Cool and Rockn' Update |
Update So, I stayed in the Berchtesgaden hospital for 14 days. During that time my care was absolutely the best. Folks were friendly and professional. Plus, and this is one of the best things in the world, I got to continue eating German food! On Fridays for supper they brought in this huge sweet dumpling thing. Man! It had some type of vanilla sauce on it. I tried my hardest to eat it slowly but I'm afraid it didn't last very long. Hospital visits I believe all of the instructors came up to visit me while I was in the hospital. One cool dude, Ralph (a.k.a.Tony) spent the first night in my room. He didn't get much sleep. I know that. These guys brought me all kinds of cool stuff to do and eat while I was there. Some of things brought to me were: cassette tapes-Go Hillerman and the Four Corners!, Magnum ice-cream bars, pizza, bar-b-que, radio, magazines, books. I was brought one hilarious book titled, Book of Guys by Garrison Keillor. It made me laugh so hard I had to stop reading it! It's especially funny if you were around before the feminism movement. These guys spent many, many hours in my room encouraging me and cheering me on. Many thanks to all, especially Frank (d'Man) who translated for me as well. Guys (and ladies!), thanks a ton!! I remember the day they had to head home. They all came up to me en mass. What was cool, too, was the Tour de France was on so they would talk with me for a couple of minutes and then watch a few minutes of the race. Great memories! Hospitals in Germany are a little different than in the States. It seems like in the States everyone has a private room. I had two roommates. There are no barriers or curtains to pull to separate us. So, when a catheter was inserted or removed my roommates had front row seats. One of my roommates was Harry. Harry owned and operated Harry's Bistro in a nearby village. He encouraged me and helped me and the nurses to communicate. Jann's house Having been in the hospital for a couple of weeks, it was time for me to hit the road. Jann Williams, the director of the Hinterbrand Lodge, offered his house for Beth and I to stay in while he was in the States. It was a single level dwelling, which made it extremely convenient for me. We stayed there for a week enjoying the view of the surrounding Alps and making daily trips to the physical therapist. While in Germany I fell back in love with several "things." Let me list a few of my top favorites: the people, just totally awesome, some of the coolest and friendliest folks on the planet; fresh brotchen, a roll usually eaten as part of your breakfast; coffee (we stocked up on it while there); the mountains; and the schwimmbad/sauna experience. Back home It was then time to say our farewells to Germany and return to our home in Italy. It was about an eight hour drive. It went fairly smoothly. By putting down part of the back seat of our Volvo station wagon and putting a Thermarest mattress and sleeping bag I was able to stretch out and left the driving to Beth. She did a great job! It didn't take long to realize that we were back in Italy, for other reasons than the driving. It seems this was an exceptionally hot summer this last August. It was fairly warm. We were provided a window air conditioner and since I couldn't lift it a guy that we knew from Scouts and chapel came out and installed it. During this time I got into a routine of going to one of the two American pools for some basic toning exercises. Plus it was great to get out. I went back to work a few days beginning September 12th. The orthopedic physician's assistant and I thought it would be good to give it a try. After all, it had been almost three months since the accident. I was excited to return for a number of reasons other than just wanting to do something besides lie around and read. I wanted to see what my new office looked like. I wanted to meet the new teachers and reacquaint myself with our new administrative technologist. I wanted to feel the excitement that exists in a good school. So, I returned for a couple of hours per day. I was in quite a bit of discomfort before the two hours had ended. It came to Friday of the next week and it rained. This spelled doom for me. I was not able to go in that day and have not been back to work since. The PA said no more work until further notice. I've downloaded several books onto my Palm so that I can read just about anytime and anyplace. I've been reading a number of different books, such as, Tony Hillerman westerns which take place in the four-corners area, religious books- The Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoffer, Louis L'Amour westerns, historical fiction, and histories. My brother, Patrick, sent me A Walk in the Woods, which was totally hilarious. I've also been reading emails and get-well cards. Thank you for sending them and offering your prayers on my behalf. Vince and Brant, thanks for checking on my progress and encouraging me by calling me. They were a real boost! I've been playing my harmonica. This is a fascinating hobby in which there is always something to learn. I have almost zero talent for learning music by ear or by notes, so this activity provides me with plenty of challenges. The Doctor's Reports Since there was not a physical therapist at the base clinic it was suggested that I go to an Italian physical therapist. In order to do that, one must see a doctor first. So, I went to the Centro Sport Palladio. This is a health spa facility. It includes a swimming pool, weight machine room, coffee shop (which serves a fantastic cappuccino), solarium and physical therapy wing. With the awesome interpreting abilities of Michela Ambruoso, an Italian language teacher at Vicenza High, we told him what had happened. He looked at the x-rays and CT results. He said he would like to have an MRI done. He wrote out the prescription for an MRI to be performed at a local facility. He laid out a plan of action for the therapy. So, I've been going to therapy every weekday for a couple of weeks now. While there I receive a half an hour of magnetism treatment, 25 minutes of TENS treatment and a heck of a massage. His hands fly over my back. After a few minutes of warmup massage he starts digging in a little along the fracture area, which is the small of my back. And if my left leg is hurting he'll work on that as well. He knows exactly where to push and rub to cause the most pain. I had previously had an appointment with an American orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Legan, who works out of an Italian hospital in Sacile, a town north of Venice. There is a wing of the hospital the US Air Force uses to treat Americans. Beth drove us over there, being about a two hour drive I laid in the back of our station wagon on the Thermarest mattress and a sleeping bag. While there the doctor wanted some more x-rays taken. That was done. He looked at them and said everything looks good but it's taking a little more time to heal than normal. He would not be concerned yet that it wasn't healing as fast as I would like. Give eight more weeks and if there's not a good deal of progress then he would be concerned that it wasn't healing as it should. The day before I went to see Dr. Legan I went to Altavilla and had the MRI done. It takes a few days to get those results back. When we did get them, they had to be sent to the hospital downtown Vicenza to be translated into English. Well, it's now Nov. 5 and Beth and just returned from meeting w/ the Italian orthopedic doctor. Our friend Michela was there as well providing a totally awesome job of interpreting. Oh to be a polyglot! The good news-I can start swimming and working out in the weight room. Of course I will take it slowly! He said it may seem like I am regressing in my development and there will be an increase in pain because it's been so long since I've been active. I took in a workout chart from a men's exercise magazine and had him look it over. He gave a no-go on only two of the exercises in the weight room. So, I can do the modified owen crunch, lat pulldown, leg curl, shoulder press, overhand-grip machine row and walking lunge. I am to start and continue with light weights and increase reps rather than weight. He said the fracture area will continue to swell and cause me pain in my back and left leg probably for years. He said I'm a barometer. There is some hernia in the spongy area between L4 & L5 but it's not significant. The area around a nerve swells causing pain down the leg. I asked him what specifically does magnetism treatment do for me to facilitate calcification. After receiving this good news I decided to start on an exercise plan. On Tuesday I went to the pool, then changed and went to the weight room. Then went to physical therapy where he had me do more exercising than ever before. The result? I was in bed all day Wednesday. OK, so I overdid it. There's an old saying, "You don't know your limits until you've gone beyond them. Now I'll just go to the pool OR the weight room. So, as a result of this experience I've gained an appreciation for health, my family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, and those who work in health care. I owe all and thank my Lord Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for keeping me throughout this time. And I thank you all for letting Him work through you. If ya can why not scroll down and sign my guest book? I'd love to hear how you're doin'. |
This page was last updated on: November 11, 2001
Me in the post pool trying to push the football underwater. I succeeded.xt. |
Later I try out Brant's new ascenders. |