So Kevin had his 2nd appointment at Landstuhl yesterday. That place still feels uneasy to me, but not as menacing.

The trip consisted of Kevin, Derric and I, just so the older kids at home wouldn’t have to worry too much about watching him, just doing what they were told to do. Before falling asleep, Derric was very fussy on the way up, and woke up fussy. A fussy 6 year old is not very fun, in case you didn’t know that.

So we get to Landstuhl and head to the hospital. I will say, that place needs more parking. For a hospital that size, you would think there would be parking, but alas, there isn’t. We ended up having to park off a dirt road that is kinda being used as over fill parking.

We walked up to the gate that surrounds the hospital (yes, the hospital is surrounded by a gate on post) and show our IDs. Derric has started to shy away from gate guards, not sure why, but upon first seeing them, when we show our IDs, he scrunches into the back of my legs. Upon leaving the hospital and passing by the same guards, he will be all smiles and might even wave to them upon passing.

Of course, this trip to the hospital, I arrive with a totally full bladder, and the one thing I want more then anything… a bathroom. But would you believe there wasn’t a single bathroom along any of the halls we went down as we headed for the Ophthalmology place? Seriously. And it wasn’t just me that had to pee.. No, Derric also, so he was walking slow and kept asking to go to the bathroom. I had to keep urging him forward. Thankfully the Ophthalmology place had a bathroom.

While Derric and I went to the bathroom, Kevin checked in and filled out the paperwork. Ha! He actually had to fill it out himself this time! LOL.

Kevin got called back rather quickly, and of course, he wanted me to come along. Since this was an eye appointment, I wasn’t sure if I could go back. Here at Spang, they kinda don’t like that, especially when I have a young child with me. So I was surprised when they said I sure, and even provided me with a chair! Got his vitals, then sent us back out. We settled in, thinking we would have quiet the wait the second time around, but sure enough, they called us back right away.

And it was one of the best appointments I have ever attended! This guy was good. He asked right up front about Grave’s Disease. So this meant we were dealing with someone who knew what was going on. A good hour or so and we left feeling like we actually managed to accomplish something. And from the sounds of it, we will be seeing this guy pretty regularly for quiet a while. (I think it might be time to look into seeing about fuel recomp!)

So where are we sitting with everything? Kevin has Thyroid Eye Disease. I knew his Grave’s Disease wouldn’t leave things alone. So last night I dusted off his old folder from when we went through everything before, and got it ready for round two.

Today, I called in his appointments.

He needs a referral for an Endocrinologist. A new Thyroid test needs to be done. (And speaking of Thyroid tests… did you know that his last test that he did about two weeks ago came back with a LOW on the results and we were never contacted about it???) And we need to get him in to have a talk about with his PCM about WHY we are not getting a follow up or at least informed on his results.

That was a fun adventure. One I wont bore you with today. But lets say, talking with the appointment line for all that Kevin needed was almost worse then declaring world war three on some country. But I will end with, I THINK I got it sorted out, and we are just waiting to see if we hear back from the nurse on everything we requested…. We shall see…

Kevin had an appointment today. The man I married seems to insist on having some form of medical condition going at all times… I had hoped things would be smooth once we took care of the Grave’s Disease, but I guess that just isn’t in the fates for now. I think the deities of these times are enjoying the fun of putting me through tons of medical for better or worse.

Today’s trip was to Radiology for a CT Orbits scan. Next week it will be with Ophthalmology. Then who knows from there. Oh, and we still don’t have his thyroid meds under control, but until the old PCM PCSes out and the new one takes over, I highly doubt we will even start to get that under control.

Landstuhl was honestly not what I was expected. I think the post was built around the hospital. There wasn’t any real clear sign on where to go. I heard there was a PX, but we couldn’t find it. But there was a section that had the gas station and class six that you had to go through another check point, we didn’t explore that direction. The housing was nice looking, and I really hope I never have to use one of those Fisher houses, even though they looked very comfortable.

The hospital itself was really interesting. From the outside, it didn’t look all that complex, but if it wasn’t for the maps inside and helpful doctors, I highly doubt we would have found where to go. What does one say on an open public form about something militar? How to express the thoughts and feelings of being there, without giving away too much information.

Landstuhl was always the one military base/post, I hoped I would never set foot on, and this year alone, will take me to it’s gates twice, at the very least. Thankfully, for not one of the many reasons I could be there, and thankfully for nothing too serious. But until we get my husband’s eyes taken care of, I have a feeling Landstuhl will become familure.

In other news, Derric’s hyperness is starting to drive me crazy. I need something to focus his mind and energy, but so far, I have no clue what. What could I get him in that would allow him to express himself, but not demand too much on him? But his constent bouncing around the house today has given me quiet the migrain. I really think I am going to go curl up in a dark bedroom….

Life hates you…. Your husband always finds a way to make you smile……

Things around me have been pretty depressing lately. There has been a lot going on, and not all of it settled anytime soon. But with everything, Kevin has made sure I smiled at least once a day, and for that, I am very thankful.

(more…)

We are in Germany, as 99% of you know. What most don’t know, is that the wonderful husband is still paid in US dollars. Now this is great for all American bills, but it doesn’t make it easy to buy anything off the military base. Normally, at big bases, this wouldn’t be a problem, but we do not live at a big base, instead, we live at a rather small one. We do have many services available to us, but those services are very limited in supply or options. This generally means, you find a bigger base, or suffer the exchange rate and buy locally.

Currently, the exchange rate, just sucks. Sorry, there is no gentle way to put it. The USD is in series decline here, taking more USD to make Euro every day. Buying locally means we pay almost double the cost. Even with the help of COLA (or Cost of LIving Adjustment money) it still hurts to buy locally.

Wonderful husband is military, his rank in the military sets the amount of money he makes, he does not get over time when he works 12 – 14 hour days since he is on call 24 hours and they can keep him those 24 if they need to. We have a set amount a month of money, rather low, but then I wont bash it. It is no where near the amount he would make outside the military, but I know he will get that paycheck monthly no matter what.

Because our monthly income is less them $3,500 a month, we are able to apply for free or reduced lunches for the kids. I love this because school lunch prices are so high now a days. I remember taking in $2.00 a day and buying a huge amount of food… Now, I have to send in $2.85 for just a basic lunch, no extras. That gets expensive, and the kids love eating the school lunches. Ok, not all the time, we tried the fixing lunches for school, I packed them huge lunches and they still complained.. But we can’t afford that either. We are closing in on the cap for Free lunch, if wonderful husband gets another raise, we will fall into the reduced lunch, which will be around $1.50 for lunch a day, again no extras.

Normally, this just went to the school lunches.

Saturday, we made a trip to a bigger BX at a different base. This base with the much more in supply and more options, is around an hour and 45 minutes away. This is also driving at Autobahn speeds, which range from 80mph to 95mph. No, kidding. It is recommended you go around 130kmp most of the time, which is 130 x 6 = 780, dropping the 0 = 78mph. In some areas, like construction and just some areas for some reason, the speed limit drops to around 80kmp or even as far down as 60kmp. So it is a distance away.

We got there around noon, and the first place I wanted to stop at was the optical center. We have a very limited supply of glasses on our base, the kids selection is really bad, they also don’t have any lenses, so any glasses we would find, would have to be shipped away. At this other base, they had a full optical office, complete with most basic of lenses and many options for frames.

This being my first time there, walking in, I am in just complete aww. I have gotten so used to seeing the limited supply at my base, but to see the amount they had, I was like a child in a candy store. I wanted to check every display. A nice lady asked if there was anything she could help with. I pointed to the three oldest and told her I have three kids that need glasses. The next question threw me for a loop. She asked if the kids were on any program for lunches at school. I told her they were on the free lunch program, in which she asked if I had a letter. Of course not, why would I need their free lunch letter when getting them glasses?

This wonderful lady, then explained that they have a program, where if the kids quallify for free lunch program, they also qualify for free eye glasses.

Wait… What?

She pointed me in the direction of a display case that had all kinds of sizes, shapes, colors, etc, of eye glasses. Explaining that if the kids can find eye classes from this case, they will be free. So, we looked. We found three cute pairs of glasses, the kids look wonderful in them. And when she range them up, she handed me a recite that said I owed nothing… I should come back at 3pm to pick up the glasses.

I walked out of there in a complete daze. I made the trip up, expecting to pay around $400 in glasses and frames, and here I am, walking out with three pairs of glasses for free. I have to contact the school to see about getting the letter she had orginally asked for and to email it back to her. She was 100% confident that I will get the letter. Even if I don’t, the glasses were only $50 each, still less then I planned on paying. So I will be contacting them as soon as I can so I can get that letter over to the glasses place quickly.

Saturday was a good day. We made it home, the hubby and I currled up, watching the first three discs of Season 2 of Full Metal Alchemist. The kids, enjoying their new glasses played video games, went outside to play with friends, and read books.

It was a nice relaxing day after a very long drive.