This is just some information about my mate's recent hip replacement surgery and recovery.
The surgery took place in beautiful Bad Abbach, at one of the premier orthopedic hospitals in Europe.
http://www.asklepios.com/badabbach/en/default.asp
A little south of our favorite town of Regensburg (a very Austin place with a wonderful jazz fest every year) and only an hour away when the traffic isn't bad. I stayed with him for the first three days in the other hospital bed in the room. Tonight is his first night alone, but they are good about taking care of him. He got a cooling rubdown on a hot day, and the student nurses made him some peppermint tea this morning. The doctor is an elegant, affable genius.
Some of the staff are better than others, but that's life.
Just this afternoon he had a nurse (males are "Pfleger" and females are "Schwester" who just wasn't doing her job. The little stuff I was doing, like emptying the pee jar and regulating the temp in the room with the sliding glass door and the fan, she just wouldn't do. Never mind that he wanted some more pain meds and didn't get those either, and she didn't help him get back in the bed, which he needs right now! He managed it, but he shouldn't have. Let's hope she's a rare exception, otherwise I'll be rehearsing my German complaints and growling, snapping and snarling in the admin office.
Even so, it's a beautiful place, surrounded by a wooded park with streams, ducks, and the cutest bunny rabbits hopping around just wild!
They don't do general anasthesia here, they do a spinal block and heavy duty sleeping pills. No after-effects.
CG didn't remember at thing, and the day of the surgery was actually the worst. They were incredibly good at managing his pain, and fussed at him for not telling them right when it began to hurt.
He had the surgery on Wednesday, and Thursday the physical therapist helped him stand up and walk to the door and back on crutches.
Today, he walked down the hall. It's exhausting, of course, but he can take care of going to the toilet himself, if someone just helps him in and out of bed. That's nice for a man's dignity ;-) .
He'll be in the hospital until about the 30th, and then they will probably move him to the rehabilitation quarters, which are more like vacation apartments. He'll be there about two weeks.
They are wonderful about letting me stay with him, in fact they seem to like me there (I did all of those little things- heck, I think they shoulda paid me!). I'll be with him on weekends, and as many days in the week as I can get away with.
It's not easy, and it's not painless, but CG is a strong, motivated person, and right now I am just admiring his resilience.
The surgery took place in beautiful Bad Abbach, at one of the premier orthopedic hospitals in Europe.
http://www.asklepios.com/badabbach/en/default.asp
A little south of our favorite town of Regensburg (a very Austin place with a wonderful jazz fest every year) and only an hour away when the traffic isn't bad. I stayed with him for the first three days in the other hospital bed in the room. Tonight is his first night alone, but they are good about taking care of him. He got a cooling rubdown on a hot day, and the student nurses made him some peppermint tea this morning. The doctor is an elegant, affable genius.
Some of the staff are better than others, but that's life.
Just this afternoon he had a nurse (males are "Pfleger" and females are "Schwester" who just wasn't doing her job. The little stuff I was doing, like emptying the pee jar and regulating the temp in the room with the sliding glass door and the fan, she just wouldn't do. Never mind that he wanted some more pain meds and didn't get those either, and she didn't help him get back in the bed, which he needs right now! He managed it, but he shouldn't have. Let's hope she's a rare exception, otherwise I'll be rehearsing my German complaints and growling, snapping and snarling in the admin office.
Even so, it's a beautiful place, surrounded by a wooded park with streams, ducks, and the cutest bunny rabbits hopping around just wild!
They don't do general anasthesia here, they do a spinal block and heavy duty sleeping pills. No after-effects.
CG didn't remember at thing, and the day of the surgery was actually the worst. They were incredibly good at managing his pain, and fussed at him for not telling them right when it began to hurt.
He had the surgery on Wednesday, and Thursday the physical therapist helped him stand up and walk to the door and back on crutches.
Today, he walked down the hall. It's exhausting, of course, but he can take care of going to the toilet himself, if someone just helps him in and out of bed. That's nice for a man's dignity ;-) .
He'll be in the hospital until about the 30th, and then they will probably move him to the rehabilitation quarters, which are more like vacation apartments. He'll be there about two weeks.
They are wonderful about letting me stay with him, in fact they seem to like me there (I did all of those little things- heck, I think they shoulda paid me!). I'll be with him on weekends, and as many days in the week as I can get away with.
It's not easy, and it's not painless, but CG is a strong, motivated person, and right now I am just admiring his resilience.
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