Friesing, Germany

Waiting for our flight in St. George

 We flew out of St. George on  Monday, July 27th.  Our first stop was Denver, where we had a long layover, then an overnight flight to Munich, Germany.

The Munich airport is actually located in Friesing, Germany- about 40 minutes from Munich.  We had several choices of hotels there, but feel we were guided  to stay in a Marriot hotel in Friesing.  This became extremely important as we found out the next day.  We got to the hotel in the afternoon, got settled, took a nap, then went to dinner at the restaurant at the hotel.

When we were in Austria several years ago we had a spaetzle dish that was so delicious, so we ordered the spaetzle and cheese dish.  It really was just macaroni and cheese.  But it was okay.

Ken went out exploring Friesing and took some pictures.

It was a cute little town.

After breakfast the next morning, Ken went out birding (saw a new lfe lister) and to buy our unrefundable train and bus tickets for Friday morning to go down to Passau where we would get on the boat for our boat and bike trip down the Danube River on Saturday.  We had non-refundable hotel reservations down there for Friday night. After he came back to the hotel he had sharp pains in his abdomen.  He was really in pain.  He laid down for a bit and they subsided but then hit with a vengeance again.  He pointed out the window.  See that big white building across the street?  That is a hospital.  That is where I am going. He kind of knew it was diverticulitis as he had an attack three years ago.  He was hospitalized for a week then.

This is the hospital.

Ken insisted that I not go, but he would text me and keep me informed.  As you can see, the waiting room was packed and he was there for hours.  He did text, but for some reason it didn't go through.  So I was beside myself.  I wasn't sure how to get there, but I went down to the front desk at the hotel and explained the situation. I was near tears.  The quite brusque German receptionist(it's their culture) really was quite kind in her own way.  She gave me four chocolate bars and suggested I go to a church to pray.  She then walked me out the side door of the hotel and showed me where to go to get in the hospital.  Communicating with the reception desk at the hospital was a challenge as he spoke NO English, but I finally wrote out Ken's name and he told me he was in  Notaufnahme.. I don't know how, but I figured out that was emergency room and I walked through the hospital and found it.  I found Ken just as he was coming back after his MRI.  Sure enough, he was diagnosed with diverticulitis of the small intestine.  He was admitted into the hospital.  So you can see why it was such a blessing that the hotel was so close to the hospital, as we were to remain there for a week.

Waiting for results at the hospital

It was not like an American hospital.  Actually, it reminded us a lot of a Japanese hospital.  It was a no-frills experience.  Ken had three roommates, there was no air conditioning, no hospital gowns (unless you had surgery,) no towels in the bathroom.  But they did have food.  I know in a lot of foreign countries, they don't have cafeterias in hospitals. Your family has to bring you food.  The doctors all spoke excellent English, but most of the nurses did not.  But they were so cute and used Chat GPT to communicate. *see note 1 below.

The admitting doctor, Dr. Nesler, told Ken that he would be on intense antibiotic treatment three times a day in hopes that the infection would heal.  She told him that he would be there 3-5 days.  Ken said that he couldn't stay that long.  We had tickets to leave on Friday.  She told him this was a hospital, not a prison, and he could leave if he wanted, but she advised against it.  

When Ken told me that, I said, "No, you are staying until you are well and the doctor releases you."  Humbled, the next day he told the doctor that his boss said he is staying and he will do whatever she advises.  ** see note 2 below.

Each morning, about 10-12 people would come to see him, including several doctors.  When he was admitted his CRP blood level was 85.  Normal is below .5.

These were Ken's roommates.  Two of them spoke pretty good English as they both had worked for American companies. The only air conditioning came from the breezes that came through those windows.  It was hot in there.

All through this, we were texting with our daughters.  Michelle got on the Internet and researched everything for us.  She researched the hospital, finding that it was an excellent hospital- a university training hospital (that is why a team of doctors and training doctors and nurses would come each morning) and that he would receive excellent care there.  She researched his disease and found that the doctors were right on with their treatment and advise.  She researched the bishop of the area and recommended calling him to get a blessing.  But the town he lived in was 1 1/2 hours away.  We just didn't feel we could ask him to come that far. She got us the email address of the Munich mission office.  I emailed them and got a very kind, caring senior sister missionary serving there.  She said she would send elders to give us blessings.  You know, the first thing you want in a situation like this is the priesthood.  That sister was a lifeline to what we needed most.  She wrote back later that day and said that two elders would be there at 3:00 pm.  Sure enough, they drove the 45 minutes to give us blessings.

These were such precious young men.  They gave us beautiful, comforting blessings.  I couldn't believe those powerful words were coming out of 19-year-old's mouths.  It was such a sweet experience.

Ken was in the hospital for a week.  There were ups and downs.  He had antibiotic treatments three times a day: 7am, 3 pm, and 11pm. We fell into a pattern.  After his soft lunch, he would sneak out of the hospital and come to the hotel room.  He would shower there and take a nap in the air conditioning.  His room was hot and he didn't sleep well at night.  The first day he told them he was leaving and caused all kinds of problems.  They told them not to tell them he was going, to just go.  

I would go over to visit him in the hospital each evening.  That was a highlight of the day for both of us.  We so enjoyed visiting, reminiscing, and laughing together.

On Sunday, the lead doctor told Ken that he wasn't progressing as he should and that they would need to do surgery on Monday.  His CRP number was still too high.  We asked family to pray and we prayed.  When they checked his blood the next morning, it had come down to 25.  They decided to continue treatment and test again on Wednesday.  We were so grateful that, at least for now, he would not have surgery. *** See note 3 below.

The view out his window.

I ate breakfast every morning at the hotel.  We paid for a buffet breakfast (about $25).  Some days, that is the only meal I ate.  But when I went to dinner, this was my favorite dish.  I think I had it three times.  Chicken, with mushroom gravy, beans and a potato casserole.  Ken was on a soft food diet all week.

I think it was on Monday morning, I got ready and was heading down for breakfast.  When I got almost to the door of the hotel room, my toe caught on the carpet and I fell.  I hit the door with my right shoulder and head. My wrist hurt and my left knee.  But the worst was my left hip.  I tried to turn over so I could stand up, but it was excruciatingly painful.  It was a blessing that I had my phone in my hand.  It flew out of my hand, but I could reach it.  I texted Ken. 

He was having his antibiotic treatment but asked  the nurse to unhook him as he had to go help his wife.  He came quickly, only to discover that the deadbolt was still on the door, so he couldn't get in.  He got a maintenance guy to come, but he couldn't get it open either.  So he got another guy to come with a powered saw.  It was noisy and sparks were flying like 50 sparklers. Ken was so afraid we would start the hotel on fire.  "How am I going to get Kay out if that happens?"  Luckily it didn't and they got inside.  The hotel employee and Ken got me up, but I couldn't even take one step without excruciating pain.  They got me to the bed and our helper ran to get a wheelchair.  I was in shock, shivering.  I got in the wheelchair, and Ken wheeled me to the hospital.  He had just gone through the whole process so knew where to take me and get me registered.  Luckily, the waiting room wasn't quite as full as when he went, but it still took all morning.  After seeing a team of doctors, I was taken to xray.  That was so painful. "Turn this way, turn that way." was so hard.  We then waited for another hour or hour and a half for the doctor to read the Xray.  Nothing was broken.  She said I probably had a torn muscle and that it would just take time to heal.  Ken wheeled me back to the hotel.  They made me an ice pack and Ken took me back up to the room and then hurried back to hospital to finish his treatment and have his lunch.  I sat there or laid there all afternoon in pain.  

Ken came back that evening and wheeled me down to the restaurant (I hadn't eaten all day) and sat with me while I ate, then took me back to the room.  Ken took this picture while we were waiting for the dr. to read the Xray.  You can see that many others were waiting too.

Wednesday morning Ken's CRP number had come down to 11 and they released him.  Throughout all of this, Ken was in contact with the boat company- a really nice lady who helped us.  It really wasn't safe for Ken to fly home yet, so we decided to go and join the boat which was now in Vienna, Austria.

Ken spent the afternoon Wednesday making arrangements and purchasing plane tickets to Vienna. I actually walked down to dinner on Ken's arm that evening.  So I was getting better.  The kind waiter, Irving gave me two more chocolate bars and was so solicitous. 

It was an ordeal on Thursday getting to Vienna.  I was still in quite a bit of pain.  I had to walk about 1/2 mile from terminal 1 to terminal 2 at the airport.  We got a wheelchair to get to the gate, but I had to climb down three flights of stairs to the tarmac and then up a flight to get in the plane with luggage.  But I made it!  We took a taxi to the port and were so grateful to get on the boat.  They were expecting us and grabbed our luggage and got us to our room.  We were exhausted.  But it was so nice to be there.   Ken had booked a room on the top floor, very close to the dining room. We had such a beautiful big window in our room.  It would be our home for the next week and a half.  The doctor had told Ken that he shouldn't ride a bike for at least a month, so he would be floating with me each day.  The next post will tell and show our trip down the Danube River.

* Note 1: One nurse did speak English.  I commented on it.  She said that it was because she was from Amsterdam and they learn English in school there.  She said they do not teach English in German schools.

**Note 2:  All the doctors were very kind and especially interested in having an American patient, but Dr. Nesler took a special interest in Ken.  They connected, I guess you would say.  She and her husband had traveled to America and had gone from Las Vegas to the north side of the Grand Canyon.  Ken told her that she would have passed through our town.  She went home and confirmed with her husband that they had and even brought a picture of them at our Iceburg drive in having dinner and one of their HUGE milkshakes.  She would come and check in on Ken throughout the day.  She was very kind.

*** Note 3:  At this point sweet Kristen texted and said that if Dad had surgery she would come to help.  She said she had a current passport and had always wanted to go to Europe.  She started making preparations, just in case.