Being Sick in Germany

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(sorry - no pictures for this entry. Not really a photogenic subject...)

Being sick stinks anywhere you are. But some places stink more than others at taking care of you when you’re sick, and so far Germany has been incredibly un-stinky in this regard. The past week has seen two illnesses in our little family here in Germany, and so far we are really pleased with the way the system has treated us.


Last Thursday, Levent came home from work with a case of what we thought was stomach flu (gastroenteritis). After a feverish, painful (for him) night, he went to the doctor first thing Friday morning. No appointment, they said to just come in, and on seeing how sick he looked, they did everything they could so that the doctor could see him quickly. Meanwhile, rather than making him wait in the waiting room, they gave him a bed to lie down in. Some blood tests and an ultrasound later, he was told that he had appendicitis and had to go to the hospital. After spending the entire afternoon at the hospital (more blood work, more ultrasounds, no food), they told us Levent would not undergo an emergency appendectomy, but would have to stay at the hospital so they could monitor him and he could be operated on at any time if his condition worsened.

Do Not Feed

So Levent was given a bed. Hanging from a metal bar over the bed was a sign that said “Nüchtern” which essentially means “Do Not Feed,” like you might see in front of a cage at the zoo. Having not eaten in 24 hours at that point, Levent was starving, but too bad. The doctor had said he could have IV nourishment, but when we told the nurse, who must moonlight as a drill sergeant, he said “No.”
“But…” we argued. “He’s hungry. He hasn’t eaten in 24 hours. The doctor said…”
“No,” said Sergeant Nurse. “If you have to have surgery, you can’t have food. You can drink tea.”
“Water? Can I drink water?” Levent begged.
“No. Only tea,” said Sergeant Nurse.

No Water, Just Tea

The British are known for their tea habit, but who knew that the Germans were, too? The Germans are known for lederhosen and beer, but those famous/notorious things are really only partially representative. Of course not all Germans wear lederhosen (only Bavarian men, as far as I know, and usually only during Oktoberfest), and not all Germans drink beer (babies, for example). But it seems that all Germans drink tea. We are not talking afternoon tea at 5, but herbal tea. There is special tea for infants (primarily fennel, which is said to help with gas), special tea for nursing mothers (which is supposed to help them produce more milk), and on and on. I should have understood the importance of tea in Germany when there was a special tea stand in the hallway of the clinic where I gave birth to Kaan. There were no snacks offered in the hallway, but there were tea bags and thermoses and hot water at all hours. I thought it was just a nice hospital and how friendly of them to have tea for us.
And after Kaan was born, our sweet neighbor brought me a box of special tea for nursing mothers. As a lover of tea, I was touched. (I didn’t expect it to work, but it actually did - why isn’t this available in grocery stores across America?) I don’t think I realized the belief in tea until Levent was told that he couldn’t even drink water, just tea at the City Hospital of Munich. He drank thermos after thermos of tea, and by Sunday morning, he was released into the world with the instructions, “now, don’t go out and eat at McDonald’s”. No surgery, no antibiotics, nothing but tea, patience, and a little bit of soup that I snuck in and the appendicitis had subsided. That and the unidentified injection that Sergeant Nurse gave Levent. When we asked what it was, he said, “everyone at the hospital has to have this,” and left. Those mysterious Germans…

Kaanosaurus’ Turn

Jump ahead one week. We’ve rented a car to go to Ikea. We haven’t been in 6 months, and need some supplies. We had been looking forward to going for weeks. Finally found a weekend, rented a car (had done the same last weekend, but that trip was aborted by the appendicitis), and were on our way. The car place had even given us a van for the price of a compact car because it was all they had. Perfect for Ikea! … We arrived, pulled into the parking spot, and learned what projectile vomiting meant. Poor Kaan, it was all over him. Thinking it was something he’d eaten, we changed his clothes, cleaned him up, cleaned up the car, and went into Ikea. 15 minutes later, it happened again. We turned around and left. (Kind-of: Ikea is set up so you have to go through most of the store in order to exit. You become a mouse in a maze, which is fine when you are having fun finding things you never knew you needed, but not fun when you have a toddler with projectile vomit and you just want to get out.)

Once home, Levent gave Kaan a bath. Poor thing just sat there silently in the bathtub. He is usually jumping up and splashing us and talking up a storm, so we knew something was definitely wrong. We wanted our naughty Kaanosaurus back. After some more vomiting, we called his pediatrician. Yes, it’s a Saturday. We called her and she answered the phone! After telling her the symptoms, she calmly told us he probably had a virus and told us which anti-vomiting medicine to buy at the pharmacy (Pharmacies here are only open Monday through Friday, but they are on a rotation for weekends and evenings, so you can find one open somewhere in your vicinity any time of day or night). She also told us that he should not eat anything but that he should have a small amount of tea. Any kind of herbal tea was fine, but not red (hibiscus & rosehip) tea. After the experience of the previous week, we were not shocked by the tea prescription. Kaan had some chamomile tea (which he loved - keep that in mind for those of you who don’t like always feeding your kids sugary fruit juice), his medicine, and took a nap. When he woke up, he was already feeling loads better.

At nine at night, Kaan’s pediatrician called us at home to find out how he was doing. She is a nice lady, but I must say that I was shocked and pleased and thankful all rolled into one. Does this happen in the US? Maybe it does and I am not aware of it. But it sure reassured me when she told me that I could call her on her cell phone any time of day or night and that she’d be on call at a children’s hospital tomorrow, in case we wanted to come in and see her (which she doesn’t think will be necessary, thank goodness). THANK YOU, Dr. Schörken!!

Friends

If you are going to be sick anywhere, make sure you have friends nearby. I spent a miserable week back in May when Levent was out of town on business and almost every person I knew in Munich was out of town. Time to make some more friends, I decided, because it’s great to have friends but if you only have four, it is possible for them to all be out of town at the same time. When Levent came down with his appendicitis, a lovely friend took care of Kaan all afternoon while I sat with Levent at the hospital. And today, another friend brought over packs of electrolytes to put in Kaan’s tea.

I am not looking forward to the next time I get sick. But at least now I am prepared: I’ve got friends, tea, and a list of the pharmacies that are open!

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