My trip to Germany and a little surgery....

I just got out of the hospital here in Germany. I have a bit of free time on my hands so I thought I'd let you all know about my trip and surgery. I left Baghdad on the 22nd of July at about 2100. I flew in a Blackhawk for about 30 minutes to Balad. I told my husband that these experiences of flying in a Blackhawk and C-17 were lost on me since I don't find them to be exciting. Cory would get much more of a thrill than I would. Anyways, I was stuck in Balad for quite a few hours but I did get out at about 0300. I had to fly to Germany in a C-17 and that was probably the most uncomfortable I've been on a plane....EVER!! Since it was a medical flight I was able to get some Phenegan for my motion sickness. There aren't any windows on a C-17 so motion sickness was a given. That one little 25mg pill worked like a charm...it also knocked me out pretty good. I managed to get a little bit of sleep but it was very uncomfortable. The seats are along the sides of the plane and they aren't your typical airplane seats. I didn't have anyone sitting next to me so I was able to put my carry-on on the seat next to me and just face it and lean forward to fall asleep. About halfway through that flight I had to use the lavatory. Someone had to grab my arm and lead me to it because I was "high" on that motion sickness pill. I couldn't walk in a straight line. I wanna say I landed in Ramstein, Germany at about 0800 or so. Talk about a sight for sore eyes! I forgot how GREEN Germany is!! Coming from where everything is brown and sandy and arriving in a place where there are tons of trees that are actually green took my breath away! Once I got off the plane I hopped on a bus for the short trip to Landstuhl. From there it was one appointment after another until about 1700. I was scheduled for surgery the very next day to get my lump removed. After all the appointments my LNO (not quite sure what that acronym stands for but basically he's the guy that I call with any questions and he takes me anywhere I need to go on any of the local posts) took me to Vogelweh so I could spend my $250 civilian clothes voucher. Yes, that's right! I got $250 to spend on clothes!! After that he bought me Taco Bell for dinner and took me back to my barracks room. Actually, it feels more like a hotel room. It's actually bigger than the motel me, Cory and the kids stayed in when we first got to Kansas. I have the room to myself but that can change at any moment. I have my own bathroom, computer complete with internet and webcam, TV with DVD player, microwave and refrigerator. It really is quite nice. I couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight so I sort of stuffed my face with Taco Bell. I had my last bite and drink at about 1930. After talking with my husband I went to bed. I had to be at the hospital at 0615. When I got to the hospital the next morning, everyone who was scheduled for surgery was put into a hospital room to wait. I am so glad they did it that way because I didn't go in for surgery until 1530....9 hours after I first got there! I spent a good chunk of that time sleeping so the time went by quickly. I had a roommate which was fine. The only thing that made it difficult was that she was there with her husband and kids. It really made me realize that I was alone. I cried for a little bit. The doctors and nurses came to get me at about 1500 and I was put under about a half hour later. I awoke what felt like 2 minutes later but was actually about an hour and a half later. My pain level was at about a 5 out of 10 so the nurse gave me some morphine. About 10 minutes later she asked again what my pain level was and it was only a little better so she gave me more morphine. The third time was the charm and that last little bit of morphine took my pain away altogether. Did you know that morphine makes your face itch? I had no idea. When I mentioned that my face felt funny and was itching, the nurse told me that little tidbit. It was weird. A few minutes later the doctor came in to tell what he had found. He found two lumps instead of only one but when he drained the fluid out of them the fluid was consistant with what one would find in your average benign cyst. Since he found two, he sent them in seperately for testing. He said those results should be back in a few days but my last instructions were to call for a post-op follow up appointment in about 10 days. I don't know if I'll get a call with the results but if I don't I'll know everything when I go in for my post-op appointment. I had to stay overnight at the hospital since I was there by myself....yet another realization that my husband couldn't be there. I got released at about 0930 after they saw that I could keep my breakfast down. I couldn't eat much of it because my throat still hurt from the tube they had to put down it during the surgery. It was the same with dinner the night before. I hadn't eaten all day so I was pretty hungry. The dinner they served me I couldn't believe that anyone would call that food. I told the nurse and she agreed with me. She was really nice and went to get some yogurt and graham crackers. Much better! Once I got back to my barracks room I gave Heather a call. Her and Rick met me down in the lobby at about 1130. She brought me some schnitzel and some Bath and Body Works goodies...in my scent!! That was sooooo sweet of her! I hadn't had schnitzel in years but it tasted just like I remembered....delicious!! The visit felt a little awkward but I think Rick was the reason for that. He said something jackass-ish and I replied with something like, "you're still an asshole aren't you?" Heather acually said that he is even more of an asshole. I don't know what his deal was. Anyways, overall it was a good visit. We are going to meet for lunch tomorrow and I'm going to try to put in for a pass so I can get off post. It sounds like I'm going to be here through next weekend and if I am I'm going to try to go on a castle cruise. They had one today but with me having surgery yesterday and being released today I didn't think I'd feel up for it. Plus I don't have a camera so I'm going to try to get a cheap one before the next trip. Well, that about sums up my last few days.