Grease: Not only the word...but great to keep the in place

So...havent't showered since last Monday evening...which makes it a week exactly. That means that the hair has a nice and natural sheen to it. It's very becoming of me I have to say.

Today at around 11 am they moved me and all of my equiptment back to the regular hospital room. Im out of Intensive Care YAHOOOOOOOO!!! Im still of the same attitude as last time though...there were more people my age in the IC unit to talk to than here. BUT I can't complain.

At first after the surgerz I was feeling surprisingly great! Maybe it was the drugs...but I really felt conciously better than I remember feeling right after the last surgery. I was coughing a little but it wasn't as much of a strugle as it was last time. I think I got a little carried away with coughing though. The next morning I woke up with air pockets in my upper chest and neck area. It didn't hurt but it made me look buff. One negative side affect was that all the added pressure on my vocal chords made me sound like a little girl. Everyone enjoyed that. I kept my answers and conversation to Ja and Nein. I was still doing really well over the weekend expecially as the puffy hulk-ness went away and I could start to speak a little more normally. Sunday was especially a good day for me. It started out with Markus (the nurse who helped me get to the interenet the last time...and who if I remember correctly did this last time) taking out my cathater! (Markus and I are almost as close as the Ben...the Iron Clam Shell nurse as UCLA...) Then I got my first tube out...such a relief...and then lastly (just as "relieving"...ahem) I got my anema...Aaaaaaaaaahhhh...so gentle...So...

Needless to say I was rather distraut when I tried to go to sleep and all I could do was cough. I couldn't sleep and the more I coughed junk up the more came into position. My lung started hurting noticably for the first time Sunday night/Monday morning. I woke up tired and sore. I got some pain meds from the nurse. But after staring at my bread, butter and honey for an extended period of time thinking, "Do you really want it...'cause if you do you're going to have to lift those arms and butter it yourself..." I knew today wasn't going to be as wonderful as the last few days have been.

I got to the regular room around 11 am and my mom got there 30 min later. I ate lunch but stayed in bed still hooked up getting pain medication. Everytime I moved to a knew position it hurt and then if I stayed still it would slowly go away. Finally they got a Dr. in to look at me etc and hey says it may be the last tube moving whenever I move to a sensative area. He was saying that They may take out the tube tomorrow (which they were planning to anyways due to my good drainage) and that hopefully that will ease a lot of the pain.

But I've been high as a kite since lunch...so Im ready for bed now. Tonight will be better im sure...and tomorrow I may be getting a Doener... :)

Thanks for everyone good thoughts and prayers this past week...Love you all...

Bryce

Can I get one that matches please...

The only thing I'm worried about as of late is that the scar on the left side will not match the one on the right. I mean...if they're gonna give me another scar they may as well make sure it matches right? I still want to look bilateral....

This morning I had my second round of the same tests. Ear prick, plexi-glass box breathing, EKG suction octopus and sweaty shirtless bike-riding...They said that I performed just the same/as well as the last time which is good...As of now everything is on for tomorrow...which means I wont be posting again until after I've been drugged up and lasered...

I know all will go great!

Ill write as soon as I can

Brye

Can They Handle a Second Dose...I know I Can!

...Tomorrow I get to check into Germany's finest hotel again...They cook your meals for you...change your bedsheets...and cut out any pesky tumors you may have...a real "full service" establishment...

Yesterday I was feeling a little nervous for the second surgery. I wasn't nervous thinking it wouldn't go well...I was nervous because I now know what to expect...and I don't like the feeling of coughing up blood ewwww!...But now I'm over that nervous feeling. I'm actually looking forward to seeing some of the people working in the hospital again. (well...everyone except the physical therapist lady...she never enjoyed that fact that I would rather walk around the city then go to "fitness hour"....) And I'm sure they'll be happy to get some help translating for the other English speaking patients again...

But this time I am thrilled that I have knowledge of the secret menu...something I wish I had known earlier...I will take full advantage of roast chicken, omlettes, STEAK! OH MAN I'M HUNGRY!... :)...I will also take full advantage of the pain medicine...

I'm confident that everything this time will go as well as (if not better than) last time. Hope you all are doing great...and I probably won't write again until after I get out of Intensive care (or if my friend the nurse guy springs me from IC for an hour to write something...)

Bryce

Back and ready for more...

So im back in Germany...Frankfurt to be exact...making a stop on my way back to the Dresden/Coswig area. The time between surgeries has flown by...it's hard to believe that a month ago I was just leavng te hospital and now im already making my way back to be poked and prodded.

But my time in France was awesome...just what I needed. I was able to really have some well needed rest...as well as some fun of course. The city was close enough that I walked to town almost everyday which was good to get my lung strength back up where it should be. Almost all of the soreness has gone away and the numbness has amost completely worn off.

I leave Frankfurt tomorrow morning and arrive in Dresden in the afternoon. Then Saturday some of the kids at church my age and I are throwing a Halloween Party!!! Im uber excited about this...There will be pictures I can assure you...

Then on Monday the 2nd I check back into the Hospital for round two...and after more tests (ear pricking and plexi-glass box lady im sure) I'll be ready for he surgery on Wednesday the 4th...

Hope you all are doing well and I'll write again soon...
Bryce

One year older...and wiser?

So last night my mom and I finally made it down here to Montpellier, France to stay with a good friends' family. We got lost a little bit...but all's well that ends well!

The weather down here is just like back in California...a nice change from the chilly and rainy weather in Germany. Today we are going out to explore the city with the mother of the friend. Tonight we are going to have a little birthday dinner here at home...nothing complicated, just a little dinner and dessert. I am 23 now...and a lot has happened since last year. Last year I was coming home from my mission; a huge adventure. I couldn't have imagined that I would be having another crazy adventure so soon! This past year has been great though...many new experiences, many new people, many new things I have learned about myself...but; time to get off the computer and get going! 

Bryce

ps...still sore...but it's not stopping me...I love you and miss you all tons...

Gee...I wish I was back in the army...

I feel like I'm at home right now...

My mom and I are visiting my step-brother"s family here in Bitburg Germany. He"s in the Army so we"re on an Army Base and everything is american here. We get to use US dollars, US washers and dryers, eat at US resstaurants, and go to a US Grocery store... and then you turn on the radio and its in German...so there you go.

My mom and I left Dresden (in our rental SMART car) on Tuesday and I drove us up to Hamburg where we got to see my Mission presdident and his wife again. That was great to see them again. It was almost a year to the date that I had seen them from when I left Germany last time. We stayed there on Tuesday night and I drove us down to Bitburg Wednesday. There was construction and rain. But I was zipping in and out of traffic in our teeny SMART car...you really ont realize how small it in when you"re in it...but then you see anoter one drive next to you and think...ewww...THAT"s what we"re driving? But it got us here safely...

We've been here since Wednesday and have been having a good time with the family here. I guess the kids here are technically my step-niece and nephews...but I"ve never met them before now since they've been living here and I've been in CA. The kids are really nice and I enjoy making people out of chestnuts with them. the mom is from Holland an she wants to take us there on Saturday (only an hour an a half drive from bitburg) to show us her "motherland" Apparently I faile geography 'cause I thought Holland would have been a lot further south than that...anyways...I still need to google why they"re called "Dutch" when they're from the Netherlands...and not "Netherlandians"

Im getting better and better day by day. The scars now a light pink instead of a bruied purple color and the tube holes are healed up now as well. I just ave to constantly stretch my right arm etc to keep it from tightening up on me. When we were driving I sneezed really hard...It hurt but felt sooooo good...I heard three cracks of my ribs...i just felt like I could breath so much easier after it popped.

thanks again for all your love...

Bryce

Cafting with the Kids :)

So Im now out of the hospital staying with the Vogler family again with my mom. I went from absolute boredom having just myself, by hospital bed and german MTV to 4 crazy kids running around the house. Yesterday the went and picked two buckets full of chestnuts and I asked them if they wanted to make something. We made an outside hanging mobile...it was fun...and it kept them distracted for an hour or so...their parents were able to do nothing for that hour :)
The kids love playing games with my mom and I and we are always playing memory, or kids bingo or reading the two year old picture books. Its good for my mom because she's trying to improve her german and the kid picture books are great...she now knows how to say Fruit and Vegetables...we're so proud of her progress :)

The weather's been a bit chilly the past couple of days and we can feel fall coming on strong. It rained Kaetze and Hunde today...

Im slowly getting over the soreness from the operation. The lung doesnt hurt....but the muscles are just sore; both on the right AND on the left. I guess the left side got a little roughed up during the operation. I keeü stretching my right arm and side to keep the muscles loose...I think a good massage is appropriate :) Im just taking Tylenol in the morning and before I go to bed but other than that the soreness is pretty much managable/tolerable. I do enjoy a mid-day nap before kids get home...need to store up some energy before the chaos starts...

hope you all are doing WUNDERBAR!

Bryce