Dr. Dave is headed back to Iraq. Dave Hnida, the local family and emergency physician and health specialist on CBS 4, left Friday for two weeks of special training in San Antonio. He will return to the station for an unknown period of time before being deployed to Iraq, where he'll work as an emergency surgeon.

"I'll be at the first stop where they bring wounded soldiers," Hnida told me earlier this week. "What you do is try to stabilize people, patch them up and move them to the next level."

When his orders come through, Hnida will be gone on his second "long" tour of duty (the first was in 2004) for four months. "That's not very much compared to most people, who go for 12 to 18 months. I certainly can't whine."

As an emergency surgeon, Hnida said he'll be doing a lot of triage and immediate surgical treatment. "When they come off the helicopter, for example, I am the first physician who will see them, put chest tubes in, make sure airways are stabilized and make the decision on who can wait and who can't."

Unlike his 2004 Iraq deployment, Hnida won't have to carry a rifle. "The last time I was a battalion surgeon, on the roads every day shooting at people and they shooting at me," he said. "This should be a little more stable atmosphere. Safer, but I never like to say safer because I always feel bad for the people who have to go out there."

Hnida, who says he's "over 50," joined the Army reserve as a Major with the U.S. Army Medical Corp in 2003. He said he will serve in the reserves "for as long as the president and commander-in-chief decides." The doctor says he and CBS 4 are working on plans for a blog and occasional video reports during this tour of Iraq.

"I'm going into the great unknown," Hnida said. "It's a different war than it was when I was there last time. I'm too old to be doing this, but you do this because you hope you can bring a level of experience to help the kids there who are my kids' ages."

SUPER SUE: Sue Simos, the mother of us all, celebrated her (shock!) 80th birthday last weekend at the home of her son, David Alexander, Denver event planner extraordinaire, and his partner Brandt Wilkins. Simos, who could easily pass for 60-something, is a real go-getter and a tireless worker for local charities.

She's also the den mother in Sharon Magness Blake's suite at Invesco Field, and is quick to pass out tequila shots every time the Broncos score. Happy belated birthday, Mom.

THE SEEN: Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards glad-handing folks Thursday night at the Hogan & Hartson party for the firm's newest partner, former city attorney Cole Finegan.

REVISITING RED: It had been nearly a year since I had been in Paul Garcia's Cherry Creek salon. Back then, I had asked the titan of tresses to shave my head clean before chemotherapy took the rest of my thinning hair.

When I returned to Garcia a couple weeks ago, it was a much happier occasion. The oncologist's timetable preventing me from dyeing my hair had expired, and I was ready for red. Garcia shaped my wavy locks, and Byl Lawson gave me back my old color. So the new picture you see in today's column represents my real "coming out" from cancer.

EAVESDROPPING at Lily the dog's retirement press conference at the Hotel Monaco: "I heard she's not really retiring, she's entering rehab."

Penny Parker's column appears Tuesday through Saturday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail parkerp@RockyMountainNews.com.