Good and Bad...

[DCJenn]

The Good news: our friend the Navy Psychiatrist returned safely from his tour in Iraq. We have another acquaintance who also recently returned safely.

The Bad news: we have two more friends who were recently sent: An Army peds pulmonologist and a general pediatrician.

My husband is now the only Army person left from his residency who has not yet had to go. So, I'm sure that the moment he's done with the fellowship, he'll go. But this is me, not thinking about it at the moment.

Jenn

[SueC]

I'm glad to hear your friends are back safely, that is scary that you have other friends that are over there now. I can't fathom how scary it must be for you with that possibility looming over your head...

[mommax3]

Jenn,

Here's hoping that the fellowship training will keep him stateside.....but I know there are no guarantees.

In one of the latest OB/Gyn practice bulletins DH got from ACOG, they profiled a couple of Army OB/Gyns who are in Iraq. One of them was an intern in DH's program when he was a fourth year. She finished residency last summer and was assigned to Ft. Hood, and was on her way to Iraq before she even had a chance to unpack in Killeen. Two little kids, and she was deployed for a year, straight out of residency. And her poor husband, in Killeen with two little ones, knowing no one!

I find myself giving thanks almost daily that we have made it through the past four years without DH having to deploy. All of the Army OB/Gyns we have known have been deployed at some point, and it is now starting in the Air Force, too.

Sally

[Rapunzel]

My biggest worry right now is that my husband will be sent to some place far from our family and, as soon as we buy a house or something he'll get shipped off overseas - leaving me and the kids alone and far away from any family support system. Not a happy thought. This is exactly what happend to an acquaintance of mine this last year - her husband finished his orthopaedic residency, they got orders to go to Colorado (far from any family), bought a house, and he immediatly got orders after that for Iraq (leaving her pregnant with their third child and far from family in their new home). That's a nightmare.

BTW: Why in the world are pediatricians and pediatric specialists needed in a warzone?? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Jennifer