Update

Yes, I am still around! I've just been busy. Went to Dallas for the HHS Training Summit on April 3rd, and got back on April 8th. And I hit the ground running ever since! I worked my day job on the 9th, and then worked opening day for the Sacramento Rivercats (I work as an EMT there during baseball season). Worked the ballpark Friday night, worked in Salinas on Saturday, then back to the ballpark Sunday... then Monday, it was back to work at the day job again! And this week, I got to pack up my cubicle (Its amazing the crap I have accumulated at work in 2.5 years), as we are moving people around in the building. Me? I am moving 3 cubes over to the west... Along with packing, we were interviewing students this week for 3 positions. Whew!

Going back to the training summit, I think I learned more at this summit than the ones from 2004-2008. 2003 was a big learning curve for me (First National Disaster Medical Service (NDMS) conference I attended), but this one... wow! Advanced airway management, ultrasound technique, providing medical on trains during evacuations, and more. Suffice it to say I learned A LOT. This was not a "kick-back" conference by any means. It also reinforced my belief that I have chosen the right path to serve my country as well as a member of my DMAT in the NDMS. This conference allowed a lot of us to express our condolences in person to members of TX-4 DMAT, who lost their unit commander Ozro Henderson, as well as to mourn. Ozro was also in Dallas last year when we were staged for Hurricane Ike to make landfall.  He died shortly after. I wrote about him in a previous post.

Yes, I also had fun. Got to meet up with my good friend Barbara from NJ-1 DMAT, and also the ICE (Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement) folk that watched over us in Houston during Hurricane Ike. I even scored a cool coin from them. Had our usual sister team meeting/dinner with CA-6, which is also a lot of fun! But, I was glad to get back here to Sacramento, even with all the running!

Now, onto some not-so-fun stuff... my ankle appears to be getting worse. Maybe it is just "overuse", but late Sunday, it started hurting BAD. Swelled up pretty good as well. I treated it aggressively, applying the RICE formula (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation). It has calmed down a lot, but today is the first day I have even dared to walk around the house, let alone working, without a support on it. It made me think that perhaps it is time to revisit my doc about it, and the possibility of surgery to reconstruct my ankle sooner than later. I just don't want to be out of commission for 4 months... I might not have much choice.