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