Life back in the P.

Hello everyone. It has been a little while since I have let everyone in on what's going on with me. Where to start? I arrived home and was extremely happy to see my children. They are my world and the only thing that I have worth fighting for. I had some major jetlag after being home for a day. All the overstimulation of children was starting to get to me. I needed to have some quiet time and try to get myself back on schedule. This is really hard to achieve with kids, dogs, wife, etc.  I slept for a while and I kept getting these horrific pains in my ribs and shoulders. This was forcing me to spend a lot of Time in the bathtub. Lets just say that "pain changes people". I became a real "joy" to be around. I narrowed it down to two factors. One I was in a lot of pain physically, mentally, and emotionally. And two I was not happy with my home life.
Friday morning I had to make a decision and I chose to grab a few of my belongings and go stay with my mom. As a thirty year old who has lived independently from his parents for almost a decade, it is really hard and different to live with your parent. If I wasn't going to try and go back to Germany so soon I would find myself a permanent residence to maintain that independence. Ok so that's that. I'm trying to make this life work for the time being.
Saturday morning I went to a birthday party for my friend Kevin and we shot skeet at a shooting range for a good five hours. Lots of my friends from high school were there. It was alot of fun. We continued the party that evening at his dads house. I brought the kids and there were lots of kids there. We all had a blast. Literally! Sunday we went to the park with my good friend Leon and his family, another friend Brian and his family, and Kevin joined us as well. We played hard for a couple hours and then went to dempseys for lunch. We then went and spent a good portion of the afternoon with Leon and fam. We had a great day. I was introduced to the really great vitamins that I have been taking daily since and I'm feeling amazing. They aren't a total gut bomb like most vitamins are.
Monday morning I woke up and got the children ready for school. I took them into town and dropped them off. I was not going to see them until tuesday. I took advantage of this day to catch up on some needed rest and some misc. things.
Tuesday I got to go see Camille in gymnastics. She is a natural. Watching her is so cool because she is so strong and really enjoys herself. I'm hoping that she will continue to hold a strong interest in gymnastic. I really feel that children need extra curricular activities otherwise they just run rampant in the house, or become couch potatoes. Yuck. After gymnastics we went to sushi with Grammy. That was a nice meal. Camille is my good eater. We went back to my moms house after and we played on the property for a while. I had to go and pick up Liam so he could go to tae Kwon do. This was fun for me to watch also. Liam however is different when it comes to the extracurricular activities. He is a little lazy, and loses focus or get distracted. This is frustrating for me because I was a focused person when it came to sports and things like that when I was his age. He is extremely smart though so I just have to accept the fact that "extracurricular" may not be physical for him. It might be mental. I will support him in whatever path he chooses. Ok anyways. We had fun with that and then we went to Leon's for a couple hours.
Wednesday we got up and off to school. I wouldn't see them again until Friday. I used Wednesday to get myself a storage unit where I could start putting some of my belongings. I am a master packer though. I put so much stuff in this little 6x8 unit. And I have a ton of room still. I spent a good portion of this day handling misc. things. I got a lot achieved. My dad and I picked up Liam from school and took him to the park for an hour before we took him to gymnastics. We had a really Funtime with just the boys. Gymnastics was fun for Liam. I think he likes it. He was getting a bit sore in his arms though. After gymnastics we dropped him at home and then I went back to my moms for the evening. Thursday wasn't super exciting. I did have dinner with a buddy of mine. That was fun. We talked for a couple hours. It's nice having my supportive friends close right now.
Friday. My dad, Leon, Kevin, and myself all went to the shooting range again. We had a good time. A lot of laughter, joking, reminiscing. All the good stuff in life. Leon and Kevin have been my friends for a really long time. I lost touch with them for 8 years and I feel really blessed that they are both back in my life. I also got to spend time with my buddy nick earlier in the week. We had dinner in Sonoma and met up with a friend from work. We had a great time as well. I enjoy time with nick.   Friday night was spent at Leon and Ashley's house. We did Easter egg coloring and all the kids had fun. We had pizza, there were close to thirty guests children included.
This morning has been lazy, we had a birthday party at kids party central at eleven. I brought Liam and figured out there was wifi and I could use this time to check in and post my blog. I have been kinda without Internet so it has been hard to be daily plus with all that's going on I need to find my groove. I have been feeling a bit better being home. I'm looking forward to going back and getting better. I will miss the time with my kids but it is a blip on the radar of life for me to kick this disease once and for all. Sorry it took so long to get this written. I know you have all been patiently waiting. That's for the support. Love Lucas

The flight home

Hello to my followers. 6:30 a.m. I woke up to my regular routine. Meds, bath, clothing, and then off to breakfast. I had my normal breakfast today, and planned to have one more infusion today for good measure. After breakfast I went to the nurses station to see Stephie. She said that they needed me to evacuate my room as the new guest was already there. Lucky for them I had already packed the day before. Since I wasn't going to be able to lay around my room, I asked dr.Weber if I may have a vitamin infusion as well. He said "no problem". So, 8:30 I'm getting ozone treatment and vitamin infusions along with one more dose of thaimis. I was trying to finish this book that chad let me borrow, but this new patient from San Jose was chatting my ear off the whole hour I layed there. I was up really late the night before reading this book. I couldn't put it down.
9:30 I went down to the lobby to read and kick my feet up. The problem was that there were only chairs, so I started to get really uncomfortable. I went to the nureses to see if I could lay down somewhere for a while. They let me lay on one of the infusion beds. I read for a good hour and a half. Daniella brought me a liver pack which I loved. I layed for another half hours reading. 11:45 I went to lunch and Chad and Lisa were waiting for me. I made a salad and Margaret brought me a soup and ratatouille. This was a good lunch to leave on. I said my goodbyes to Chad and Lisa. We will continue to be in touch when they get home. I said goodbye to Gunther, who reminded me to stay positive and keep a big smile on my face daily. I patted Liz on her back and reminded her to stay positive, she looked at me with a scowl. I wished her the best of luck. On my way out I saw Dr. Weber and his wife. I hugged them both and told them to keep my room warm for ill be back. They were both smiling ear to ear. I think he knows that he has givin me a real chance at beating this once and for all. He said to email in a couple weeks to let him know how I'm feeling and when I'm coming back.
12:45 Stephan is waiting for me in the car. We depart the clinic towards Munich. The ride was enjoyable with stephan. We talked about German traditions and soccer. We also talked about all the festivals that will be going on when I return. He said they are very nice and I should try to attend at least on for the Bavarian experience. All the chatting made the ride real quick. We got to the airport and Stephan parked and made sure. I got to the right place for ticketing. I said " see you soon"  and then he left. My mother in law, Sandra requested wheelchair service for me which was cool. I got right through all the customs, and security without having to wait. I also didn't have to walk the 1/2 mile to the terminal. This was very nice. I had about an hour to burn before the plane started boarding. I went to a little store and got a water they make you show them your passport and boarding pass to purchase water at this store. I said " this is kinda ridiculous huh?" The cashier was a bit rude. When I went to pay here one of the coins stuck to my hand and she thought that I dropped it purposely on the counter. I got the dirtiest look that I've gotten in a real long time. There was no explaining myself. She tossed my change on the counter and I smiled with a half chuckle and left.
The plane started boarding and I was getting anxious to get on and get flying.
I got a really good seat whith a wall infront of me. This gained me another foot of leg room. The passenger next to me was this huge German guy I was not looking forward to bumping elbows with him for the next twelve hours. When the plane was full, the flight attendant Did the normal blah, blah. We took off and I fell asleep. I guess i slept for an hour or so. When I woke up they were offering drinks and snack crackers. I pulled out that book and decided that I wasn't putting it down until it was done. I succeeded and finished this book. I've never been much f a reader but I am noticing now that I really enjoy it. The one bad thing about my seat was there were two couples with babies on either side of me. This was asking for disaster. I'm happy that I had headphones.i won't breakdown every hour of flight for two reasons. One is because I don't wanna write that much and two because it wasn't that eventful. We've all flown.
The big German was a lefty on my right so eating wasn't fun, he also was farting the whole time and that was annoying. The babies did cry. One of them off and on for hours. This wasn't fun either. Like I said though. I had earphones so I could zone out. I slept maybe three hours of the whole flight. The in flight meals were not that bad. My butt fell asleep and when we arrived in San Fran I was so happy to be home. I couldn't wait to get off the plane and get my bag so I could catch the airporter and get back to Petaluma. I made it through customs without any hassles and just missed the airporter by 5  minutes. This meant that I would have to wait another hour for the next one. Ohh well. I'm happy to  be home. 9:30 air porter arrives and I'm on my way. Get into town around 10:45 and my dad is waiting for me at the bus stop. He gave me a big welcome back hug and we got my bag and headed to my house. I walked into a well lit fully cleaned house. Megan was watching a movie awaiting my arrival. I gave her a big hug and a kiss and then assured her that I was in desperate need of a shower. I  unpacked my things, took a shower, and by this time I had been up basically for twenty four hours with some cat naps. I'm beat. So I hit the sack.
It's now 1:00 on Wednesday. I spent the whole morning with my kids. It's been real nice but also exhausting. I haven't been around this energy in a while so I think I'll need to ease back into it. Megan took them out for a while so I could rest.  I'll keep the blog running on a weekly basis until I return to Germany.  Everytime I post I'll send it to Facebook. Thanks for the support. I'm glad to be home. Stay tuned for updates. Love lucas

Day#21

6:30. Last day of treatment in Germany. Wake up Luke! Lets get this day started I tell myself as I slide into the bathtub for my morning soak. It feels so good to arise from a warm bed and slip into a hot bath. 7:15 I go down to breakfast for my normal eggs and toast. Today I decided to go soft boiled though. This was a great choice. I am just feeling great today all around maybe it's because of the long FaceTime that I had with Megan and the kids last night before bed. I'm really excited to see them. 8:00 I went upstairs for a hyperthermia treatment, ozone blood infusion, and vitamins. Chad gave me a book to read. It's a murder mystery that took place in southern Oregon. He couldn't put it down and said that I would probably enjoy it. He was right. I couldn't put it down either. The hyperthermia went pretty fast due to the reading.
9:10 I had a second detox foot bath. The water was just as gross as the first time. I have a lot of toxins still in me, but in due time they will be gone. This foot bath takes 30 minutes and then the nurse rubs your feet with lotion. It's nice. After this treatment I had my magnetic field treatment. This was another twenty minutes and then my day was done. 9:50 I'm back in my room and I decide to start packing my bag to make sure that I can fit everything that I brought/bought! This process took me a good hour of situating but I think I got it. 11:00 liver hot pack time. Ohhh, I love laying with a hot pack and surfing the web. I'm having so many ideas for little projects when I return, even though I should just take it easy I'm feeling so good that I feel like I can take on the world again.
12:00 I went down to lunch. There's a new couple from Australia here. The husband Phil has the same cancer story that I have. We exchanged our experiences and I kept telling them that I am staying positive and not dwelling on the past. This makes it easier for me not to get sucked into the pity party conversations. We're moving forward here, not dwelling. EFF-CANCER. I ate salad, creamy soup, and deer with a stuffing type side. It was really yum. Dessert was a lemon sorbet cake. So good. I went back up to my room and thought about taking a walk into town one last time. My room phone rang and the secretary asked me to go to the ultrasound. I went to ultrasound and we looked at my liver and this other growth I have. The Dr. Was really excited everytime she measured the tumors because they are all shrinking. She also said that my liver function was looking much better as well. This was a huge relief for me. She said to go to my room and wait for Dr.Weber. I went back to my room and Dr. Weber came and got me about an hour later. We went to his office to talk about the ultrasound and the tumor markers and all my blood work from last Friday. He informed me that because of how bad of shape my liver wain when I got here that we did not see a huge difference in the treatment, but the last two bloodtests and the ultrasound show that I am responding well to the treatment and medications. I have very little pain now and my liver function is almost perfect. My tumor markers are still dropping. There's no other cancers in my body. My jaundice is gone. I informed him that I wanted to come back soon and he said to give him a date to get me from the airport and I can come for as long as I want. He believes that I am more then stable enough to come home for a while and maintain with the meds that he's sending me with. My plan is to come home for 6-8 weeks and then return until I'm all good. He agrees that it would be good for me to take a break from the vitamins and ozone for a little while.
I got back to my room and thought about taking that walk but when I looked outside, it was raining. So I layed back with that book of chads and got lost in it for an hour and a half. I pulled my eyes away to check the time and noticed that is was close to dinner. So I walked down and prepared my fruit salad for later. The waitress brought me a big bowl of soup, and the main course was bruschetta. I had two big servings. It was good and I was hungry. I sat and talked to the Aussies for a while after dinner and then I came back to my room. I face timed Megan for a few minutes and then decided to let you all in on my day. It's eight o'clock now and I'm just finishing up the blog. Today was a great day. No complaints. I'll be back on us soil tomorrow night. I'm excited for that. I hope that everyone enjoys the blog today. Tomorrows will hit late if I do it at all. Thanks again and again for all the love and support. You all rock. My warriors. Love you. Lucas

Day#20

Woke up at 5:30 this morning. I was feeling a bit achy from all the activity yesterday I think. I took my medications and layed back down for a while. Today is again a very easy day for me. I have three appointments totaling an hour and forty minutes. At some point I moved to the couch in my room and turned on CNN. This is all the English we get here on the t.v. 8:00 I decided to go down to breakfast. I had some eggs and toast with jam. I ate pretty quickly and then went back to my room. I am really lazy today. I think that this is ok. 9:00 I went to my hyperthermia appointment. I started reading but I was unable to concentrate on what I was reading so I stopped. I need to clear my head. I ended up closing my eyes and drifting in and out of mini naps. 10:00 I layed down for bio- mat treatment and same thing, I closed my eyes and just rested. Allowing my healing without the loud mind.
10:30 I came back to my room and layed on the couch while I surfed the web. I am looking into gardening ideas for when I get home. I would like to grow the produce that I'll be eating. I found some really cool ideas in my search and I'm excited to start the process upon my return. 12:00 rolled around and it was time for lunch. I had two salads as usual, a split pea soup and some kind of a meat dish with a potato salad. The dessert was yogurt and fruit. I returned to my room stuffed and layed on my bed. I listened to the wind outside as it whistled through my cracked window. The sound was entrancing to me because the next thing I knew I was waking up and it was time for dinner. 5:30. I went down for dinner. Really not that hungry but I know if I don't eat I'll be up at three starving. I had another bowl of the split pea soup and shrimp kabobs. I ate fast and came back to my room. Today has really just been a lazy day for me. A lot of catching up on sleep, thinking time, reflecting time. All in all I'm happy with the way I spent my day. I never allow myself at home to do this. I think that's gonna have to be something I continue when I get back to the states. It's now 8:30 and I'm about to watch Forrest Gump. I love this movie. So I hope everyone enjoys my uneventful blog of the day. I'm settling in. Have a great day everyone. Love from me in Germany. Lucas

Day #19

6:30 today is beginning like any other day here at the Klinik. Morning routine. Get ready for breakfast. 7:00 I ordered three eggs scrambled, and made some toast. Discussed with Chad what time to leave for Munich. We were hoping to get on the ten o'clock train to rosenheim. I had a nine o'clock appointment so I went to see if I could start early. That wasn't a problem. 8:00 hyperthermia appointment. No vitamin injections today. I read my book and the treatment went pretty fast.
9:00 I went back to my room to wash up and get ready for the day at Munich. I got all my warm clothing on and went down stairs. Chad and Lisa were waiting for me in the lobby. They said that Dr. Weber wanted to give us a ride to the train station. When we got in his car, we knew why. He has a M5 BMW with all the bells and whistles. It's a pretty cool car. Fast too. He's such a funny man. Would never picture him in this car, but now that I think of it, I can't figure out what car I do picture him in! Weird!  10:11. Train to rosenheim. No problems. 10:30 train to Munich. No problem. We get off in Munich at the right station and for some reason we get right back on the train thinking we needed to get off at the next station. We were wrong. We ended up at the biggest station in Munich. Well with our luck this was bound to happen. We went straight to the information booth and asked them how to get back to the other station and then what train to connect us to where we were trying to get. He told us that we were a ten minute walk from marienplatz or we could wait for the train for a half hour. We walked. In the station there were rival soccer fan groups, chanting, and harassing each other. There was a big match in Munich today between Berlin and Munich. Berlin is the number one team so there were a lot of their fans in Munich. This could be trouble later.
We left the station and worked our way through huge crowds of pedestrians. There were. So many people on the streets, it was unreal. Street performers of all different talents were there. Tents selling fruit and veggies. Souvenir shops, it was crazy. Great people watching though. When we got to the town square, marienplatz. There was a big PETA type demonstration going on, lots of vegan, non animal eaters trying to sway the public. It was peaceful. I walked past. Chad really liked the hofbrauhaus that we ate at last time. We decided to get lunch there. The crowd there was no different. Very lively, beer, chanting, lots of toasts. Just a really fun atmosphere. I had a pork knuckle which had been recommended as a traditional Bavarian dish. It was so delicious. It also sat real heavy on my stomach. I won't eat it again. I payed for it during digestion. After lunch, we strolled the streets, looking in all the shops. Trying to find some gifts and whatnot. We decided that it would be better to start heading back to the train station sooner then later. We hit many shops on the way to the station.
When we got to the station, there were police everywhere. They had on protective gear. I was excited that I might witness a real soccer fan brawl. I walked slowly through the station incase something happened. Well of course nothing did happen. We caught our train and some fans were on it. They were pretty drunk but were in another cabin so it was all good. We got all the way back to brannenburg and it was 5:45. We decided to eat at the other Italian resturaunt in town. The food again was amazing. I had a salad, minestrone soup, and gnocchi.  We left dinner and went across the street for an ice cream. I got a scoop of lemon. So good. I cheated big today. Tomorrow I need to make up for it. We braved the cold walk to the Klinik and by the time we made it there we were all pretty much frozen. We said our goodnights and parted ways. I came straight to my room and couldn't climb in the bath quick enough. I must have soaked for a good hour. Well it's 10:00 here, and I'm beat. I hope that everyone has a great day today, and that you enjoy reading my blog. I'm off to bed. Thanks for the support. Love lucas

Days #17-18

Good morning to me. 4:30 and my phone is dinging from a mass text sent in the US that people are responding to. I try to ignore but I'm unsuccessful. I am also having a little pain in my back some mornings due to I believe the mattress here. My bed at home is so darn comfortable that I never am quite as satisfied when I sleep elsewhere. Ran a hot bath and soaked until the water got cold, then I let half out and refilled. 6:30 I finally got out of the tub and decided to throw on my clothes and get ready for breakfast. 7:00. I arrived at breakfast thinking that I would be the only one here but to my surprise, Chad, Lisa, And the new guy Russ were all there. Chad said that his daughter woke him up at four thirty as well. I thought this was a funny coincidence. We were planning on heading into town today to do a bit of shopping. Unfortunately it snowed two inches the night before so our plans were possibly going to change. I ate my usual and then it was appointment time.
8:30 I started the day with a reflexology appointment. Markus and I talked about obamacare and my thoughts on it. I will never discuss anything political in my blog, I feel that we are all entitled to our own opinions. I feel that that's all I'm going to say about that! We also talked about this festival that was going to happen later that day in the next town. Chad, Lisa, and myself were already thinking about this for today. Plans still in the air! 9:05 I have hyperthermia with no injections. One of the nurses came and talked with me for a little while. She asked if I liked poker. I said that I can play it but I'm not much of a gambler. She said that her brother is my age and plays every weekend. She was asking if I was interested in playing with them. I told her perhaps. Her concern was that I was bored here being that I'm so much younger then all the other patients. The people here are always so thoughtful. I assured her that I've been alright and actually enjoying myself and thanked her for her offer. 10:10 I decided to have a detox foot bath. They soak your feet for a half hour in an ionized bath and the toxins secrete from your feet. It's really nasty how many toxins your body has in them. When I started the water was clear. After twenty minutes it was the color of beef broth. I will do another on Monday. 10:40 I did the magnetic field treatment.  I returned to my room for a liver hot pack and some time to send emails.
12:00 I went down to lunch and the sun had decided to peak through. Chad approached me and said that he needed to get out today. I was all for it. I ate my lunch which consisted of creamy rosemary soup, and white asparagus with risotto. The nurse earlier said that "you must have the dessert today!" So I had it. It was a fresh apple fritter type dessert with ice cream. Wow! It was awesome. Chad and I planned to leave at one thirty. I went to my room to get changed and situated for the adventure.
1:30 I'm in the lobby waiting for Chad nod Lisa.  He comes down and says that the Dr. Wanted to speak to him so he would be a few more minutes. I am in no hurry so I waited. When they were ready they told me that Stephan was gonna give us a ride to the train station. This cut a out a half hour out of the trip. We got to the station and purchased our tickets and then we were off to Rosenheim. We arrived in Rosenheim and wanted to look for some souvenir shops, we walked for two hours only to find that all the stores here sold the same stuff we could get back at home. The difference was the price. More expensive here. It snowed on us a lot today so we went for refuge in a little coffee shop. It was so warm in the shop that we didn't want to leave. We noticed around us that all the people were eating cakes and sweets. Dessert is an everyday practice here I'm noticing. Maybe it's like this at home too I just don't pay that close of attention. We left the coffee shop to head back to the train station where we would catch the train back towards the clinic with a pit stop at the town between Rosenheim and Brannenburg. We got on the train and when it left, we were going the wrong way! Shit! We started laughing!  We started towards some town called "helz kichoen" or something like that. I said "hells kitchen". When we arrived, we jumped off and caught the next train to rosenheim.
5:50 we get back to rosenheim. The next train to brannenburg is at 6:40. We go into the station to wait and look around at the little businesses that are in this station. 6:30 and we head over to the track where our train is supposed to leave from. Get up there and the train had just departed. We missed it by two minutes. The time we read for departure was the arrival time at the station we were going too. Shit!! Now we have to wait another hour for the next train to brannenburg.  At this point we are getting frustrated, hungry, tired, we are just laughingly trying to hold it together. We decide to skip the festival and get back to the town we need to be in.
7:40 we arrive in Brannenburg and look for a restaurant because we missed dinner completely at the clinic. We decided on Italian. We got to the restaurant and sat with relief that we were finally going to get to eat. The waiter brought us a bruschetta each. It was very tasty, my wife's is still better but this was pretty good. I had a soup with a couple real thin pieces of meat and vegetables along with a pizza margahrita. Very delicious. Very filling. We paid our bill and then made. The half hour trek back home. It was so cold that the ground was freezing. Black ice everywhere on the road. It would be scary to drive in this weather I think.
9:30. Got back to the clinic. Frozen to the bone. Said my goodnights to Chad and Lisa. Thanked them for a fun and "exciting" day. Returned to my room. Informed all you that the blog wasn't coming tonight. Ran a hot bath. Warmed up. Crawled into bed. Lights out. The end......


DAY 18

Today I woke up at 6:15 feeling well rested and ready for another fabulous day of German healthcare. Normal routine and off to breakfast. 7:20. I ordered three eggs scrambled and I made a breakfast sandwich with a Little cheese,egg,ham,cucumber,tomato,bell pepper and cream cheese! Yeah it was awesome. Very filling too. 8:00 the appointments have begun. Hyperthermia with infusions. I read my book for a little bit and also spent some time pondering what I read. I'm noticing that this book, has a lot of the principles that were introduced to me through A.A.  I started wondering if the author was a former alcoholic or if she was a "coda". (co-dependent). Both follow the same kind of spiritual program. I have realized a lot about myself over the past couple of years. When I was diagnosed, I was heavily involved in A.A.  I believe that this prepared me in so many ways for the battle that I was about to face. I got better while maintaining some normalcy with this program even though I was becoming less and less involved. I went into remission and got cocky. Lost my sight in the higher power and within six months I was back where I started.  Only at this point a lot of walls were up between me and my god. I can make a million excuses, trust me we all can! The point here is that I made a decision to believe that I beat the cancer without the help of a higher power and it came back. It has taken me almost two years to fully realize what had happened. I turned my back, I threw pity party's, I stayed sick!  Trust me I'm nowhere near perfect, would never claim that, but I would like to strive for perfection in my health from this day forward. I will start with my relationship with my "higher power" and every other relationship will work itself out. Wow! I just went on a little tangent! Back to my treatment. 9:00 went in to get my magnetic field treatment and read my book again for twenty minutes.
Came back to my room and threw on some snow clothing and went outside to build a snow gnome. I made this little guy and put him in a tree. I took pictures that ill post to Facebook later. When I went to move him to another location he broke. My hand were freezing at this point so I went back inside. 10:30. Appointment with markus. We talked theater and drama. I told him that I used to be involved in this in high school but that I developed stage fright in my junior year and dropped out. He talked about the different actors that he has worked with and how they all prepare different for going on stage. I remember this too from when I would do shows. I always loved the energy befor and after a show. All the adrenalin that was released. Best natural high ever. 11:00 liver hot pack before lunch.
12:00 went down for lunch. They were serving creamy kohlorabi  soup, and noodles with salmon. Very good lunch. I was so full after that I returned to my room and took a nap. I awoke just after 3:00. My stomach has been bubbly since lunch, I just kept laying in bed until dinner. I started reading a different book " the way of the peaceful warrior". Good book so far. 5:20. I went to dinner and ordered some soup. Then I ordered another soup. Then they served veal sausage and sour kraut. It was good. The sausage was not that heavy. I sat and chatted with Chad and Lisa about this and that. We are going to Munich tomorrow again to watch street performers and shop and whatnot. It is now 7:20 and I am done blogging for the day. I hope you all enjoy this. I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for the support. Love to all of you from Europe. Keep tuned for tomorrow. Blog might be late tomorrow night. Just a warning. Lucas.

Day #16

6:30. Good morning. Up and ready for another great day of recovery. I am feeling a little tired today so I stayed a little longer in the tub. 7:30 down to breakfast for the usual boring breakfast I eat. Today I had cereal instead of oatmeal so "watch out". Things might get a little crazy round here ;). I talked with chad only briefly and then I was off to my appointments that started promptly at 8:00 Hyperthermia along with ozone blood treatment and vitamin injections. I started reading through a book called "Inner Simplicity" 100 ways to regain peace and nourish the soul. By Elaine St. James. This book gives you some easy ways of getting rid of some of the "extra clutter" in your life. I'm digging it. 9:00 I went back to my room for a little while to check out all the Facebook activity from while I slept. I ended up spending some time on Pinterest looking at garden and home ideas. 10:05 went to have my magnetic field treatment before I went for a massage. I forgot my book so the treatment seemed to drag on. 10:30. Massage with Markus. My back was really sore and his massage was almost painful. I was ready for it to end. When it did end though my back started feeling better fairly soon after, so I guess I was in need of it.
11:00 went to my room and Steffi came to give me my liver hot pack. I became immobilized during this treatment so I went on Pinterest again. 11:45 and its time to beat the crowd to lunch. I went and made a huge salad which was good but the rest of lunch was really filling too. There was chestnut soup which was so good. I've never had this before and I could have eaten like five bowls. Then there was gnocchi in a tomato sauce. God it was amazing. So I stuffed my face and retired to my room to digest. It has been raining outside so I'm stuck indoors. I layed on my couch and watched some soccer. I dozed off for a while and woke up to cross country skiing on the sports channel. I guess that my body was needing the rest. I'm not fighting it, if it says sleep, I'll sleep. Eat, I'll eat ,etc.  So my afternoon was uneventful but I'm feeling well rested. 5:30 I went down to dinner where I made a nice fruit salad to eat later tonight. I had a clear soup with noodles and a tortellini with a tomato butter sauce. Really good dinner. After dinner I walked outside because it has started to snow again. I took a couple pictures. Check my Facebook. The snow is semi- sticking to the ground. It's supposed to get really cold over night so I think the ground will be covered tomorrow. It's now 7:00P.M.  here so it's 11:00A.M. there. Again I thank you all for the support. Keep the prayers coming. There is a light at the end of the tunnel but I not there yet. I send love to you all. Enjoy the blog and enjoy your day. Lucas

Day #15

6:30 alarm going off. Another beautiful day in brannenburg, Germany. The sun is no where to be found. I get up to do me daily routine. 7:15 I report for breakfast. I'm noticing that I am a creature of habit. I like things a certain way, and if they get disrupted, it really effects me. This is something that I'm going to have to work on. So, one of the chefs makes great eggs, and oat meal. The other one not so much. The oatmeal and eggs are always watery. I eat them but I'm not satisfied. I can cook too so I want to go in the kitchen and do it myself sometimes. My first appointment was at 8:30 with markus to have my feet worked on. He noticed during the session that my liver felt much better to him through my feet. This was interesting to me. He could tell through my foot that my internal organ was in better shape. Fascinating, yeah?  As I walked downstairs I ran into Dr. Weber. He said that my blood work was back and before he could say anything else I blurted out "and everything is perfect, I know". He looked at me like I was crazy! Then he asked "how do you know this? Did you see the papers?" I said " No Dr. Weber, I just know that everything is working! Look at me!"  He smiled and agreed that I do look good. Then he had to run. "We talk later, bye".
9:00. During my appointment with markus my side was a little painful so I went to get a pain shot, and my other daily shots. I returned to my room and wanted to soak in a hot bath. I had an hour before my next appointment so I did just that. I read "The Four Agreements" while I soaked. Re-reading for clarity. I stayed in the tub for forty five minutes. When I got out I felt great. Ready for my appointment. 10:10 hyperthermia. I layed out and read my book for this boring treatment. I'm happy that this treatment is working though. I almost finished the book during my treatment. 11:15 I went to my room for the liver hot pack before lunch. I finished the book. 2nd time!  11:50 I went down to lunch so I could get at the salad before it got ravaged by all the guests. I don't know what it is about salad bars, but people cannot make a huge mess out of them. It's like turning toddlers loose on play-doh! It's getting everywhere!  So I like first dibs if possible. I made a nice sized salad to eat and had a soup and they served fish. It was a little fishy flavored but not horrible. Everyone was eating so I saw this as a good opportunity to finish my treatments. I went up for magnetic field. I sat alone for ten minutes. Then some lady came in to have this treatment. I think she was an outpatient. Not even sure if she was getting cancer treatment. She didn't speak a lick of English so we sat quietly. I continued to read and she whipped out her cell phone. Her buttons had a tone. Fricken everytime she pushed a button it was followed by a beep! Arg! Someone shoot me! That is the number one most annoying thing on my list. Unless you are blind, you don't need button tones, or keyboard clicks. I sat patiently waiting for my treatment to end and then went back to my room.
Now I'm not sure why, but when I came back to my room I was suddenly very tired. I layed on the couch and watched some billiard s on the t.v.  I fell asleep. I woke up at half past four!  4:30 "knock, knock hello". Dr. Weber comes bearing good news I suspect. We sit. He tells me that all of my levels are down!  My bilirubin which was at 11 on Thursday is down to a 3.5. My liver function is still a little high but I'm filtering a lot of toxins. This is expected. He gave me a list of number so I'm gonna give you all rounded figures, but know that every number is an improvement. My CEA which is a tumor marker went from high 6's (6.8-6.7) to about 4.5. The tumor mass indicator dropped about 150 points or so. Everything else is dropping or improving by 100-250 pts all the way across the board. I am so excited for this news today. I knew I was getting better but this far exceeded the news that I thought I would get. I'm on cloud nine. I owe so much of my recovery to all of you! My followers, my warriors, my friends, my family! Without all of you. I would have a hard time staying motivated. Now I'm in hyperdrive to full remission. Theres no stopping me now. I'm stoked.   5:30 I went down to dinner and ate with the group. I told chad and Lisa about my results and they were thrilled. It was nice to share this with someone other then a Dr.  Even though Dr. Weber is more a friend. The food was all really good. Chad asked me how to FaceTime his daughter so I helped him figure it out. On my way out I caught Marlene (Liz's mom) and was able to let her know that the cake was a kind gesture and that I hoped I didn't offend her. She said she never was and that was a relief. We talked for about ten minutes and I let her know my news too. She said that she had a feeling because I look so much better. All encouraging. I said goodnight to the group so I could return and finish this blog for you all. I have really been enjoying keeping you all updated but I feel like this is the one that has the best news by far. Germans know a thing or two about cancer. I'm a firm believer. I played around with some poetry today. Trying to tap those creative roots. Might shoot one out here and there in the future blogs. Thanks for the continued support and comments. Love to you all. Straight outta Germany. Lucas

Day #14

Not sure if the sound of my alarm was pleasant or not to me this morning. Anyways 6:30 and I'm up to start the day. Normal routine, 7:15 and I'm on my way to breakfast. I had a. Bowl of cereal, oatmeal, bread with blackberry jam, and two soft boiled eggs. What a breakfast. Ron and georgette were leaving at eight so we all said our goodbyes and exchanged emails. I also bought some of their euros off of them so they didn't have to exchange later. Liz and her mom didn't come to breakfast until after I was gone. I wanted to make sure that Marlene didn't feel like I was suggesting anything by my cake gesture yesterday. I think her daughter made her feel ashamed and I don't wanna add any injury to insult. 8:00 hyperthermia, injections, and ozone blood treatment. I love that I get all these at the sametime because it really eats up your day if they are separate. 9:00 I went for magnetic field and Liz was there. It was awkward, I apologized to her about her mom and she said her mom thought it was sweet just that everyone else has been teasing her. I said that I never once teased her infact I felt extremely uncomfortable when she would tease her in front of everyone. I would do the whole "god, this is really uncomfortable" awkward smile. I'm really not that fond of Liz at all. Whatever. Not my deal! Moving on. Pray for her!
 9:30 went down to talk to the chef about the meals and I think that I'm going to stop being such a princess and eat what they offer everyday. My stomach is feeling better, I'm eating more, no need to be a special task for the kitchen. I sat and ate some fruit and talked with Gunther. He was having a late breakfast. This guy looked horrible when I arrived and he is looking much better now too.  I really think that this Dr.Weber is on to something here. Everyone looks better as the days progress. 10:15 I went back to my room to "surf" the web and to watch CNN. 11:00 the nurse came in with my liver hot pack, so I layed on my bed and relaxed for another half hour. 11:30 I went to do my bio-mat treatment and fell asleep. The nurse woke me up at noon and told me to go eat lunch.
12:00 went to lunch. They have a serve yourself salad bar before the meal. I had two salads, garlic soup, and chicken w/ rice and gravy. Delicious. I moved to a different table now because my table was really crowded and I need some room when I eat. Plus it's nice not to feel obligated to have a conversation if you don't need to. Less stress. 1:00 went to a massage with Marco. Who I just found out his name is markus. And he is a play writer here in Germany and actually really successful. He explained to me a play he wrote and I was amazed. The storyline was awesome. Something that I haven't seen. Very fresh. He told me to look it up on you tube.1:30 I went back to my room. Im done for the day. Decided to check out markus's play on YouTube. It is really a great show. It was in German of course but because he explained it to me, the acting really paints a wonderful picture. I am completely in awe of this mans talent. Successful play write with a twist of massage. This place is so cool.  I decided to take a walk into town to get some fruit for my room. I strapped on my headphones and departed. I was keeping a pretty good pace and feeling quite well. It decided to start sprinkling a bit and then get a little harder. Soon I was walking in the rain. I found shelter at a bakery where I bought a croissant. I waited for a few minutes while the rain let up then proceeded to the fruit market.  At the fruit market they had great looking big, ripe strawberries. I bought some. And some grapes.
The rain let up so I thought that I might want to head back to the Klinik so I didn't get soaked. It stayed dry the whole walk back. I think god really does love me!  I got back to the Klinik with an hour to spare. I bought a guided imagery audiobook to listen to. It's supposed to help you sink into deep relaxation. I'm not sure how I feel about the lady voice who reads it. I'll try again tomorrow but today I couldn't fully relax. I relaxed a lot just not from this audiobook I mean.
5:30 and I am down for dinner. I have my own table now as I've mentioned so I can really spread out. I got a big bowl of fruit to work on cutting up for later. I had creamy garlic soup,then another, then vegetable lasagna. Once again dinner was great. I feel a little outcast now that I changed tables. Silent treatment now from Liz and her mom. Oh well. I like being in my own world anyways. Gunther came in late and we talked for a good twenty minutes about how he was feeling and what his near future plans are for treatment. I really like this man. He has a positive outlook always. And smiles even though he look like he doesn't want to at all. He's a lot like me I feel. He likes his alone time. He comes later for meals and often eats in his room. I'm always glad to catch him for a few minutes. I returned to my room around 6:15 to finish the blog. I am looking even better tonight. My color and completion is almost completely normal again. Full, Honest disclosure is what my blog is about. No B.S. right?  My insides are all functioning normally again. Everything that exits is in the right color and consistency. TMI? Who cares?  Hope you enjoyed my blog today. I sure did enjoy writing it. I also enjoy the posts and likes. It's really awesome to know how many are following me on my journey. It's been mentioned to me to write a book. I'm not sure about that, but I was thinking of keeping the blog running when I get home. Who knows eventually I may have a book!  Love to you all. I posted some photos too so check me out on Facebook. Lucas

Day #13

7:00 woke up to get my daily routine started. I was really hungry so I went directly to breakfast. At breakfast I ordered three scrambled eggs and cereal and toast and a big glass of orange juice. You could argue that I am feeling excellent today. My pain as well is no as noticeable so I think that this procedure was really a good thing after all. Not to mention that the yellow in my eyes is almost completely gone!! At breakfast we all talked of heading into Munich today by train and taking a walk around the big city. 8:00 chad, Ron and I all went upto the nurses area to bombard her with our treatments for the day so that we could catch a train as early as possible. By 9:30we were all done with our treatments and getting ourselves situated to walk to the train station. (20 minutes away). Got to the train station at 9:50and the next train to rosenheim was at 10:11 We got our tickets to rosenheim and waited. The train arrived right on time and in ten minutes we were at the train station in rosenheim. 

At this train station we had to purchase another ticket to Munich and asked for help. The information booth helped us get a five person all day all track ticket for 38 euros total. This made our day a lot easier because we can hop all the tracks and go wherever we would like. Thank god for information desks. So we jumped a train to Munich. This train took about twenty five minutes or so. When we got to the station in Munich we needed. To make one more transfer to get to marinplatz which is Like the town center. We make our way to this train and it takes about eight minutes to get to the station in marinplatz. We have arrived at our destination. 

We walk out of the subway system into the center of what would be like union square in the city. Lots of people, pigeons, and street performers. The architecture is amazing, the building that I first noticed had these awesome gargoyles and statues and what have you. It was amazing. I took lots of pics. I'll try to post them on Facebook. We were all hungry so we went to the hofbrauhaus which is like the "hard-rock cafe" of Germany I think. There were lots of people flowing in and out of this place and a gift shop at the entrance. I would have bought something there but they were all really cheaply made things. The food was good but the atmosphere made it worth the visit. They had a band playing traditional music. Every person had an oversized mug of beer and they all chanted and pounded on tables. I loved it. We ate our food slowly, took in the experience, then hit the streets.  

Back on the streets now and it's about 1:30. We walked around hoping to find a shop open but there was no luck. Only coffee, food, and beer on Sunday in Germany. We walked around, taking in all we could and ended up back at the town square.  We watched street performers for a while. This one guy was killing it on the accordion. I've never heard it played like this, had to tip. I got talked into trying a lemon sorbet, so twist my arm I had one and it was great too!  We slowly made our way to the train to start our journey back to the Klinik. The train rides were pretty uneventful except in rosenheim I stopped and got Marlene who is Elizabeth's mom, some sweet German cake slices. She is into her sweets and I thought it would be a good gesture. I spent like fifteen euros on cake. Ohh well. Good cause!  Fast forward!! Back at the Klinik now and it's just after 5:00. Get a text from Jamaica and she says that she is able to FaceTime so I take her up on that offer. We chatted for a good twenty five minutes. It was really nice to see and speak with her. I enjoyed it very much but it was cut short by the nurse who stormed in to let me know it was dinner! Sheesh!  Said goodbyes to her And Grayson and went to dinner.  

Dinner had the best creamy asparagus soups ever! I had two servings and then my usual chicken and taters. Yum. I gave Marlene her cake but Elizabeth made her feel so uncomfortable that I don't think she really could have enjoyed it. Anyways. Everyone left the dining area and Chad,Lisa,the new guy John, and myself stayed after and talked for an hour and a half about all our separate journeys and how we ended up here. The nice thing was that chad and myself have a very similar story even though its very different. We both experienced a lot of the same emotion around the disease. John is newly diagnosed so he is also taking this in but he has a more open mind then Elizabeth so it makes it easier to talk to him. I really enjoyed this whole day. A lot of self growth time i think. I am looking forward to the next week of treatments and what this amazing Klinik still has to offer me. For those who didn't see me before I left, I look and feel one hundred percent better. And since the procedure my color is back and my eyes are almost completely white again. I love it here. Can't say enough good about my experience medically. Thanks for the support. Love to you all. Stay tuned. Lucas

Day #12

Woke up this morning at 8:45 and was in a quick panic that I completely missed breakfast. I ran down to the dining area and there were still people eating so I was in luck. I ordered my usual soft boiled eggs and oatmeal. Delicious! I sat and talked with a German man named Gunther. We talked about my procedure and he said that I am looking a lot better today then I have all week. This was very pleasing to hear. He said he was concerned when he didn't see me there for the last day and a half. We talked about the difference in western medicine practices and the German practices. I told him that I believe (and I really do) that if I had got yellow (jaundice) in the states that the dr.s would not had tried to do this procedure. I feel that they would have told me that its probably time to start thinking about getting things in order! I am really glad that I got here when I did because Dr. Weber wants to see me live and is doing and exploring all possibilities to aid me in my fight. They did this procedure because it is still possible to help me, in the US the Dr.s are so controlled that they are unable to help their patients even if they truly want to. This is a sad truth but unfortunately it is just that. I believe that my Dr. Has done a lot for me and has tried to aid my fight and explore all the options that he is " allowed" to offer me. We will see when I get home what they are willing to do for me. I'll need this shunt replaced in twelve weeks and if they won't do it in the US then I will have to come back here for the procedure. This will be the true test of how far our own medical Dr.s will go for us!!10:30 I went to get my shots for the day and have my magnetic field treatment. Chad was sitting there getting his magnetic field so we talked for about fifteen minutes. He said that he had dinner with "the downer" last night and was amazed at how much doubt she still has in this process. I shook my head and said that I honestly believe she will not get better here until she lets go and accepts the treatment. We talked about the trip up the mountain they all took yesterday. I didn't let out that I was kinda sad that I was unable to join them. They had a good time though so I was happy for that! 11:15 I have an appointment for the hyperthermia treatment. I layed on the bed and got all set up for this hour long treatment. During the week it seems like it goes much smoother because I get my infusions while I do this so there is more interaction with the nurses. I'm noticing that I really love attention! Whatever, it makes me happy and I have every right to be happy! Anyways. I read my book "The four agreements" ( which I just started over). I really like this book and want to completely grasp all the concepts.
12:15 down to lunch where I ate a huge salad, chicken, rice, carrots and today I had a little dessert. It was all delicious. 1:00 went to my room to work on my blog for a while and just have a little relaxing time.2:00 decided to go down for tea and cake minus the cake. The couple from Phoenix was down there and we sat and talked for a while. The conversation was based around alternative treatments options in the states and what they have found. I like discussing these topics as long as it doesn't turn into a " poor me" pity party. We know what we're dealing with, lets move past it. This convo never got there so I'd say it was a good talk. 3:30 I decided to take a walk up the hill behind the klinic where there were people rock climbing the cliffs. This was really cool to see so I just sat for a while and watched them do their thing. These guys and girls made it look so easy but I'm positive that I wouldn't have made it a quarter of the way up the cliff that they were taking to the top. It did trigger my interest though. I continued my walk up to the church and beyond on a little trail that ended at a bench where I again sat and enjoyed the scenery. I sat until about4:30 then decided to walk back to the klinik to get ready for dinner. No FaceTime with the family tonight. They are in Tahoe with minimal service. 5:30 went to dinner and there is another new face. Another guy from California. He sits right next to me so my table is now a bit crowded. I quite possibly will be relocating my seating arrangement tomorrow. Dinner was good. I rented the movie " forks over knives" so I wanted to get back to my room and watch it. I will let you know my thoughts on the movie tomorrow. I hope you all have a great day. Stay tuned for my next blog. Love lucas

Day #11

Today started out different being to the fact that I stayed at a completely different hospital. I woke up close to 7:30 and my roommate Stephan was laying in his bed looking at his phone. We exchanged good mornings and chatted for a while about just randomness. It was nice to just have a casual chat with someone that wasn't about cancer or treatment or blah, blah.  The nurses brought him in breakfast and I was unable to eat because I was going to have a procedure within a couple of hours. Stephan offered to eat in the hallway but I insisted that I was fine with him eating I front of me. He was a very polite person. After his breakfast, his dr. Came in and told him that he was free to leave. He got ready and we said goodbye! I really enjoyed meeting him and I will keep I touch with him via the world wid web! 9:00 and a nurse walks in to tell me to get my things gathered so I can go down stairs. I love being carted around in a hospital bed (as sick as that may sound) I feel like I'm a little kid being pushed around with no control. It's fun for me! So we make it to the procedure room and I am able to get wifi for five minutes to get a text off to Megan to let her know that I'm going in for the procedure and not to worry.9:30ish I'm in the procedure room and there are two nurses working around me explaining what is going on and hooking me to all sorts of feeds. One of them puts an plastic gag with a hole in it in my mouth and the dr. Said "you feel a little tired, yes?" Befor I could say anything they were waking me up saying that all went well and they needed me to roll over to my  bed for transport. The whole procedure took a half hour or so and I woke right up from the anesthesia without any problems. This is really weird to me because in the US I always have a really hard time waking from anesthesia and need to be kept on oxygen for hours after. Maybe the Germans don't over drug you! Crazy. About 10:30 I get upstairs and they are waiting to put me in a room. I am starving but they will not let me eat just yet. The nurses gave me some medication to help me relax and some fluids. I fell asleep for a while.  The nurses kept coming over and grabbing my wrist to get responses from me while I layed resting. Around 12:30 they wheeled me down stairs to the gastroenterology rooms are and set me up in a room until I could talk to a dr.
Earlier after my procedure the dr. Said that they needed to discuss the procedure before they decided to let me go and that they possibly wanted to keep me through the weekend. I didn't want to stay through the weekend at this hospital. Around 2:00 the dr. Who did my procedure came to talk to me and let me know that they placed a shunt to allow my bile ducts drain into my duodenum. Technical terms. I have a growth that is creating an obstruction which is inturn making me jaundice. They fixed that. He told me that the piece he put in is plastic and would need to be changed or removed within twelve weeks. This is something that I could have done in the states. My color of skin and eyes is already clearing so I am really happy about this. Anyways the dr.cleared me to leave and called the Klinik to come get me. At this point it was 2:45 and I still haven't eaten anything. I'm really hungry and the dr. Said as soon as the blood work comes back that I can eat. 3:15 blood work back, ok to eat, ready to eat, yay so excited, knock knock at the door! Freakin Stephan the driver from the Klinik! So now no food for another hour, I'm happy I'm leaving but I am so grumpy from hunger. Anyways I can wait so we left. When we drove back to the Klinik I noticed every single place that was serving food and it just made me more hungry. There was traffic on the autobahn, going towards Austria. Stephan said that there is a lot of snow so the people leave town on the weekends to go there. Much like all us p-town kids and Tahoe. We finally made it back to the Klinik and I went in to see dr. Weber. He is very happy with the outcome of this procedure, he gets really excited. I love it! 5:15 I took a quick shower to wash big hospital off of me and then went down to dinner. It was the best dinner that I have had in a really long time. All the Americans went for pizza tonight in town! They invited me but I was just not feeling it. I was way too tired and grumpy. I also found out that they all went on the train earlier today so I missed that opportunity as well. I'm a little bummed and feel left out but, I will go by myself tomorrow instead and have a great old time, yeah! So I came. Back to my room and the food gave me a second wind so I decided to write my blog and send it out. I hope you all enjoy it. I will post again tomorrow. Stay tuned. More adventures in Germany right around the corner!! Love. Lucas

Day #10

6:30and I am up and already getting prepped for my big day, a transport to another clinic where they are going to take a look at my liver and decide whether or not to put in a shunt to help the toxins flow freely from my liver. 7:30down for breakfast where I had two soft boiled eggs and a roll with some fresh strawberry jam. Very yummy. I went back to my room after I ate and waited for my transport. 9:15 Steffi came in to let me know that Stephan was waiting for me to go. Grabbed my things and we got on the road. The whole trip to the new Klinik took just over an hour. The driver Stephan is a pretty quiet person. I had to spark up all the conversations with him, and it was really hard to keep him talking. His English was alright but I think he may have been a little shy or un-confident in his English. Either way the trip had nice scenery. I really like the landscape in the area of Germany I'm in. It's kinda spread out, ranch style scenery. Beautiful. 10:30we checked in at the kreisklinik in Ebersburg,Germany. This is a five story hospital. After checking in they were ready for me with a bed to get me ready for the procedure. They said that they were going to try and get me taken care of today but it might be hard. When they were asking all the normal questions and found out that I ate breakfast they said that I would have to wait until tomorrow. So I'm gonna camp out at the hospital tonight and get the procedure early in the morning. Then if all goes well I will be back at the other Klinik tomorrow night. Lets keep our fingers crossed. 

12:30 I got into my room and met my roommate. He is a young man in his mid twenties. His name is Stephan and he had a small surgery on his foot. He speaks really good English and as we were talking and I told him where I was from he said that he studied abroad in Santa Barbara last year. Small world. The hospital room doesn't have a wifi so he is letting me use his phone as a hotspot so I can inform everyone what's going on with me. 1:15 decided to take a walk into the town here and take a look around and also grab a bite to eat. Since I'm not having anything until tomorrow I need not sit in the room all day. It was really nice out today. Lots of people on the streets. I think that ice cream is a big thing around here because there are shops everywhere and there's always people walking with cones. I went to an Italian restaurant and the food, atmosphere,and service were all really nice. I had minestrone soup which was served without noodles and it was a clear broth. Very different but very tasty. I also had a pizza with a little cheese and sauce and a San pelegrino. After lunch I walked slowly back to the hospital just kinda enjoying the fresh air. When I got to my room, Stephan had a visitor. I asked if he needed some privacy. He did not. I thought that it would be a good time to start blogging my day. 3:00a nurse came in and said that I need to have an ultrasound. The dr.s wanted to make sure that they were going to be able to do the procedure tomorrow so I didn't waste a whole night here at the hospital. I love the treatment here. They are very thorough in everything and I'm not treated like a lab rat, but more like a lab prince!  I went back to my room and talked with my roommate and his mom until dinner was served and then we ate. The dinner was potato soup and some kind of a cream of wheat. It was really good for hospital food. We figured out the wifi situation and I have to sit in a stairwell to use it so I will only send my blogs but I won't be checking my Facebook as often until I'm back at the other Klinik. Thanks to all of you continued followers. Wish me luck tomorrow and I will post tomorrow night about my experiences again. Love from Germany. Lucas

Day #9

Didn't sleep well last night. I was tossing and turning with a back ache that just wouldn't quit. Ran a really hot bath and soaked. Ok ready for the day. 7:45 breakfast. Today was an easy day so I took my time at breakfast and filled my tummy. After breakfast I went back to my room for a little while. Thought that I would watch an episode of Grey's. 9:30 Dr. Weber came into my room and said he needed another blood test and that he is going to send me to another clinic tomorrow to see a liver specialist. The whole trip will be one day. Because I won't be at this clinic tomorrow he also wanted me to get all my treatments today so that I had them all. 11:00 I was back in my room to do a liver hot pack before lunch. I think we do these to help with the detox process in the body. 12:00 went to lunch.  Chad and Lisa were talking about taking a walk after lunch to a train station to get information about taking a train up the alps on Sunday. I asked if I could tag along. 1:15 we set off for our walk and it was starting to cool off a bit. It's a good thing that I had on thermals. We walked about a mile to the station. It's pretty cool. This train runs every hour up to the top of these mountains where there is a restaurant, a tram down the backside of the mountain, and supposedly on a clear day you can see Italy. I'm really excited to go on the train Sunday.
2:30 we got back to the clinic and I was a little tired so I went to my room to chill out until dinner. 5:00 Megan face timed me and we talked for a bit before I went to dinner.. She's going to FaceTime me later with the kids. It's nice to see them everyday. Makes being away a little easier. 5:30 went to dinner and had flounder. It was delicious. I also had mashed taters with a special gravy and some rice oh, and some sour kraut! The conversation at dinner was nice until Elizabeth aka "Debbie Downer" started in with her " cancer" talk that all conversations seem to turn into now. I know it's new and she's scared and I should probably be more patient but right now it is important for me to be selfish and get myself better. I'm not here to take on someone else's baggage. I can be a positive support to anyone but I'm not going to sit around second guessing and over analyzing every little thing that is going on at this facility. They have success with cancer treatment, I'm going to trust that they will have success with me and so far it's working. There. That's my rant. Don't wanna come off as an insensitive asshole, but every conversation is about her doubts of every single thing around her cancer. Chad and Lisa made a good point. Maybe we could just get to know each other cancer aside and be supportive as friends instead of a group of people awaiting their pending death. I'm not dying, I'm just a little sicker than most. My immune system needs a reboot and that's what I'm doing. I got this! Maybe you can say a prayer for her tonight that will maybe help her to find some ease and comfort that what she is doing is the right thing and if she trusts the process. She will be fine. Thanks warriors. I blessed that so many of you have my back. Love to you all. Tomorrow i'll be writing from a different clinic. Hope you all enjoy your days! Lucas

Day #8

5:30 I woke up and I'm wide awake. I took melatonin last night to help me sleep through the night and It defiantly worked. Even though I was having crazy dreams about being an extra on the t.v. Show "Grey's Anatomy" that I have been streaming all week. That was kinda weird. Any who! Morning routine then off to breakfast. 7:30 breakfast is served oatmeal that was too watery and soft boiled eggs. Those were good. I also had some " bud wig" it's an anti-cancer concoction that they have out every morning. It's alright. 8:00 hyperthermia treatment and vitamin infusions. After these treatments Dr. Weber wanted to see me and do another ultrasound on my liver and go over my blood work. He said 9:00 and we finally met at 11:45. He got really busy. Appt. with him was nice and everything is looking good. All my tests are coming back with positive numbers. I'm excited for this.
12:30 lunch. Chicken and potatoes with a salad. Very good and then I decided to take a walk into town and find the bank an a grocery store so I could get some essentials. The town is very interesting. Very small but spread out. I walked around checking out all that they have to offer. I will go into town again when I have. More. Time to really explore. I had to get back for a massage. 3:00 massage with Marco. No complaints here! Back to my room for some quiet time and a little "Grey's Anatomy" before dinner. I went to dinner early and was finished eating before everyone got down there. Really not feeling like being social tonight! I was back in my room by 5:45 had FaceTime with Megan and Camille. We talked for a good hour and a half. Now I am really tired. I hope that today's blog is informative enough. My day is done. Thanks again for the love and support. Stay tuned.

Day #7

6:30 alarm sounds and I finally got a real good nights sleep. Spring out of bed to get my morning routine going. Stephi must know that I am usually an early riser because I get the first appointments everyday. I don't mind this at all because then I am free to do what I want. 7:30 went to breakfast and had oatmeal again. This time it was made the normal way so that was good. I also had a little bowl of cereal.  8:00 had my hyperthermia treatment and all my I.V. Fluids done within an hour. I read a section of "The Four Agreements" while I had my hyperthermia. I find myself re-reading the pages two times so that I really can get what the author is trying to get across. If I find myself judging, I go back and re-read also. This book could be very helpful for a lot of people I believe but that is just my opinion. 9:00 went back to my room to take some meds before I went to my magnetic field appt.  sat at that appt. with Chad from California.  We talked a lot about a clinic that he was going to in Reno, ran by a guy named James Forsythe. Who practices similar treatments to what is offered here in Germany which is good news for me because I can continue an after care a lot closer to home. 10:00 went to my room to relax for a little while and look at emails, watch some t.v., lay around. 11:30 went down a little early for lunch. I was pretty hungry today. I had two servings of salad,soup, and some chicken and rice. Also a drink that is a probiotic made from fermented bread and apples. Tastes like a vinegar only much sweeter. I liked it. We all sat down at lunch and talked until about two and I had to go to my appt. with the masseuse. Poor me ;) 2:30. Went to join people for tea and cake. I didn't partake in the cake but i did have some tea. I came back to my room after tea and I have just been a little tired in the afternoons so I layed down befor dinner and took a little nap. When I woke up it was time to facetime the family and we got to talk for about fifteen minutes. This was nice for me ideally enjoy seeing them. I do really miss them too and this is a reminder so that is the hard part of it. 5:30 dinner was yummy beet soup, bread, fruit, quiche. I really enjoyed all of it. We all sat down in the dining area chatting, until we got kicked out! Now I just got back tony room twenty minutes ago and figured I might as well keep you all posted. My loyal followers, my warriors.. Thank you all for the continued encouragement and Support. I love you all! Stay tuned for tomorrow's great German adventure. I'm planning on going to the bank, and store. Pray for me :)

Day #6

8:00 up and on my way to breakfast. I ordered oatmeal for breakfast and the chef made me oatmeal with chicken broth or something like that. It was a little salty and had herbs in it. Kinda weird but surprisingly good. The two older women from Denmark wanted to know if I would accompany them on a walk in the afternoon, I agreed. 10:00 I have a hyperthermia appt. and need to get another dose of vitamins. This appt. went very well, I layed in the bed and read for an hour. After the appt. I went back to my room and read until lunch. I am reading " The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz. It is a very interesting read. I love the concepts of this author.  12:00 I went to lunch and decided to add some chicken to my potatoes and carrots. This was a good choice. 1:00 I went for a walk with one of  the Danish ladies to this church up on top of a rock quarry behind the Klinik. This is a very sacred place I believe because there are a lot of historical signs and statuary. There are caves where religious people lived. It's a very cool place to see. I will go up there again this week and take some pictures to post to the blog.
2:30 when I got back from this walk, Elizabeth from Sweden wanted to know if I would walk with her into town, I said "sure". We walked for almost an hour the whole time I kept reassuring her not to worry so much about her diagnosis that she is not benefiting from all the future tripping. I have a feeling that every conversation with her will be like this. Anyways, stay positive! Right?  We got this!! I went to my room to regroup before dinner. 5:30 dinner is nice, I had the same as I did for lunch. The new couple who came in this afternoon are from Woodland,CA. This is what I'm talking about! People from my neck of the woods. Chad, a stucco contractor has been battling throat and prostate cancer. He is in great spirits, has a small tumor in his neck and just wants to get rid of it. His wife Lisa seems like a really nice lady and a great support. We sat and talked with Elizabeth and her mom until the hostess kicked us out of the dining area. All in all I would say that today was a good one. Got out for some exercise finally. Got some sun. Hopefully will sleep well tonight. Hope you all enjoyed. Tune in tomorrow.

Day #5

9:00 the phone is ringing! "Mista Broooooks, you come to breakfas?"  Oh crap I guess I overslept this morning. I think maybe its because once again I was up all night. But today that is all going to change. I went down and ate some corn flakes and had a cup of juice. Back to my room to get situated. 10:00 Dr. Weber came to see me and let me know that he wanted to give me extra vitamin infusions on the weekend. So I went with him and we did exactly that. After my infusions I went back to my room to check my email since the wifi crashed last night and I was cut off from the world! I decided that since today there was pretty much nothing going on that I would do my interview for the argus via email. The story will be in this next weeks paper sometime. I figured out that I can just keep a running blog instead of making a new page everyday so this is the first day on the running blog.
5:30 went to dinner and had mashed potatoes and boiled carrots. This is my new meal of choice as it is very easy on the stomach. I sat with Elizabeth and her mother who flew here to be with her from Wisconsin. She has a ton of questions regarding cancer being as she was just diagnosed three weeks ago. I try my hardest to answer all the questions that I can for her and ease her mind, she seems to be really worried. I know where she is coming from I just have had a lot more time for everything to set in. It is hard for me sometimes to try and explain how and why I handle things the way that I do, but it all makes perfect sense to me.
It is now 6:45 and I am retiring for the evening. I didn't nap at all today so I am planning on getting a full nights sleep. I will keep this blog running. Be patient with me as I try to figure out the best process for logging all my experiences. It's really cool to see how many people are reading my blogs daily. Thanks for all the love and support. Lucas