Lunch with Ina!!!

I'm imitating the statue behind me.

Showing off my new shirt

Ina's lunch

Becky's lunch...the filling tasted like salmon with ricotta cheese.

I went with a delicious Jagerschnitzel.

Ina and I in the park

Ina and I in the park

Waiting for our ice cream

Ina got the traditional Spaghetti Ice

Becky got the Waldfrucht Spaghetti Ice

I got the Chocolate Crepe

I had lunch today with my good friend, Ina! She drove all the way from Mainz to see me. I haven't seen her since she came to the states for a visit back in late 2004 or early 2005! It was great catching up. I'm so glad I got to see her before I have to leave Landstuhl. We had lunch at Taormina, a nice Italian place, and then we walked around the park for a bit taking some pictures. Finally, we stopped for some ice cream and a crepe for me. It was all very delicious!! Hopefully I can get stationed here soon and we can hang out more. I wish I would have gotten a hold of her sooner! I had a wonderful time!

Trier

The view from a lookout on the way to Trier

The Porta Nigra

The Porta Nigra

The Porta Nigra

Entrance to Saint Gangolf church

Saint Gangolf tower

It's easy to miss but there is a man etched into the stone.

Cathedral of Trier

Me at the Cathedral of Trier

Very comfortable

Organ pipes inside the cathedral

Taken from the back of the cathedral looking towards the entrance

There is a gold cross and the Star of David inside this piece of art.

Memorial at the back of the cathedral

The square outside the cathedral

Another part of the cathedral

The Basilica of Constantine

Me at the cathedral

Just messing around

My doner kebap at the end of the day. Mmmm Mmmmm good!!

My trip to Trier was wonderful. We were supposed to go to Heidelberg but there was a festival going on there and they would have had to hurry us through everything. Here is a little bit about Trier and some of the sights I saw:

Trier is a city in Germany on the banks of theMoselle River. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC. Trier lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of ruddy sandstone in the west of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, near the German border with Luxembourg and within the important Mosel wine-growing region. According to the Gesta Treverorum (a collection of histories, legends, wars, records of the Archbishops of Trier, writings of the Popes, and other records that were collected by the monks of the St. Matthias Abbey in Trier), the city was founded by Trebeta, anAssyrian prince, centuries before ancient Rome. The Roman Empire subdued the Treveri in the 1st century BC and established Augusta Treverorum in 30 BC.

The first sight we saw was the Porta Nigra, or the Black Gate. It is a large Roman city gate. The Porta Nigra was built in grey sandstone between 180 and 200 AD. Next, we saw Saint Gangolf Church. I couldn't find anything on that. After that we saw the Cathedral of Saint Peter. It is the oldest cathedral in Germany. The last sight we saw was The Basilica of Constantine or Aula Palatina at Trier. It is a Roman palace basilica that was built by emperor Constantine in the beginning of the 4th century AD.

We also got a little shopping in. I got two cute tops, a pair of pants and a silver necklace. Lunch was really nice. I had the pork rump roast with potatoes. It was delicious! I felt a little rushed during the trip. We only had 2 and a half hours to tour around. There is a ton to see there and we all could have used a couple more hours. Overall, it was a wonderful day and I'm really glad I got to see the oldest city in Germany.

Update on my recovery...

I've had a couple appointments since the last time I updated everyone on my status. I finally got to see my surgeon this past Monday. He pretty much told me the same thing the doctor on Friday told me; that my results came back benign. I guess right after my surgery the doctor told me that once he cut into me and saw what was actually there he decided to not remove the cysts but to only drain them....hence the needle aspiration. He asked me how the pain was and when I told him that it was still at a level 4 without my meds he decided to keep me here for another week. I'm not complaining about that! Oh, I had to go to the emergency room this past weekend. A side effect of my pain medicine (Percocet) is constipation (sorry if that's TMI) and it finally caught up to me on Saturday. I had major cramping and I was running to the bathroom every 10 to 15 minutes. When we got here we were told that if we needed "emergency care" to go to the DWMMC (Deployed Warriors Medical Center...not sure what the other M is for). The nurse I saw there thought it would be in my best interest to go throught the ER instead. All I wanted to get were some softeners but they made me go through a bunch of tests anyway. I knew what was going on but they weren't having any of that. Sure enough, once I was seen by a doctor and he looked over my X-rays and urine sample he told me that the constipation was working itself through and he was going to give me some softeners for later. DUH!!! Overall it was a pretty fast ER visit....probably the fastest I've ever had and I've been to the ER a few times. Not just for me but for Haylie as well. My next appointment with the doctor isn't until Monday the 10th. At that time he will probably RTD me (return to duty). Well, that's about it I believe. I hope to get more sight seeing in while I'm here. I just heard from Ina, my Germany friend from the time I was stationed here. Hopefully we can hang out a bit! Oh, and Becky and I are going to go on the chaplain's trip this Saturday. It's to Heidelberg. I've been there a couple times already but it's worth it to go again!

The City of Landstuhl

Gnocchi Gorgonzola...my dinner one night. Very very good!!

Caprese Salat...also very very good!

Me in my barracks room

The hospital I'm staying near

Little bit of Landstuhl

I really like the way this hotel looks.

Loving the barber pole. You don't see this in the states very often.

A statue in the park

An old church. I guess I shouldn't have to say old...everything in Germany is old :P

First, here's a little history on Landstuhl:

There are over 9,000 people in Landstuhl and it is located in Southwestern Germany. Landstuhl is perhaps best known in the United States of America because of the US Army's medical installation. The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a US Army Medical Command post, is often the first stop for American casualties leaving the ongoing conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ramstein Air Base is also located nearby.

The earliest traces of human settlement in Landstuhl are from 500 B.C. From the Celtic period is the “Heidenfels” (i.e heathen rock), which was a holy site even into Roman times. From the Roman period is a settlement from the 1st Century A.D.

In the 15th Century, the von Sickingen noble family assumed responsibility for Landstuhl and the surrounding area. The most famous member of this family was Franz von Sickingen. Franz von Sickingen built his castle in Landstuhl – Burg Nanstein (the most visible landmark in Landstuhl and the surrounding area) - into a dominating fortress. From this base he moved to expand his domains by conquering other parts of southwestern Germany.

After several defeats, von Sickingen withdrew to his castle and was besieged by Richard Greiffenklau, Archbishop of Trier, and the Counts of the Rhine and Hesse. During the bombardment of Nanstein, Franz von Sickingen was killed. The castle was later expanded by von Sickingen’s descendants, but it was destroyed by the French in 1689.

Landstuhl is also known for being the birthplace of Rob Thomas, the lead singer of Matchbox Twenty, Reggie Williams, former Wide Receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars, German basketball player Shawn Bradley and LeVar Burton, an actor best known as Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Young Kunta Kinte/Toby in Roots, and the host of the PBS series Reading Rainbow.

I took a trip to the Burg Nanstein. I'm waiting on the cord to get the pics off the camera. When that happens I'll be sure to put some pictures up. It was really a beautiful trip. It's probably one of the better preserved burgs I've been to. Becky and I were being retarded with the camera and got a ton of cute shots. I hope to get the cord tonight, so we'll see. More later!!

Idar-Oberstein

Me and Becky waiting for our food

Labor Camp memorial

A small church at the Labor Camp memorial

Peek-a-boo

View of Idar-Oberstein from the church in the rocks

The church in the rocks

A small memorial on the way up to the castle

View from the castle

Trying to get in

Enjoying the view from the castle

A gorgeous bridge on the way to a small berg

View of the castle from the small berg

We were being silly. These are our "butt shots"

Looking straight down from the berg

On Saturday there was a chaplain's trip to Idar-Oberstein. We took a little detour before we got to the city and toured a former labor camp's memorial. It was really beautiful. All of the headstones that are there don't have any names on them. Most of the 11,000 to 13,000 people who died at this camp are unknown. After we left the memorial we had lunch at a really delicious german restaurant. I tried duck for the first time! It was very tender and juicy and seasoned perfectly. That wasn't what I ordered though. I hadn't had any schnitzel yet so that's what I got. It was really good too. After lunch we started to make our way to Die Felsenkirche (The Church in the Rock). This church was built between 1482 and 1484 as a penance for fratricide. After the church, we headed to the Oberstein Castle and Bosselstein Castle.

The towns of Idar and Oberstein belonged to the barons of Daun-Oberstein (who later became the counts of Falkenstein) until 1670. In 1865, both Idar and Oberstein were chartered as cities, and finally in 1933, they united (along with the smaller towns of Algenrodt and Tiefenstein) to form the modern town of Idar-Oberstein. The Felsenkirche and two medieval castles are perched on the hills above the town, and are, after gemstones and jewelry, the chief tourist attractions in the city. Apparently, Bruce Willis was born in Idar-Oberstein.

Anyways, I had a blast and got a ton of pictures! Enjoy!!

Results....sort of....

I had my follow up appointment today. It worries me a little bit that, first of all, my original doctor was nowhere to be found, and second, the doctor that I did see didn't know I'd had a full lumpectomy. He thought I only had a needle aspiration. My pathology results were nowhere to be found! When they finally got a hold of my original doctor he just told them that he wanted to see me on Monday instead. They did have the results of this "needle aspiration" which is the outcome of the fluid that was inside the cysts. It was benign, which is fantastic. The doctor did say that the preliminary pathology results, based on the needle aspiration results, are very promising. I guess I'll know more on Monday.