October 22, 2014

Keep me in your thoughts….Surgery tomorrow (22 October 2014)

All,

Thank you for your patience with my blog.  After a very successful Residency, which saw my Dissertation topic take on a life of its own, finally, my direction threw me yet another curve-ball and I am not back in the Doctor of Business Administration program, not the Ed.D. program.  Thank you goes out to my residency instructor who helped me with this decision and guided my topic and me back to where I needed to be.

With that being said, I am having to have Cervical Surgery (Neck) tomorrow to correct some issues from my Service in the Navy that has really hindered my neck and my quality of life.  I will be in surgery tomorrow morning and will have to stay the night.  Just please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, I will make it through and will let you all know how it goes when I get the ability to get back onto my computer and into my blog.

Take care, and thank you all for following me.

Lance “Devil Doc” Chennault

October 6, 2014

Curve Balls and the meaning of life?

Wow…I can’t believe I have kept you all waiting so long in between posts, I guess life can throw you a curve ball every once in a while…well, here is my swing to hit life out of the ball park 🙂

I am currently 39k feet above the earth, flying to Phoenix for my 1st Residency and with my “newer” topic in order, my 10 Strategic Point Paper submitted and about 40 different research articles saved, I believe I am ready.  Bring it on.

My new topic doesn’t “stray” much from the original topic, but I am focusing more now on the Student Veteran and how campuses across the country are putting programs into place to make the transition from military life to civilian/student life more seamless.  What I am going to be researching, however, is the phenomenon of if these campuses are actually putting in place a program that benefits the veteran, or are they failing because of all the “issues” we veterans bring to the campus.  I makes sense when I talk about it in person, because you can then see the passion, the arm and hand gestures that poignantly point out the highs and lows of this topic.  Now…if I can just put that passion into this program…That will be my Home Run 🙂

I have made professional connections with quite a few Ph.D.s who have already done their research on this topic, or very similar and by using the gaps that they have found for future research, I have begun to formulate my research and how I am going to better serve our Veteran population that is utilizing their Post-9/11 GI Bill and bettering themselves for their lives after the military.

“Combat Veterans on College Campuses – Educating our Heroes with healthcare issues.” is my topic, and I will not “dive” into the Psychological aspect of this, but more on the Programs themselves and how Student Veterans are perceiving the effectiveness of these programs.  Also, I will be researching the programs from the Administrator/Directors perspective as well, eventually seeing if the Student Veterans perceptions and the Administrators/Directors vision actually match, giving the Student Veterans a program that will essentially serve as a “buffer” between their experiences and the classroom/campus life.

So, I am sorry for the short post, but I believe that after this residency gets over (on friday), I will have more to blog about and a clearer “direction” to go down…

As for the curve ball?  Just a bit outside…no swing on this one, but I at least got to see what is in store….

Keep swinging for the fences and sooner or later, that home run will happen, and when it does….well, celebrate in your own way, but make sure to celebrate because you have earned it.

Until then,

Lance

September 17, 2014

Time Management – Really?

Time….Never increases in volume or quantity, but there never seems to be enough of it, in my life, to satisfy my procrastinating way of doing things.

Stress….Unlike time, there always seems to be more volume and quantity in my life.  Maybe it is because of my procrastination…Hmmmm, maybe on to something here 🙂

I have always been one to do my best work under pressure, whether it be because of time constraints, the nature of the job, or because of my procrastination, all of my successes, at least in education, have come at the last moment.  Writing that paper and finishing it with only hours to spare before the turn in deadline.  Constructing posts and responses with only minutes left before they are considered late, or just putting it off all together, because I would rather do something else and my motivation is wavering.  What ever the case, I feel that procrastination is the drug that fuels my desire to succeed.  Let me explain:

I have this 10 Strategic Point paper that I need to have done for my Residency that is coming up on the 6th of October in Phoenix.  I have done the research for articles, thesis, and dissertations so that I can find that gap in the research that will fuel my topic.  I have even started to read that research, highlighting important facts and studies that can drive my research.  I have even had a topic, re-thought that topic, and am trying to revise that revision of that re-thought topic.  STRESS…..STRESS….STRESS….oh yeah, on top of that…the 4 hours of commuting time every day to and from work.

Stress is my motivator, yet it is my “silent killer” as well.  Feeling overwhelmed has made me realize that controlling ones life, actions and motivators is hard, especially when I am trying to control the world 🙂  My wife has always told me that I need to control the things that I can control, not what I can’t control.  My first thought is: “Why can’t I control everything?”  I have told her numerous times that I rather be the Action Person, not the REACTION person.  I would rather control my own fate instead of having to react to someone else’s fate.  Make sense?  In theory, her statement is absolutely the key to lowering my stress and my anxiety in and of life.

I know that I need to get this done, I really do, but finding the motivation to finish up a class that I really have zero motivation for and trying to concentrate on this residency has driven me to the point of exhaustion, physical weariness and overall mental “ARGH”ness.

I guess it is time to just “REBOOT” my system, realize that I can’t and shouldn’t control every little thing in my life and just let life be.

What does this have to do with Time Management?  Really?  It has everything to do with it.

Control only that which you can, and just let life happen.  Good Advice Honey…maybe I should stop procrastinating and start living.

That is all…

Doc

September 11, 2014

September 11, 2001….where were you?

Today holds many different emotions for me.  Sadness, Anger, Pride, Danger, Flight or Fight, Exhaustion, Confusion, Wonderment, Disbelief and many, many more that I can’t seem to find words for.

9/11, the day the world stood still.

I was a Corpsman (Navy) stationed at the U.S. Capitol in DC and was assisting in a procedure on a member of congress who just so happened to be from New York when we got a call into the room stating for us to turn on the TV, there has been an event in NY that just happened.  I cleared it with the Doc and the moment we turned on the TV, not 20 seconds later, the 2nd plane flew into the 2nd tower.  The Congress member shouted an expletive and jumped out of their chair…as  the doc and I stared at each other in disbelief.

The alarm to evacuate the Capital rang out and we were thrusted into action.  Every individual in my command, there were only 12 of us, had a job to do in these types of emergencies, but all were centered around the safety of the Members of Congress and the Senate, with little to no concern for our own.  I was on the first team that ran out to 1 of our 2 ambulances on the grounds.  As we did, the plane that slammed into the Pentagon, flew right by the Capital and circled around to the Pentagon, as evident moments later by the black plume of smoke that raced towards the sky at the Pentagon.

Confused, we all had a job to do, and at that moment, adrenaline kicks in, your job duties become automatic and everything seemed to go in slow motion, even though they were happening really fast.  I have never seen so many members of Congress, or the Senate in a state of “panic” before and as I surveyed my surroundings, I have never seen so many Snipers in my life either.  They seemed to come out of nowhere and were positioned in very strategic “roof tops” around the Capital and surrounding buildings.

The day was a blur, but as I relive that day, over and over again, today seems very bitter sweet to me.

How this country has moved from being the most Patriotic country I have ever seen, to one that has become so complacent in the years following.  We seem so Arrogant, so “Look at us”, so “Never Again”, that we aren’t prepared for something like this to happen again.  The Boston bombings…remember that?

I was in Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, I am a Veteran and I am deeply concerned about the future of our country, the very country I protected for 20 years of my life.  What is it going to take to keep us Vigilant, Humble and thankful for the freedoms we have?

My Dissertation is focusing on our Military Veterans, and I want to thank each and every single Veteran, Active, Retired or Reservist that put their lives on the line each and every single day to protect this country.

9/11…where were you?

Feel free to share your thoughts and respond to this post.

Semper Fi and Semper Gumby,

Lance “Doc” Chennault

September 9, 2014

Anxiety….A motivator, or a Depressor

As my residency looms (only 4 weeks from today), my anxiety levels rise with each passing day.  Can I use this anxiety as a motivator or will it keep me depressed.  I hope the motivation will show its awesome head, because right about now, I definitely need it.

Changing from a DBA to the Ed.D. program is a tad bit scary because I, in a sense, will have to start over.  They way I see it though is that I can take these 3 past Business Courses and put the knowledge in my “tool box” and be able to use that when the time comes.  Yes, it puts me back about 6 months, but from what I have seen, heard and experienced so far, Doctorates are measured not in months, but in years.  It is not easy…REWARDING, but definitely not easy.

I am still bouncing around my topic to see how I can spin it towards the Healthcare forum, but I think that because I am doing an Educational Doctorate Degree, my wife came up with an amazing idea:  “Military Veterans and Service Dogs in the Classroom…” I am still playing around with the title, but I think that it is a great idea.  

Veterans want to use their education benefits, whether it be their Post 9/11 GI Bill (Yellow Ribbon Program), or their Tuition Assistance (Active Duty), or even pay for it themselves, they want to learn.  I got my Undergrad and my MBA paid for by utilizing the Tuition Assistance and the Post 9/11 GI Bill and it was so worth it.  But what about the Veterans that are suffering from PTS and TBIs, or have an Amputation(s) or are confined to a wheel-chair and need the assistance of a Service Dog.  It is bad enough that they have to “fight through” PTS(D) symptoms and episodes, have to fight the Bull Shit Stigma of PTSD that the media has portrayed negatively and now companies are reluctant to hire Veterans.  So now they have to fight through the bureaucratic RED TAPE with Service Dogs in the Classroom?  I think that our Veterans deserve better, yes?  That is why I am so committed to doing this topic, however I have to spin it.  

I just have to find the research and figure out how to tie it all together…that, my friends, my amazing followers, who are giving me the motivation, is the Million Dollar Question.

Thank you again for following me and I will keep you updated on the trek to Phoenix and my Residency…

Semper Fi and Semper Gumby.

 

Doc

September 2, 2014

Semper Fidelis yet Semper Gumby

In my time with the Marines (as I was a Hospital Corpsman who spent 3 years with them as their “Doc”), I learned both Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful) and the try meaning of Semper Gumby (Always Flexible).  So what does that have to do with my blog and my Doctoral Journey?  Everything.

Staying true to my passion, my beliefs and my heart is going to pull me through this long journey, along with my beautiful wife and staunch supporter.  But I am also learning to be always flexible in so much as I have already been contemplating switching up my topic from Military Veterans and Service Dogs in the Workplace: The New Reality of War….to something more at the beginning:  Hospitals and Service Dog programs: The New Fad or a much needed priority…(or something like that).

I had a chat with a friend of mine this morning on the how and why and the where on this topic and they were very explicit about what I need to concentrate on, but also gave me the encouragement to go forth with that idea.  Steering me not completely away from the Veterans, but making me see how hospitals could implement this program to better serve the Veterans and our amazing disabled citizens.  Using Poly-traumatic hospitals and Veterans Hospitals, along with local and even state wide hospitals as “subjects”.

What I have found out from that conversation is that when you get to passionate about a topic, it is very very very hard to peel yourself away from the “personal” aspect of it and see it from a 3rd person point of view, and not the 1st person.  That is going to be pretty difficult for me, but then again, doing the new “form” of this topic will allow me to better dive into the What and the Why, to better serve the Who and the How…of course, the Where should take care of itself…yes?

There is a lot more information on just Service Dogs and Healthcare, but I need to find research in regards to individual programs that hospitals are running, thinking of running, or just refuse to run.  I think that it would be a great disservice not only to our Veterans and disabled citizens,  but to humanity as a whole.

We will see…

So in the mean time…Semper Fidelis, and always Semper Gumby.

 

Lance

post script 🙂

Thank you all for reading and following me.  That in itself gives me motivation and the strength to continue this long arduous journey.

August 29, 2014

When life pops your balloon, make sure you have more to inflate and carry on.

Ok, so it has been a couple of days that I have posted some thoughts, and yesterday, I was given multiple opportunities to share them, so here it goes.

As from my last post, I have decided to change my Doctoral pathway from Business Administration to an Ed.D. in Healthcare Administration.  In doing so, my Dissertation topic : Military Veterans and Service Dogs in the Workplace: The New Reality of War, is in jeopardy.  I emailed on the Dissertation chair professors, and the Assistant Dean of the Doctoral Program at GCU, letting him know that I was going to change my path and mentioned my dissertation topic to him.  His reply deflated my balloon in that he didn’t think that that topic wouldn’t satisfy either the DBA or the Ed.D. program requirements for a Doctorate.

Do you hear that?….pphhhhhhshssssssssssss….yes, that was the air being forcefully leaving my Doctoral Balloon.  I was flabbergasted and frantically started wondering what I was going to do.  I have spent more than a month researching that topic, trying to find research that addressed that topic, and after close to a hundred articles, I now have to rethink my direction?  ARGH……

I took yesterday to really step back from this news, think about the new pathways that have been presented to me and decide which one I am going to travel down.  Will I continue anyways with my topic and somehow “spin” it to include Healthcare more instead of employment?  Will I desert the topic all together and try to scramble a new topic, new research and new line of thinking, or will I regroup and still utilize my underutilized Veterans with Service Dogs with their Healthcare obstacles and the options that Hospitals give them.

I have been throwing ideas around my chaotic mind thinking about that very subject and haven’t really found my “direction” for my topic, but I need to “hurry” because I have only 5 weeks until my residency in Phoenix, where I have to have my topic “semi” cemented and my 10 Strategic Points paper developed.  Talk about piling on more stress to my already chaotic life 🙂

I got a wonderful email yesterday from a fellow “Devil Doc” who happens to utilize a Service Dog and did some time on Capitol Hill as a Legislative “Assistant, intern, whatever you call them” to a prominent Senator who happens to be on the Veterans’ Administrative committee for the Senate.  He helped to write and push the Service Dog legislation a few years back, so I really need to utilize his experience and knowledge in both the fields of the Service Dog and the legislation area.

So, after regrouping, I found my “helium” tank and it is time to start inflating my Doctoral Balloon(s) again.  Time to fly high and reestablish my vigor and motivation.

One more thing before I sign off:

Semper Gumby – Always Flexible  was a saying while I was doing time with my Marines that allowed us to take all of the “changes” that occur during military operations, and adapt and deal with them.

Have a Safe and Enjoyable Labor Day…

Devil Doc

August 26, 2014

Life…sometimes it gets in the way, sometimes it shows you the way…

Good morning, and thank you all for either viewing or actually reading these thoughts of mine.

The Doctoral Journey can either be an exciting time, or an excruciating exercise in frustrating ups and downs.  The choice, of course, is always ours to make, but sometimes life gets in the way, and sometimes it actually shows you the way.

I am going through one of those crossroads this week in my journey.  I am not deviating from my doctoral journey, but I am changing course (or actual doctoral concentration) and I am going to change from a Doctorate in Business Administration to an Education Doctorate in Health Care Administration.  My passion has always been to be involved in medicine, one way or the other.  Either treating patients (Navy), or being a leader in a health care setting.  I have done the business side of health care (Contracts and Acquisitions for a Government Health Care IT contract), or the research side (Mayo Clinic) and patient care (Navy), so deviating from that and getting into the business side of things, has really made me miss the actual “hospital” setting.

After I finish this current class in my DBA journey, and attending my first residency in October, I will be changing my Doctoral Journey to Ed.D in Health Care Administration.

I am really excited about this change because my heart and my passion is telling me to make the change.

I guess the result is this:  Listen to your heart, exploit your passions and let life show you the way instead of fighting it and trying to do things your own way.

August 25, 2014

A new week, a new direction?

This weekend I was blown away by my grandmothers’ 100th birthday.  Kind of put things into perspective in regards to life and how to live it.  100 years…the things she has seen.  It was amazing to say the least and she had a blast.

I have my 10 Point Strategic paper due in about 7 weeks before I hit my first residency down in Phoenix and it is starting to get a tad by real.  I keep trying to find research on my topic: Military Veterans and Service Dogs in the Workplace: The New Reality of War, but there is such a dearth of information that I think I am going to start doing research on just Disabilities and Service Dogs in the workplace and use that as my “gap” in research to tie in the Military Veterans aspect of it.

Trying to pull my hair out, which there really isn’t any left, seems fruitless and just plain agonizing to say the least, so instead of getting frustrated on tech lack of information, I believe that with this new direction, I will be able to pull some new data, some new ideas and possible a new direction to my topic, which I will be steadfast and not change.

I need to help my fellow Veterans in any way that I can, and I believe that with this Doctorate Dissertation, hopefully it will shed some light and give some Veterans the courage and the “right” to go back to work, with the Service Dogs.

Anyways, Happy Birthday Grandma…I can only wish to live the life you have lived and be as humble and loving as you.

Until the next “light bulb”, time to find some research 🙂

 

ME

August 22, 2014

The Start of my Journey

Well, I am in the unknown now…Me…DevilDoc5 with a blog about my Doctoral Journey.  Who would have thought.

Anyways, here we go:

My name is Lance Chennault and I am a retired Navy (Corpsman) Veteran.  I “participated” in Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom (even though I had to stay in Kuwait).  I was at the US Capitol during 9/11 and saw the plane that hit the Pentagon fly directly over the Capitol.  I was there at the Capitol during the Anthrax Attacks and have seen my share of death and destruction, albeit not in combat personally.

This blog is about my Doctoral Journey, where I am attending Grand Canyon University (online) in Phoenix, Arizona.  I currently live in Vancouver Washington with my beautiful Wife Sabine and my 3 Huskies; Myah, Anuk and Kitka.  Which brings me to my Dissertation Topic:

Military Veterans and Service Dogs in the Workplace: The New Reality of War

So come along with me, experience my Doctoral Journey with me as I sift through the long hours of researching this topic, reaching out to Subject Matter Experts and interview my fellow Veterans who have been in Combat and have or need a Service Dog…or as we call them in the Military: Battle Buddies.

You can comment, post and even share your thoughts with me…give ideas, give research advice or just keep me going.

Thank you for allowing me to have a voice here, and I hope that this journey is full of amazing findings not only for me, but for everyone that has a Battle Buddy.