No such thing as modesty in Germany . . .preop problems!
Today Robin took me for my pre op tests that I have to have before the surgery to repair my meniscus. As it would turn out, I had a small “I want my mom” meltdown episode during the testing. I was scheduled to have a variety of blood tests, a chest x-ray, lung capacity, and ekg. After a prelimary screening with the doctor at the testing facility, I was sent off to begin the tests. It wasn’t long after this that I noticed that most of the technicians, who were all women, didn’t appear to be older than 25 years old, many seeming to be around the 19-20 year old range. I hoped that whoever did the blood tests would be more experienced. I was first invited in for the chest x-ray. As I went into the dressing room I was told to remove everything from the waist up. Now I must say, that Robin’s ability to understand German and to speak a little of it is really good, and I’m really proud of him, but even he couldn’t figure out how to ask about where the dressing gown was or if I also had to remove my bra! We learned, everything comes off, and modesty is not a word that is understood in Germany. Needless to say, that hobbling on crutches to the chest x-ray machine with out even a paper towel for coverage is not something I want to experience again.
After this fine European experience I was invited to the blood test room where the seemingly more experienced technician (though she didn’t look older than 25) deftly removed about 7 tubes of blood from my arm, followed by the final finger prick. Robin and I left that room, sat down to wait for the next test and then I had my small meltdown. It didn’t last for long because I was then invited to the EKG room for further humiliation. Again, I was told I had to remove everything from the waist up and lay down on the exam bed while the electrodes were stuck to my body. OK, so I’m almost 43 years old, have had 2 babies, and still I wasn’t offered a normal American hospital type gown, and there were none in sight. Robin pointed out that at least the technicians were female. I wasn’t very receptive to that helpful information. Especially coming from someone who has had maybe 3 medical exams in his adult life.
So, the EKG ended and the technician said another tech would come in to administer the lung capacity test, and luckily for me, Robin asked, “Well, can she get dressed?” I was totally in a world culturally deprived of information regarding the American female culture.
So the tests ended and I have told Robin to make sure that my robe is washed because when I go to have surgery on Monday, I will not be walking anywhere without my robe, as it is obvious that modesty is not appreciated in Deutschland.
The Unhappy Triad
Just returned from Dr. Buehler. Seems like Robin and I misunderstood (not the first time and probably won’t be the last) and I was supposed to go yesterday after the MRI, fortunately Robin called the office phone number while we were standing there (he doesn’t have hours on Friday afternoons as we noted on the door). Dr. Buehler answered the phone and happened to be there and let us is. As the radiologist told us, I have damaged all three or what Dr. Buehler referred to as the “unhappy triad”, the ACL, MCL and Meniscus. However, Dr. Buehler only wants to repair the meniscus. He says that a study was done asking doctors if they would allow a doctor to operate on their own ACL and 80% of the doctors said no but the report was never published. He also said that the ACL should not be operated on within the first month after being injured, but the meniscus must be repaired. However, Dr. Buehler is going on holiday this next week so I am going to wait until a week from Monday for the 45 minute surgery. He recommended holding off on the ACL (the MCL heals on its own) for a while, perhaps I won’t ever need to have it repaired unless I’m concerned that it is too unstable. Dr. Buehler told me that if I’m having trouble dealing with the pain then he can send me to the hospital sooner to have the meniscus surgery, but I really like Dr. Buehler and trust him, so I can bear the pain, which has lessened a bit. Apparently the pain I have from the torn meniscus is similar to the pain that Robin had before he had his back surgery a few years ago, it’s being caused by a bulge that is pressing on a nerve, so the surgery will remove the bulge and the pain. He also said I will not be able to work out at the gym for 2 months which will surely cause me to have weight gain as I had been working out 8-10 hrs a week before the accident, and I’m the kind of person who must work out to even begin to think about weight maintenance. Well, there’s a reason for everything that happens. . ..Robin is scheduling all my pre op appointments right now so I’ll be having an EKG, chest x-ray and blood tests on Monday (apparently the chest x-ray is because I’m over 40!) However, he says I should be fine in time for my trip to Barcelona the first week of December with Sam and the Spanish class.
The boys are out of school all next week and we have cancelled our trip to Berlin. We might be able to go to one of the big indoor swimbads (water parks) which are really more for adults so I can sit in the hot pools for my knee.
Private Insurance is brilliant in Germany!
Part of living as an expat in Germany meant keeping our insurance with Blue Cross Blue Shield. Most people in Germany, even some expats, have German insurance which can be difficult in some cases but great in others. For example, children with German insurance are always covered 100%, however, getting in to see physicians when you have German insurance can be a slow process. Because we have what would be considered "private insurance" meaning the doctor doesn't have to bother with government paperwork, it is very easy to get appointments. Call a doctor's office, ask for an appointment and at first they will say they don't have any openings for a while. Mention that you have private insurance and suddenly they say "how soon can you be here?" So, private insurance is a good thing.
Today I arrived to have my MRI and was told I'd have to wait for a while. My good friend Vera was with me again, and so she left to move her car to a place where she wouldn't be ticketed. . .parking, another difficult issue in Germany. However, no sooner had she left the room than I was called in for the MRI - private insurace I can assure you is what made it so quick. The MRI shouldn't have been so difficult but I had to keep my leg straight which was incredibly painful. it was a very long 20 minutes, but I prayed the whole time and made it through.
Vera and I then met with the radiologist who was a Chinese doctor who spoke English with an American accent. He spent 3 years in Washington DC during his training. We had a good conversation in spite of the bad news. According to the radiologist, it appears that I had previous damage to my knee (which I knew, I just never went to the doctor). I have torn my ACL, MCL and meniscus which I think is the worst possible scenario. Most people I have talked to have damaged one of two of these but not all three. For the good news, the radiologist told me that I had good strong bones and no sign of arthritis. He said he didn't want me to leave with all bad news.
Tomorrow I will meet with Dr. Buehler for the final diagnosis. It is Autumn break in Bavaria next week so I know I won't have surgery next week as Dr. Buehler has children and will be on holiday with them. So check back tomorrow for an update on my knee.
Always wear clean underwear . . .
On Monday, Vera took me to an orthopedic doctor in the town next to ours. It ends up that Dr. Buehler speaks English with a British accent, comes highly recommended and is incredibly nice . . something I wasn’t expecting from a German doctor. By the time I arrived at the doctor’s office my knee was the size of a size 3 soccer ball. As I thought I would surely have an xray at the doctor’s office I wore stretchy athletic pants so I could just pull the pant leg up. However, I was wrong. . .the doctor told me I’d need to remove my pants and that’s when I went into a panic as I wasn’t wearing what I would call “full coverage” underwear. In German he told Vera he was glad that I was direct because too often he had to see underwear that wasn’t so nice. But it wasn’t that my underwear wasn’t nice, there just wasn’t much too it, enough said! Mothers should now tell their children not only to make sure to always wear clean underwear but make sure it covers you too!
Dr. Buehler left the room and I thought I was safe and could just pull my pant leg up, but Vera said no, you have to take the pants off. Again I panicked. He had not given me a gown, a towel, a blanket or anything! Of course, Vera was cracking up. I did my best to cover myself with my pants when the doctor returned. At that point, my underwear was the least of my problems. Dr. Buehler used the sonogram and showed me all the fluid built up on my knee and proceeded to tell me that he’d need to drain it with a needle! What? Huh? You have to do what? I was in a panic again. I asked him if he’d first give me a local and he said of course. Vera held my hand and he proceeded to removed 3 tubes of fluid from my knee. I think Vera and I both almost passed out! She even watched the whole thing while I kept my eyes squeezed tightly shut. He then gave me a injection for thrombosis or blood clots, not sure what that’s about except that he said something about needing it since I can’t bear any weight on my knee. At this point he’s not sure what I have injured in my knee because it is too swollen to examine so they wrapped it with some special cooling stuff and told me to return on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Robin went with me. The doctor said he thinks I have damaged my MCL, not the ACL which is good because the MCL can heal on it’s own, however he is concerned that I may have also damaged the meniscus which if that’s the case will require surgery. So, I am scheduled for an MRI on Thursday and on Friday he will read it to see for sure what damage there is. But I have to say, the scary part on Tuesday came when the doctor recommended another injection for thrombosis and it wasn’t the doctor who was going to give it to me. The nurses took us into a room and proceeded to let us know that I either had to give it to myself or Robin had to give it to me. “Nein, nein, nein” was my response! I wasn’t sure that was going to happen. The nurse demonstrated to Robin and then sent us home with 2 more needles. I can’t even imagine this happening in the US!
On Wednesday morning, Robin woke me up saying he had a cup of cappuccino, a muffin and a shot for me! As I was still asleep I shot straight up in bed and said NO WAY! The doctor said “morgan abend” not “morgan” meaning tomorrow night. I think Robin thought it would be funny to wake me up this way, but I didn’t. Later I returned with Vera to Dr. Buehler’s office to be fitted with a brace so that it would keep my leg in a position that would help. As the man who was fitting me was working on the brace on my leg, he kept saying in German “yes, meniscus” over and over again, not making me very happy. Apparently he has had both of his mensicus’ operated on and seems to consider himself an expert.
Robin is really tired from having to work his job and take care of me and the boys when he gets home. I think he knows how much I do to make his life easier when he gets home from a hard day at work. And yes, I allowed him to give me the injection tonight, and he did a better job than the nurse who demonstrated for him and left me with a bruise. I have a wonderful husband who even brought me a cup of hot tea and English biscuits after dinner tonight.
As he is trying really hard to not fall asleep next to me right now I know how lucky I am to have him, even though I enjoy teasing him mercilessly about his inability to multitask.
Watch out while in the streets of London!
Going to London has always been on my list of places to visit for as long as I can remember, and this past weekend, I finally got that chance. We took this trip with our great friends Tom, Vera and their son David. Tom has a good friend in London, Sebastian, who is a huge Gooner (name of Arsenal crazies) and he helped secure 6 tickets so that he could join the Haines boys and the Glagow boys. Now to secure this number of tickets was a major feat as most games, including this one, are sold out and generally tickets go only one at a time to members of the fan club. However, it’s all in who you know. Sebastian had a friend who had a green grocer who knew a guy who worked in the ticket office for Arsenal, so there you go, we ended up with 6 tickets. Four of the seats were together and 2 others were in the same vicinity. A true English miracle. So, our trip to London was set. We decided to have the boys skip school on Friday and we took an early flight to London so that we could squeeze in a few things, one of which was to shop at The Gap! We stayed at a hotel near Hyde Park and about 4 kilometers up the road was The Gap – it was a small shop, but none the less The Gap! We shopped to the tune of too much money to say, and somehow it was Joe who got the most. Now Robin would say that maybe I didn’t get that much, but mine cost more..
After a visit to the London Eye, the adults ate at the Bombay Brassirie which was recommended to us by our neighbors. The food was really good but quite spicy as Indian food is. Tom decided to order the same dish but he asked for the dish to be made “extra” spicy. Later in the evening, Tom was having difficulty with the spice level and was turning red in the face and sweating a bit, but he loved it. We ended the evening with plans to meet for breakfast and head out for a bit of sightseeing before all the boys headed off for the Arsenal game. Little did I know what lay ahead for me in the streets of London. .. .
After eating breakfast and watching Joe experience the traditional English “beans on toast” which is basically pork and beans served on bread that has been fried in ham fat (oh my god, a heart attack on a plate and totally disgusting looking to me), we headed out to walk to the nearest Underground tube station to catch a train to Piccadilly circus. Now, one thing that we all know about London is that they drive on the opposite side of the road from America, Germany and most countries in the world. So it is incredibly important to be careful when crossing the street. We are used to looking left then right but in England you must look right then left or you’ll surely have the chance to be hit by a car when you step out into the street.
We had reached a cross walk where we needed to cross to get to the Underground. As there were 7 of us, it was a bit of a crowd, and as I can’t walk as fast as my German friends, I was at the back of the pack with Joe. When you cross the street in London, you cross half way then stop, wait for another light then cross the rest of the way. So . . .Joe and I followed the pack through the first half of the cross walk when suddenly I heard a car honking it’s horn. I turned my head left to see the car then gun his engine and head straight towards me and Joe. I turned to grab Joe who was right behind me and basically threw him the rest of the way out of the street, dropping my tourist book and reinjuring my knee that I had injured three years ago playing indoor soccer. We suspect that maybe the driver was in a bit of a hurry or had run a red light as there were no other cars with this one. When I begin to tell my story to people the first thing they assume however is that I didn’t look the right direction before crossing the street, but that isn’t what happened.
As the pack of 7 of us stood at the midway of the street crossing, I realized I had hurt myself to the extent that I couldn’t walk. My dear friend Vera knew something was wrong as all the men and boys just sort of looked at me with their mouths open not knowing what to do. Vera apparently told them to help me get across the street, which is where I fell apart because I knew I was in trouble with my knee. We found a place to sit at a café and next to a drug store where they got me an ice pack. Vera and I had a cappuccino while the men went on a search to another drug store to see if they had crutches, to no avail. So, we hailed a cab and headed back to the hotel where they provided my with 1 crutch, the other was broken, and a wheel chair. My knee was in such bad shape that a single crutch was virtually useless.
Here I was in a place I had dreamed of visiting and now I was going to have trouble doing anything at all. I stayed in the hotel with ice on my knee for a few hours while the boys headed off to the game. After a few hours I told Vera we had to go shopping at this one store, called Next, because I had been wanting to do this most of all. We took a taxi and the wheelchair and headed off. It was difficult shopping in a wheelchair but I managed to spend some money. However, I never realized I might have to try to defend a young girl in the process. While waiting to try on clothes I was talking to a young lady working the dressing room. She was very nice, and obviously it was a chance for me to speak to someone in public and have a great conversation in English. However during this time, a thug came in and started harassing her. She did her best to be pleasant but he was being incredibly aggressive after she had told him several times, no, you can’t have my phone number, no, I can’t help you but I can have someone else, etc, etc. Finally it became too much and from my wheelchair I told him to leave her alone or I’d call the police. Not that I knew how to call the police in London, but I said it nonetheless. After a few ugly comments from him the store managed to FINALLY remove him. The young lady was very thankful. . .I was having some interesting experiences in this city I had wanted to visit for so long.
After shopping Vera and I headed to a tour bus for a ride around London to see the major sights. We later met all the boys back at the hotel and left again to see the show “We Will Rock You” a musical using music from the group Queen. As I was still in a wheelchair, I received special treatment, having to use a special lift to get up and down the stairs. It was a great show and getting to sing along with We are the Champions and Bohemian Rhaposody helped to minimize my pain somewhat.
On Sunday we took the bus tour again with all the boys. London is really a beautiful city, but a lot like New York City in that it is very crowded in the heart of the city and quite expensive. We paid 20 pounds for 4 bagel sandwiches, 2 bags of chips and 4 soft drinks which is equivalent to about $40. Soon we had to head back to go to the airport where I was picked up in a wheelchair and taken to a special check in area, then changed to a different wheelchair, and taken to a special waiting room, then picked up again and wheeled to the gate. Upon arriving in Munich I was met with another wheelchair. It was good to be back but I was not looking forward to climbing all the flights of stairs in our house.
So although my first trip to London was not all that I wanted it to be, I plan to return. We are talking about going next summer and letting Sam and Joe go to Arsenal soccer camp while Robin and I tour London. And as we had planned a quick trip to Berlin this coming week, we have had to cancel it because of my injury.
At the center of Piccadilly Circus.
The cathedral where Princess Diana's funeral was held. .
A famous bridge near the Tower of London. . .twice a week this bridge raises for ships to pass through.
The London Eye during the daytime. .
Trafalgar Square. . .there was a big ceremony going on celebrating some war time event so the square was covered in Royal Military. . quite interesting to see!
Even a torn ACL and meniscus could not keep me from my favorite UK clothing store!
On the tour bus our last day. . .
Big Ben. . .
Joe enjoys (?) a traditional beans and toast English breakfast!
They say that when you make friends with Germans that you have made friends for life. . .here are our lifetime friends, David, Vera and Tom Glagow!!!
Here we are our first night in London high above the city in the London Eye. The London Eye is the world's largest ferris wheel built by British Airways. You get amazing views of the city from the pods that take 30 minutes for a complete revolution.
At the airport in Munich some visitors from China were amazed when they saw Sam wearing a TSV 1860 futbol scarf with a picture of a famous Chinese player who plays for the team on the scarf. They were equally amazed at Sam's size and height so much so that they were taking his picture and rubbing his head. It was the funniest thing we have ever seen. Sam wasn't quite sure what to make of it all.
Sam's name appears in Local Newspaper
Recently, after an incredibly great game by Sam's Lohoff team, Sam's name appeared in the local paper. "Flanke" means "crossed". A penalty had been called outside the box against the opponent. Sam grabbed the ball and wouldn't let anyone else touch it. He set it down outside the box, motioned to his teammate Marcel to see where Marcel wanted the ball to come. . .Sam sent in a beautiful cross resulting in a incredible header into the goal. . .the article in German says something to the effect of the play being a "beauty to the eyes". Our good friend, Tom, saw the article in the paper and e-mailed it to us! So cool!!!!! Sam is one of the youngest players on this team. . he plays with mostly 16 and 17 years old, and Sam won't turn 15 until December. His teammates and coaches are happy to have him on the team!
B1: SVL - Petershausen/Weichs 3:1 Nach dem verpatzten Saisonauftakt mit 2 knappen Niederlagen ging es für die B1 des SVL gegen den Tabellenführer Petershausen um alles. Nach zahlreichen Chancen in der ersten Halbzeit kamen die Gäste nach einem Abwehrfehler völlig überraschend zur Führung. Nach der Halbzeitpause kamen die Lohhofer noch stärker aus der Kabine und konnten durch Stefan Moosmüller nach wenigen Minuten ausgleichen. Nun hatten Gäste keine Chance mehr. Es war nur noch eine Frage der Zeit, wann der SVL zur Führung gelangen würde. Dies glückte dann Marcel Leurpandeur zum 2:1. Marcel Leurpandeur konnte nach einer Standardsituation (Flanke von Sam Haines) mit einem sehenswerten Kopfball zum verdienten 3:1-Sieg der B1 einköpfen. Dieses Spiel zeigte, dass in der Mannschaft viel Potential steckt, wenn sie alle 11 an einem Strang ziehen. Mit solch einer Leistung sollten sie das Feld von hinten aufrollen können. Näheres s.a.
Sam & Joe's futbol field at school has a corn field right behind it. . .you'd never see that in Dallas!
We celebrated Robin's birthday and the boys gave him a traditional Bavarian shirt to wear to festivals, including Oktoberfest.
Sam is one of 4 9th graders who made the senior varsity futbol team at school and he has a regular starting position.
In this photo you can see how much taller the other boys are that Joe plays with at school.
Joe is the only "starting" 6th grader on the middle school futbol team. He is also the smallest of the team, but he makes up for his lack of size with his skill.
Each bier tent also has it's own set of horses that are decorated and they pull a big bier wagon. .. the horses and quite large and beautiful.
This is the outside of the bier tent we were in. . .this buildings are only temporary and don't look much like tents, but that's what they call them. There are 12 bier tents and each has its own special bier brewed for the Oktoberfest.
Inside one of the many bier tents at Oktoberfest. . .I don't like beer, so mine has "lemonade" mixed in. .. the German in the photo with us said that my drink is for "kinder" or children!
We took Sam with us and here he is wearing his Oktoberfest hat!
We attended Oktoberfest on the last day of the 2 week/3 weekend annual event. It's a lot like the State Fair of Texas but LOTS MORE BEER and NO CORN DOGS!
