Next stop....Kuwait

So the day finally arrived to leave the United States or "CONUS" as it is referred to in Military speak - (Continental United States) and take the first leap to Afghanistan by flying to Kuwait. But let me back up a week, and let you know how that went.

When I finally got the OK to move from Fort Worth to Afghanistan, I asked permission to fly home to Denver for a few days to see my family before leaving. Permission was granted, and so last Wenesday - September 3oth, I flew home to Denver. My arrival was met with some excitement, coupled with trepidation because of the whole notion of saying goodbye for a 3rd time in a month and a half.

The kicker is, both Jake and Karen were sick - with flu like symptoms......maybe H1N1......and according to the local news - 98% of flu cases diagnosed in Colorado thus far this year are H1N1. So - Jonah and I did our best to wash hands stay away as much as possible...which it isnt.

Thursday morning - Jonah woke up complaining of all the same symptoms - mainly - his eyes hurt - which sent red flags up everywhere. So I got Jake and Jonah both to the doctor on Thursday - and sure enough - tested positive for flu - Type A - the Doctor wouldn't say if it was H1N1 - only that H1N1 is a Type A flu. I think that was his code for - of course you've got it, silly boys. So - Jonah - since we caught it within the first 12 hours was placed on Tamiflu and is doing awesome. Jake - since he had symptoms for several days - too late for Tamiflu - ride it out - lungs sound good.

Friday Morning - Karen still sick - sounding worse. Call Doctor - get appointment. Diagnosis - Pneumonia - most likely from the - you got it - flu. Since Pnuemonia is what typically kills folks when they have flu - we take this very serious and get her on meds immediately.

I'm supposed to leave to Kuwait on Saturday - but this is clearly not a good idea - so I re-schedule my departure for Monday - so that Karen has 3 days of anti-biotics under her belt, and the boys are much better. Whew - what a ride. Now - I'm still not comfortible with the decision to go ahead and leave on Monday - nevertheless, that's the decision we made.

So - here I sit - in a Kuwait City Hotel, sharing a room with a nice gentleman - who happens to smoke like a freight train. Squatters rights - he was here first, and I don't have any other options....I checked...

Here's to hoping the last leg of this journey gets under way fast.