Coppolas shining in fencing and publishing!

Our oldest boy took third in his fencing tournement this weekend so we were psyched for him! he's picking it up quickly and most importantly, he is having a good time.

Below is a press release we wrote to get the news out that M. was chosen as a finalist in a writing contest! We are really excited for the Awards banquet in March. The dress code is "dressy Western"! How cool is that. It's a whole new world for us.

Peace!

By the way, I went a little crazy with the links.

CC


“Local Author Named Finalist in National Contest”

Made A Difference for That One: A Surgeon’s Letters Home from Iraq, a new book compiled by a San Antonio author, has been named a non-fiction finalist for the 2006 EPPIE Awards. The winners will be named at the 2006 EPIC (Electronically Published Internet Connection) Conference awards banquet, being held March 18th at the historic Menger Hotel in downtown San Antonio. EPIC presents these awards for excellence in electronic publishing in more than 20 categories.
Made a Difference for That One is a collection of letters sent home by Dr. Christopher Coppola, who was stationed in Balad, Iraq from January to May, 2005. A pediatric surgeon at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Coppola worked as a trauma surgeon in Iraq, taking care of wounded American soldiers, as well as Iraqi soldiers, civilians, and local children. Dr. Coppola wrote of his experiences living and working in a war zone in illustrated emails home to family and friends. His wife compiled these letters and photographs in a book and published it with http://www.iuniverse.com/. A portion of the proceeds benefits Fisher House Foundation, a home away from home for families of wounded soldiers while their loved ones are recuperating at 33 locations around the country.
An excerpt of Made a Difference for That One was previously published in Army Times and Air Force Times. The book was also lauded on National Public Radio’s Faith Middleton Show, and an article about Dr. Coppola will be appearing in the spring issue of Yale Medicine.

Review copy available upon request.

For more information, please contact:

Christopher Coppola, ccoppola@pol.net


Additional information may be found at:

http://www.fisherhouse.org/ (Fisher House Foundation)
www.geocities.com/candmcoppola@sbcglobal.net/ (Book website)
http://www.epicauthors.com/ (Electronically Published Internet Connection)
http://www.epic-conference.com/ (2006 EPIC Conference in San Antonio)
www.rjjulia.com/faithmiddleton/index.htm (NPR Faith Middleton Show)
http://www.iuniverse.com/ (iUniverse publisher)
http://67.118.51.201/bol/PubReview.cfm?BookNum=40285&PubNum=944 (Review of book at Books in Print)

Home late is still home!

Dear Friends,

Wow, it's 2006 and 2 weeks have disappeared since I've last posted. Since it's 2:52 AM and I can't sleep, what better time.

Just a few scattered thought's today.

Today (actually yesterday) I helped take care of a teenager with cancer. I had a small part in the care. I showed up at 0700 when their operation started, and said "call me when it's my turn!" I had a quick appendectomy to do, and then made rounds with the chief resident on my service. (Actually a second year, but since that's the highest ranking resident to rotate on my service, He's the chief! You know how it goes in residency: When the bosses go home, all the responsibility falls in your lap. The saying is "Boy by day, man by night". (Allowances registered for the residents for whom the revision "Girl by day, woman by night" would apply.) Truth is, the responsibility is always mine as the attending, but it's important for the residents to learn that surgery means it's always my fault.

So I check in on the operation after five hours, because that's how long it was supposed to last, but the first team needs more time. In all they needed 14 hours of time! They did an amazing job with their tour de force and managed to save the teenager's limb. For my part, I got to do a lot of hurry up and wait today. Since I live 45 minutes from the hospital, it just did not seem like an option for me to go home, not with a child asleep on the table. Finally at 21:30, I stepped in and performed the biopsy the child needed and finished in an hour and a half. Happily the patient tolerated the long day in the OR with strength and stability. My heart went out to the parent who had to endure that long day and evening of waiting and worrying. Your prayers for this child's recovery and cure would be dearly appreciated.

A lot of friends at the hospital are prepping for their deployment. It really brings back memories of being in the same situation a year ago. Even though I finally wandered home at midnight, it was a another precious homecoming, feeling lucky to return to the warmth and love of home, and not be oceans away longing for return.

Be bold!

Chris

We fight the good fight, and we treasure the days when the sun glints on the crisp snow and you can see Lake Tahoe shimmering in the valley below. No matter how hard a day at work is, it's harder when you're sick and you have no choice about being at the hospital. I'll take the hard day at work, any day.