The last of our Dominican Republic patients left the unit Friday a.m. They were a gregarious and grateful bunch! The precious 5 yr. old girl had been with us for all week, as she had had a an old leg fracture become badly infected. After surgical revision and heavy duty antibiotics she was ready to dance!! The various patients (and their escorts) often bonded and soon became each other's new best friend, so the environment of the unit was often very social (actually a little wild at times!) And of course, everyone wanted their pictures taken. We set sail for Antigua Saturday morning and today rendezvoused with another huge Navy ship for refueling and taking on new supplies. It was quite exciting to watch the rather complicated maneuver--connecting enormous fuel lines between two moving vessels (we took on 500,000 gallons of diesel for the ship and 15,000 gallons of jet fuel for the helos!), then watching the helos lift many pallets from their deck to ours. There was a major change out of staff--many reservists and a few from the NGOs--before we left DomRep, so we spent the rest of the day in a couple of classes and orienting the new staff that will be working on the unit with us. Tomorrow, while we are still at sea, will be a day of R&R---a yoga class on deck, brunch, followed by a "Steel Beach Picnic"......fun in the sun without the sand!!
