants to go to California because I know people out there, but another part of me wants to go to NC because the school starts sooner which would get me home sooner. Oh well, I'll probably find out about that the day of graduation too.

A week ago I ran a 5k with some friends. It was to raise money for an organization called Operation Comfort which is a non-profit organization founded to support the needs of wounded service members recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center. It was a lot of fun and I actually beat my previous best time.


I'm getting excited for my graduation. A couple days ago I had to bring my uniforms in so they could sew my new corpsman patches on them. Now I feel like I've actually accomplished something. There aren't a lot of things in life that I've stuck with. I tend to run away when things get difficult. I'm proud of myself for doing this, and I think in the end it's making me a better person. It hasn't been easy, and it hasn't been fun, but I wake up every morning and get dressed, go to class and do what I need to do.

Thank You so much for the encouraging e-mails. It really means a lot to know I have friends and family back home who are thinking about me.

SN (soon to be HN) Kelly

Christmas Break and Beyond

Christmas break is officially over and this past week was my first week back in class. I started the Nursing portion of school on Wednesday and so far its been really easy. We've learned how to wash our hands and talk to people politely - lol. We've already had two tests and I did well on both.

Adjusting back to military life after a couple weeks of civilian life has been pretty good. I'm back in the routine of early mornings, terrible food, marching and uniforms. This week has been a busy week with many long days. Tuesday morning started with drug screening (we thought we'd have a free day since class didn't start until Wednesday). I ended up standing in line from 5:30am to 11am!!! Then we waited around for everyone else to finish. We cleaned the barracks and waited some more... Finally we were set free around 4pm. Some people were still waiting in line for drug testing at 9pm that night!!! I don't think they planned very well. Like I said before, we started classes on Wednesday, so that's pretty much all we did that day. Thursday I had to wake up at 4am so I could go through a medical screening that half our class participated in. Then I had duty muster at 6:15am which lasted about an hour. Then I ate and went to class. I ended up having duty that night from 9pm to 11pm, so I didn't get to bed till late. That was a VERY long day. Friday ended up being an easy day. All we did was go over what we had learned the day before and then we tested on it.

I love weekends, especially when I don't have duty. I've been relaxing all week and loving it!


On a side note, my Grandma died this morning. I woke up to an e-mail from my mom making me aware of it. He was an amazing woman, and an awesome Grandma. She will be missed. Unfortunately I can't make it to her funeral because I can't take time off school. It'll be a difficult week not being there for my family, and not having that same support as I grieve.