Be careful what you wish for indeed...
I wanted to find out more about European healthcare...but not like this! I came to the Emergency Room on Sunday night here, only to be admitted with some sort of laryngeal edema. Let's start off at the beginning:
Some ERs aren't open on Sunday nights. Is that not one of the craziest things you've ever heard?! How can an Emergency Room be closed?? Well, me, crying from terrible pain and looking like complete shit, and my German friend, Julian, tried three different hospitals before I ended up here. It was a pretty normal experience at that point. The doctors took my blood pressure (which was INSANELY high, thank you crazy pain in my throat) and temperature...but it was ALL IN GERMAN. So, at that point, I realized this was going to be an adventure. I thought, mistakenly apparently, that German health professionals were all good at English, too, and would probably be able to speak with me in English. SO NOT THE CASE. I have spoken mostly German since I've been here, and trying to explain what's ailing me in another language is a whole nother bag of cats, let me tell you. Anyway, I waited in the waiting room for about a half an hour before they called me into see an ENT. Yep, an ENT was randomly on call in the hospital at 2am on a Sunday night. (so that was cool). The ENT told me then after examining my throat that I had severe edema in my throat and that I would have to be admitted for 2-3 days. Two to three days in a foreign hospital? I've never even been admitted at a hospital at home! So, reluctantly, I was escorted up to my new room in the HNO Klinik (Hals, Nase, Ohren = Throat, Nose, Ears) where I was shown to my bed and told to go to sleep. Ha. After a few more IVs of pain meds maybe.
The next morning came eventually, and I slept most of the first day. My friend Amy (the lifesaver) brought me some necessities, including my computer. I had to buy internet for 20 Euro for 10 hours though, so that was kind of a bummer. Anyway. I felt so horrible that whole day that I just kind of curled up into a ball and wished for death. It was made worse only by the fact that everything was in German. Instead of just saying, "OH GOD THIS HURTS, please do something about it!" I had to say "Das tut mir weh! Bitte hilf mir!" which didn't come so automatically at first. Speaking in a different language for me requires some sort of thought for me, which doesn't come automatically when the main concern is that you can't breathe/feel like your neck is going to be severed in two. But, I learned very important vocabulary words like, "my IV needle is pinching me!" (Diese Nadel knarft mich!) "I feel like I'm going to throw up!" (Ich habe übelkeit!) I need pain medicine! (Ich brauche etwas für schmerzen!) And the nurse said I spoke "echtes perfektes deutsch" (really perfect german) so that was nice.
Yesterday wasn't quite as bad, a few more people came to see me, so that was nice to see them all. But most of the day was spent napping and watching the Fox and the Hound. That just made me miss home a lot because it reminds me of Sarah and how far away I am from my family. It's been really hard to be away from home through this, but maybe it's made me a stronger person in general. It's been tough to see the woman I share my room with have her family and friends come and visit, but you know, it's not so bad. I've talked to my parents, kept them in the loop, and hope that they're not too worried about me. It's my mom's birthday today! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!
Today has been loads better than the last few. I got my voice back! I ate a bunch for lunch (more than half of what they gave me!! big news!) and I even went for a walk. This hospital is situated on a really scenic hill in Bonn, so you can see the Siebengebirge (7 hills surrounding Bonn) and pretty much the whole city except the Rhein. It was really nice because the trees were super green and it smelled like fresh rain. Also, it was the first outside experience I had in 2.5 whole days so it was refreshing as all get out. Man, I almost wish I had one more day here so I could go on another walk! (Almost). Today was also amazing because so many people came to visit me today! I had a pretty constant stream of visitors from 10:45am until 5pm. I felt really loved and especially great because I could actually talk with them. It was really nice, but I'm SO RELIEVED and happy that I get to go home tomorrow.
Well, wish me luck with getting out of here, trying to explain that I'm well enough to go home in German is going to be yet another hill to climb...
Tschüss!
I wanted to find out more about European healthcare...but not like this! I came to the Emergency Room on Sunday night here, only to be admitted with some sort of laryngeal edema. Let's start off at the beginning:
Some ERs aren't open on Sunday nights. Is that not one of the craziest things you've ever heard?! How can an Emergency Room be closed?? Well, me, crying from terrible pain and looking like complete shit, and my German friend, Julian, tried three different hospitals before I ended up here. It was a pretty normal experience at that point. The doctors took my blood pressure (which was INSANELY high, thank you crazy pain in my throat) and temperature...but it was ALL IN GERMAN. So, at that point, I realized this was going to be an adventure. I thought, mistakenly apparently, that German health professionals were all good at English, too, and would probably be able to speak with me in English. SO NOT THE CASE. I have spoken mostly German since I've been here, and trying to explain what's ailing me in another language is a whole nother bag of cats, let me tell you. Anyway, I waited in the waiting room for about a half an hour before they called me into see an ENT. Yep, an ENT was randomly on call in the hospital at 2am on a Sunday night. (so that was cool). The ENT told me then after examining my throat that I had severe edema in my throat and that I would have to be admitted for 2-3 days. Two to three days in a foreign hospital? I've never even been admitted at a hospital at home! So, reluctantly, I was escorted up to my new room in the HNO Klinik (Hals, Nase, Ohren = Throat, Nose, Ears) where I was shown to my bed and told to go to sleep. Ha. After a few more IVs of pain meds maybe.
The next morning came eventually, and I slept most of the first day. My friend Amy (the lifesaver) brought me some necessities, including my computer. I had to buy internet for 20 Euro for 10 hours though, so that was kind of a bummer. Anyway. I felt so horrible that whole day that I just kind of curled up into a ball and wished for death. It was made worse only by the fact that everything was in German. Instead of just saying, "OH GOD THIS HURTS, please do something about it!" I had to say "Das tut mir weh! Bitte hilf mir!" which didn't come so automatically at first. Speaking in a different language for me requires some sort of thought for me, which doesn't come automatically when the main concern is that you can't breathe/feel like your neck is going to be severed in two. But, I learned very important vocabulary words like, "my IV needle is pinching me!" (Diese Nadel knarft mich!) "I feel like I'm going to throw up!" (Ich habe übelkeit!) I need pain medicine! (Ich brauche etwas für schmerzen!) And the nurse said I spoke "echtes perfektes deutsch" (really perfect german) so that was nice.
Yesterday wasn't quite as bad, a few more people came to see me, so that was nice to see them all. But most of the day was spent napping and watching the Fox and the Hound. That just made me miss home a lot because it reminds me of Sarah and how far away I am from my family. It's been really hard to be away from home through this, but maybe it's made me a stronger person in general. It's been tough to see the woman I share my room with have her family and friends come and visit, but you know, it's not so bad. I've talked to my parents, kept them in the loop, and hope that they're not too worried about me. It's my mom's birthday today! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!
Today has been loads better than the last few. I got my voice back! I ate a bunch for lunch (more than half of what they gave me!! big news!) and I even went for a walk. This hospital is situated on a really scenic hill in Bonn, so you can see the Siebengebirge (7 hills surrounding Bonn) and pretty much the whole city except the Rhein. It was really nice because the trees were super green and it smelled like fresh rain. Also, it was the first outside experience I had in 2.5 whole days so it was refreshing as all get out. Man, I almost wish I had one more day here so I could go on another walk! (Almost). Today was also amazing because so many people came to visit me today! I had a pretty constant stream of visitors from 10:45am until 5pm. I felt really loved and especially great because I could actually talk with them. It was really nice, but I'm SO RELIEVED and happy that I get to go home tomorrow.
Well, wish me luck with getting out of here, trying to explain that I'm well enough to go home in German is going to be yet another hill to climb...
Tschüss!
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