Not all German doctors are like the one I'm about to describe. His German traits--his insatiable desire for order in particular, to the point where he listened to not a word I said--impressed me. So much so that I'm cancelling my next appointment after I see another doctor who will, I'm reasonably confident, offer different advice.
I developed a pain in my knee that seems arthritic or a "a sign of degeneration" according to an MRI and an X-ray, and wanted to see whether any treatment apart from the one I'd already been trying--cross trainer, ballet stretches, stationary bike--might help. Since the doctor I wished I'd gone to initially was on vacation, I picked someone vaguely in my neighborhood who had stellar ratings on Jameda. Glancing at the disk on which every X-ray trained on my bones appeared, he insisted the one he needed wasn't there. I assured him it was; he yelled for his assistant, an efficient young woman who rolled her eyes at me when he complained that the right material was not there, when it was, and quickly found what he needed. She was seated beside him on a physician's stool with rollers. The minute she'd brought up the material he needed, he grabbed her around the waist and rolled her out of the way.
Oh, and when he examined me, he pressed down on my kneecaps. Which hurt. I'm certain the kneecaps of a teenage athlete would have hurt, but he insisted my age was to blame.
We talked about my cancer diagnosis, and I made clear the findings of the MRI, namely that cancer wasn't to blame.
"Sie brauchen ein Ordner!" he yelled. "Sie sind Tumor-Patient!" (You need a loose leaf notebook. You're a tumor patient!")
Germans love their notebooks. Every bill, every pay slip, every insurance contract, every medical form, every this, every that, gets placed in plastic pocket and filed in one of those notebooks. Most Germans have shelves and shelves of notebooks. I have around three. Notebooks, that is. Not shelves of them.
He thought every single letter I've ever gotten about my cancer diagnosis, from 2016 on, should be filed away in a big notebook. What he thought of me, personally, for not being fond of notebooks, was written all over his affronted face.
Every time I have a CT scan, my whole history appears along with whatever's new in my diagnosis. No need for notebooks. He did not like my pointing this out.
"Dünne Frauen!" he yelled, shaking his head. Thin women--by his standards, I'm thin? Me with my 62 kilos and my belly fat? The very sight of me seemed to irritate him.
On the way out of his office I noticed that his receptionist is obese.
Mein gott! Get another Herr Doktor!
ReplyDeleteJawohl!Have one on Friday. By the way, I seem to be locked out of Facebook on my own computer. Have tried everything to get in, deleting cache, changing password. It appears for a nanosecond, showing numerous notifications, and then "this page is not redirecting properly" appears and boom. No more FB.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could live without Facebook?
ReplyDeleteStill love hearing about your German docs and how you are treated there, along with everyday life.
Got what I thought might be Covid-19 a few weeks ago. It was the only time in my life I ever thought of calling 911 for an ambulance. Realised they could not get into my BR or get me out of our apartment without a lot of trouble.
Remembered that my BIL got a 40K bill for a short ambulance-helicopter ride to a hospital that did not have the capacity to treat his non-life threatening injuries. (NB: 67 YO's should not ride, "DIRT BIKES," I sugested he take up needlepoint instead.) My sister drove him ome from Pocatello, ID to a local hospital in Logan, UT that was able to treat his injuries.
Did I tell you the helicopter and ambulance services have been bought up by hedge funds? Does anyone ever pay their initial bill of 42K?
Took a cab with the DH to NYU. Got taken immediately to an isolation unit in the ER, which was not very busy that Sunday afternoon.
Long story, but I made sure to go to NYU-Home Depot because that's where my docs are, and they had my records. A 911 call might have taken me to the nearest hospital, NYP, but I had a short window with a choice.
I thought I had Covid, after weeks of being largely confined to the apartment and avoiding germs everywhere, but it was an e-coli UTI of unknown origin that came on like a ton of bricks.
It was the only time I never had to wait in an ER. I was whisked, on a very bumpy wheelchair ride, to an isolation room in the NYU ER after having told them I was on Ibrance and immune compromised.
NYU docs knew from having terrible, well publicised deaths of patients from sepsis, references available, how to treat it.
I felt much better than my numbers indicated, through the whole experience, but they did everything they could, and I am alive to tell the tale.
e-coli sepis survival rate for those of us over 65? 30%
I only read about it later, since I was almost 24 hours with no internet access--I forgot to take my phone to the ER.
Constant tests--the NYU CAT scan machine had a 6 person line to wait in the middle of the night. 3 ultrasounds. 1 chest X-ray. Various visits from PTs and OTs I DID NOT NEED!
I am trying to sort out, as one who is new to Medicare, what is needed, and what seems like so much lathering on of unneeded services.
FYI, I had not been hospitalised in over 30 years. Mt. Sinai to deliver my son, via a planned C-section.
It is all different now. NYU thought I needed a negative pressure machine in my ICU room that sounded like a snowblower, but could not make the toilet in my room work. I learned to call the ICU nurse, whom I later learned was assigned to 2 patients, about 20-30 minutes before I needed to use the toilet. I learned how to use a bedpan for the first time, a new skill I hope not to have to use again.
Everything beeps constantly. Sleep is an unheard of luxury.
The views of Manhattan are nice from Kimmel, but do I really need a 65 inch TV in my room and instructions on how to use a Samsung tablet attached to a bedside table to order lunch?
I have yet to see a bill from this situation, but will stay in touch. Comparing the NYC hospital experience and that of yours with the German doctors might be interesting.
I hope you and your family are doing well. We Americans are unwelcome almost everywhere. My son would be bicycling around India right now, having lost his job teaching English as a FL at an UWS school this past April.
5 rooms is not enough room for 3 people to be confined.
I wish you well, and enjoy your commmentary and your recipes.
Hi, there and hope you are fully recovered. I've been so busy with the Facebook problems and other things that I haven't responded lately. You are right about the five rooms! I hope you have a balcony or can take walks!
ReplyDeleteP.S. That German doctor . . . I cancelled my next appointment and went to another orthopod . . . and I'm pretty sure I saw the first guy in the second guy, the good guy's waiting room--as a patient!
ReplyDelete