So, for a few weeks now I’ve had a little dilemma……”Betty”.  Let me explain.

I’ve had a hard, mobile piece of something (we’re still unsure of its composition) floating in my big toe joint in my left foot. People in my unit joked and said it could be my unborn twin or something insane like that, so they named it “Betty”. Whatever it was, it constantly rubbed against the tendon that ran all the way through the top of my foot causing serious pain and irritation after running or walking long distances. “Betty” had to be dealt with.

Well yesterday, February 3, 2009, I went to the 10th Combat Support Hospital here in Baghdad to see if the good Army doctors there could figure out what “Betty” really was and what they could do about “her”.  After going to the outpatient clinic and mesmerizing the doctors there, I was sent to the orthopedics specialists to see if they could uncover this medical mystery. There I met LTC Sands and her team of soldiers. Surely they could help.

After examining the x-rays and finding no fractures or obvious answers, LTC Sands suggested it could be a simple cyst. She said if it was there was nothing that could be done about it. She explained to me that the only way she would know for sure is to numb my foot and stick a large needle into “Betty” and see if clear gel/liquid would drain from “her”.

“Have at it ma’am,” I said. So…she stuck about three needles into my foot and numbed it. Then, she stuck a larger needle directly into the mass in my joint and tried to extract the clear fluid, she  explained ; it would drain out if it was in fact a cyst. Nothing happened….nothing drained….nothing.

She was puzzled. She said that usually here in Baghdad they don’t remove “foreign objects” from the body because of the heightened risk of infection (te water here isn’t exactly the cleanest in the world). But, after having already numbed my foot she decided to remove “Betty” after all.

I laid there and watched some of the movie “Spanglish” while LTC Sands cut my foot opened and removed “Betty” for good. It was, to say the least, a strange experience. After being at the hospital for a total of around an hour and a half, I was ready to go back to work……without “Betty”. Once again, another surreal experience to add to the list.

Now I sit here in my office at the Combined Press Information Center restricted to desk duty for about seven days. Not bad. So now I am going to go take my moment of silence for the long lost “Betty”. “She” is on her way to a lab to be tested so we can all  find out what it really is. Until then………farewell Betty.