The German Medical System...From the Inside

I am happy to be writing this post from the comfort of our living room after spending Montag through Mittwoch (Monday - Wednesday) in the Krankenhaus (hospital). Surgery was Monday morning, and I am now the proud owner of a bionic collarbone!

You can see the seven screws holding it in place...this baby won't be going anywhere! I learned that collar bones heal more slowly than any other bone in the body, so they want me to keep the plate in for at least 18 months, if not the rest of my life. We'll see, if I go pro in cycling I may not want that extra weight slowing me down!

The contrast between German and American medical practices and processes is very interesting, at times awkward, and always entertaining. For example, on Monday after I've checked in for surgery, I'm shown to my recovery room on the second floor. There are 3 beds in there, and I'm the third patient in the room. The guy by the window is getting ready to check out (I'm told) and the guy near the door and our shared bathroom is laying there with a bag of plasma dripping into his IV. I'm shown which locker is mine to stash my clothes, then promptly asked to remove my shirt so the nurse can shave my chest and armpit for surgery. Awesome. I'm fairly sure in the US I would have at least had a curtain enclosing my bed while they prepped me, and in my past surgeries all my pre-op stuff was done in my own room.

And then there's the sponge baths for the less mobile patients (guy with plasma had a new hip put in, not real mobile at the moment), that are given immediately after breakfast is delivered. (I'll get back to meals in a sec). So there I am, sitting in my bed munching on some rye bread, sipping my coffee, and watching the nurses cleaning my roommate's surgery site. I won't go into too much detail, but let's just say I had to leave the room and continue my meal in the visitor waiting area...

So, food. I experienced my first traditional German breakfast in the krankenhaus. How fitting. Day 1: Nurse lifts the cover off my tray. I see a roll (good), butter, jam (better), some rye bread and sliced cheese (ok...) and...what the hell is that??!! Some sort of sliced bologne looking stuff with scattered olive green things all through it. The nurse sees my look of horror, and tells me how awesome the stuff is. Uh huh.. goes great with soapy water, lots of stiches, and a side of old man butt crack. I asked if they had eggs. They said yes. Day 2: tray removed showing me a roll, jam, rye bread, cheese...and a hard boiled egg. I really miss IHOP right now.

At some point during Monday night a new roommate joined us (bed near the window). Turns out he was crazy. Really. He was old and had dementia, which is actually sad. But in the middle of the night, when the morphine pills and IV of pain killers were still not enough to smother the pain or at least knock me out, the last thing I had sympathy for was the crazy guy next to me who moved his legs back and forth all night, scratched uncontrollably, and then fell asleep, only to stop breathing and wake up gasping every 10 seconds. I found myself wishing he would just not wake up. Believe me, in the morning when I realized his issues I felt horrible, but I'm sure you know how it is when all you want is a couple hours of sleep!!

After some more xrays, some range of motion checks, and getting my infamous "pink paper" signed by the doctor, I checked out Wednesday morning and walked home. Just 2 days after the surgery and I'm already feeling so much better, and so much less pain, than last week. It's awesome! Doc says I can start exercising soon, but can't lift anything too heavy for about two months. Luckily Reed shouldn't be hitting double digits until the new year, so I'll be more than able to haul him around.

Through all this Makayla was great, even when she had the stomach flu (Monday night - Tuesday) she was really just worried about me, and feeling bad that she couldn't be with me at the hospital. I assured her I was perfectly happy with my roommates, rye bread, and mystery meat. We're quite the pair right now!

Late breaking baby update: We met with the doctor today at our hospital and have scheduled a c-section for November 15th, on the assumption that Junior will continue to be uncooperative and keep his head upright. Sarah, we've done our best to maintain a healthy margin between his birthday and Thanksgiving. This should hopefully minimize the number of pumpkin pie birthday cakes, and gravy boat presents that Reed receives...

From Bonn.....
Rich

Hot off the press!!

It's only been 24 hours since our last post, but we have a couple updates that we want to share with everyone. First, Rich's surgery has been postponed to Monday morning. He went into the hospital this morning to fill out paperwork, meet the doctors, and receive his free sandwich and coffee they offer to upcoming surgery patients, and was told that since he has a nasty scrape on his shoulder (also a result of his cycling accident) they don't want to risk the possibility of infection by making a small incision on his collar bone. So, Monday it is!

After leaving the hospital, he walked a quarter mile down the road to the baby doctor's office and met me just in time for another ultrasound. It appears that Baby Temer either isn't paying attention or the flashlight bulb wasn't bright enough to stimulate his curiosity and make him turn his little body around! He's also dropped lower so the doctor feels there's a good chance he's staying put. Our fingers are still crossed, but we've also made an appointment with the hospital for next week to meet with the surgeon and schedule Baby Temer's future birthday. His current due date is November 23rd, but it sounds like they'll do a c-section anywhere from 7 to 10 days before his due date. If anyone feels strongly about which day they think he should be born, please let us know and we'll take your comments into consideration. :-) Selfishly, I'm just glad I don't have to post a belly bump picture for week 39 or week 40.

Planes, Trains, and Krankenwagens

I had the chance to ride in a German ambulance (Krankenwagen) this last Sunday after hitting an unnoticed bump in the pavement (at rather high speed) and landing head and shoulder first on the ground. While the ride was entertaining, the broken collar bone definitely was not. After additional consult with a doctor on Monday, I have decided that surgery is the best option for quick recovery, and go under the knife this Friday. As Makayla said, someone has to be able to lift the baby when he's born..and the doctor assured me the plate they'll attach to my collar bone will have me back on the bike, I mean, able to hold babies, within 2 weeks time!

On a happier note, I had a great, but quick, visit back to Seattle last week. I was with the kids almost every day, worked a lot, and tried to spend time with family and friends. Unfortunately, I caught the cold that had been going around the office in Bonn, and so outside of work and the kids, I spent much of my free time at home in bed..
One highlight of the visit was being able to celebrate Elise's birthday. We were lucky that one of my aunts & uncles, plus my Grandma, were also in town visiting, and so Elise's party was a chance for many Temers to catch up! For me, nothing could beat just getting to spend time hanging out with the kids.

The rest of the week was a blur of work, soccer practice, dinners, homework, and nose blowing. I had a really nice dinner with Sara, Brian, and James, hosted by James, and managed to catch up with friends from work each day over lunch (did I really eat at the same Mexican place three times in one week??)

And of course it was so nice to spend time with my bro & sis-in-law who let me crash with them for the week. Parker took some of her first steps while I was there. I think this picture is her clearing the deck for a possible take off..

All in all it was a good week that went by way too fast. There were so many other friends I wanted to see, and if you're reading this, please understand, and we'll have another shot in December!

It was also good to come home, and by home I mean Bonn, because, as they say, home is where the heart is..

The Vacation is Over.....

Well, it's been about two weeks since Pam (Mom) came to Bonn and Rich left for Seattle. I wish I could say that we spent those two weeks traveling through fantastic European cities, eating delicious meals including wines and cheeses from France, and shopping in Milan......but, that would be quite a stretch from the truth. In fact, we didn't travel at all (except for a one day trip to Cologne which is 10 miles away), we only ate a few real dinners, and I bought one maternity sweater from H&M that is pretty ugly.....but warm. I CAN tell you, however, that we had a great time catching up on our favorite American tv shows, baking apple dumplings and a lemon bundt cake, assembling bouncy seats, packnplays, jumperoos and chilling! We also took a few trips to our favorite park in Bonn and walked along the Rhine River in the sunny but windy weather. Hopefully the trip was not too mellow for Pam...I think she'll cut me some slack due to the 8 1/2 months pregnant thing I've got going. I'll be dropping her off at the airport tomorrow and, assuming no delays, Rich will be getting in at the same time. We are looking forward to her next visit with Gary (Dad) in November! We're pretty sure things will be a little more chaotic then with a newborn hanging out with us.

Speaking of which, Baby Temer has not been cooperative in terms of positioning. He is still in a breech position so the doctor gave me some yoga exercises to do that may "encourage" him to situate himself in a more favorable position for his upcoming grand entrance. Initially, I laughed when I read about some turning tactics online that involved shining a flashlight on your lower stomach. Apparently the light would arouse the baby's curiosity and he would move his head down towards the light. Funny right? Well, a couple of days ago the doctor informed us of possible manipulative turning techniques they could perform in the hospital.......two hours later I was hunting through Rich's tool box looking for the mini flashlight! More to come after we visit the doctor at week 35.....cross your fingers that Baby Temer sees the light!