Email of Doctor from Gulfport in Katrina aftermath (my title)

Personel Email | 9-30-05 | Dr. J S

[thepainster]

Dear All,

Sorry if this is not appropriate for everyone, but I just sent this to my entire email list, and I am too tired to pick and choose to whom it should go. I thought you would like to know, I am back home, safe and sound from the wilds of Gulfport, Mississippi, where I did, I am sure, I some of the most important work of my life. Mom even saved a life by sending an epinephrine pen with me (a very expensive item, and the only ones we had...she actually sent 8), which we used on a lady who came in with anaphylactic shock, and would surely have died without it. we all worked hard, seeing 300 or so patients per day with 3-5 docs on any given day (mostly 3)

I am amazed anyone down there can even put one foot in front of the other, after all that they have been through, but they were all wonderful to us, we were well loved and cared for all the time we were down there.

The level of devastation is beyond comprehension...your head can not take in, much less believe what your eyes are seeing.

When I got home, I can't tell you how happy I was to see houses with roofs, yards with no giant piles of debris, intact road and commercial signs...not to mention how happy I am just to use a normal bathroom (not a Port-A-Potty) and to be able to wash my hands in a sink with soap and water (that purell does not leave you feeling clean)

to sleep in my own bed is next on my agenda, but thought you would like to know I am home safe, and how very much I appreciated the calls I got down there. I lost my cell for an hour or so, and felt like my only link with reality was just GONE...what a panic! it was wonderful to hear tales of normal life, school, work, whatever stuff you all told me helped get through all the mess I was in the middle of with some feeling the normal world still existed. I did not realize how out of perspective I was until I got home to Mom's, and then my own house, and was just amazed to still find them whole, with no water or wind damage at all...I guess after a while you think the whole normal world has been lost.

I can't imagine what the people who live there, for whom that is home have been going through, even though I must have listened to a thousand stories of how they got through and what they have been doing to survive, how much and how many they had lost. I only wish there were more I could have done, but come home with the knowledge I stayed as long as I could and feel I did the best I could while I was there. Boy, am I glad to be home!!!!!

I love you all, and thanks again for your support, Jennie

[thepainster]

This email is from my sister-in-law who volunteered to go to Gulfport and give medical aid. I found it quite touching and I thought my fellow freepers my be interested in this story. It is stories like these that make me proud to be an American.

[Owl558]

Bless your sister-in-law!

[trebb]

God bless her. I live in Ocean Springs (the other side of Biloxi from Gulfport) and my house took 14" of water, so it is stripped for the bottom 4 feet. I've been working since the 2nd day after the hurricane to put enough stuff together to make it habitable again (new appliances, a new pump and tank for the well, a chlorinator for the well, makeshift kitchen counter and sink, etc. Still waiting into week 3 for A/C people to come out to remove the inside air handler so I can rebox the bottom area in and put a filter on it and it has been an adventure trying to get just a few supplies to start rebuilding a makeshift bathroom - it took 2-1/2 weeks just to find a tub and insulation and sheetrock are rarer than a liberal Freeper. Jennie is right - it's hard to comprehend what occurred unless you are in the middle of it (wish my freakin' insurance adjustor would at least come into the area long enough to give me the official "F-U" as just the basics to be able to live amongst the bare studs with a mish-mash of "furniture" has proven expensive.

Prayers are always welcome.

God Bless...

[thepainster]

She has blessed us all by her kindness. My family is very proud and completely humbled by her generosity.

[thepainster]

You are officially in my prayers. Hang in there trebb.

[Lady Jag]

Thank you sharing her wonderful letter. God bless her!

[thepainster]

Sharing the letter was the easy part. Doing what she did was the couragous part. I am sure she thanks you for your kind words.

[Jaded]

Thanks for sharing the e-mail.