<img style="float: right;" src="https://opedge.com/Content/OldArticles/images/2007-12_04/2007-12_04-01.jpg" hspace="4" vspace="4" /> It was another day at the office with me seeing patients in the morning, giving a speech at noon at the Department of Labor, seeing folks in Albany, Georgia, in the afternoon, and finally getting back home to Macon in the late evening. <h4>The Invitation</h4> Pam, my office manager and the love of my life for the past 20 years, fielded a call on October 11 from Wayne Mosley, MD, from Vidalia, who asked if I would like to speak at a conference on October 23-24. Knowing my problem with saying no, Pam told him, "Yes, he would be happy to." As usual, she was correct. The conference was being held at the Ashur Hotel on Lake Dukan. Wow, it sounded nice, and it was. The only snag was that the location was a little "out of the way." Lake Dukan is a sleepy little resort town in northeastern Iraq. Oh, and by the way, I would have to pay for this on my own. I would be speaking to a group of 30-35 physicians, physical therapists, and prosthetists (they call them orthopedic technicians) about lower-extremity prosthetics, transtibial and transfemoral components, socket designs, and biomechanical objectives. <h4>Getting There</h4> After nearly 20 hours on planes and in airports, I had less than two hours to either make a crazy connection in Istanbul or wait two days for the next plane to Erbil, Iraq. Two days later-still in Turkey-I finally got my lost luggage and was ready for the following day of travel to what I was told is the safest, most stable part of Iraq. On the day I was scheduled to arrive, that peace and stability part was challenged when members of a Kurdish separatist terrorist organization known as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PPK) crossed the Turkish border and killed several people. Turkey, as one might suspect, retaliated. The natives were restless on both sides of the border, and the chest-bumping contest was on. Flying to Erbil was tense. Looking out the window was great except every time I saw a puff of smoke, I thought to myself that the impact of the surface-to-air missile would at least be a fast way to go. Self-induced stress and fear is almost crippling, but after a bodyguard and a driver picked me up from a fortified safe house near the airport and took me on a more than 160-mile road trip to the conference, complete with mad swerving, horn honking, and overtaking cars on hillcrests, it really wasn't that bad. <h4>The Conference and What I Learned</h4> Because I was a day late for the conference, the agenda was shuffled around to allow Dr. Mosley to speak (he was a day late as well). I spoke for nearly two hours before the attendees had to leave so that they could be home before curfew. They said they learned a lot in a short time and invited me to come back for a week or two next year. I was, as of that moment, noncommittal. I may have been in Iraq to teach, but I received more education than I handed out. Here are a few things that I learned: <ul> <li>These people need and want our help.</li> <li>Not everyone is trying to kill me.</li> <li>There is no infrastructure (postal service, clean running water, a reliable electric grid, etc.).</li> <li>Doctors working at the hospitals make $400 a month.</li> <li>There are prosthetists in Iraq who may know how to create and build the best prosthetic devices available, but, like in the United States, someone has to pay for them. Unlike the United States, they have no real healthcare system.</li> <li>Successful military campaigns during our nation's history have taken around three generations to achieve economic, social, and governmental stability for the folks we say we are liberating. We should not screw these people. If we want to bring troops home, let's start in places like Japan and Germany-where doing so will not destabilize a country.</li> <li>One person can make a difference.</li> </ul> To follow up on the trip, I am going to attempt to secure funding to produce an educational DVD series on prosthetic care at various amputation levels, which will include the initial contact, evaluation, fabrication, and alignment. Ideally the DVD will have several language options, and I will set aside Q&A time via a conference call or chat room periodically. <i>Jim Young Jr., LP, CP, FAAOP, is the sole proprietor of the Amputee Prosthetic Clinic Company, with locations in Tifton, Albany, and Macon, Georgia. He can be reached at </i><a href="mailto:joylegs@aol.com"><i>joylegs@aol.com</i></a>
