This was D-Day.  I’ve alternated LouAnn’s and my perspectives here as we describe the events of the day that landed me in the hospital!

LouAnn:  Well, we had quite a sleepless night!  By 2am, Paul had not slept and couldn’t take the pain anymore.  He gave in and asked to go to a hospital.  We searched Salzburg hospitals online and found one that we thought would work.  I got dressed and helped get Paul dressed.  We slowly shuffled to the car and took awhile to get into it.  Paul was sweating profusely and nearly passed out from the pain just getting to the car.  We drove 20 minutes to a private hospital that was recommended online.   CLOSED.   So we searched online, and drove to another hospital and rang the bell. (it looked closed too – no glaring signs signaling “EMERGENCY” like they have in the states.) They came to the car with a wheelchair and took him in.  After about 20 min and much questioning, the doctor said that they do not treat back problems there, so we’d have to go to the hospital that specializes in neurological issues.  So….back into car and after 15 more min., found my way to the 3^rd hospital – the Christian Dopplar Klinik.  This one looked closed too.  Rang the night bell and they came with wheelchair and took him in.  It was now 4:00am.  I had to leave and the park car far away in a pay lot, and by the time I came back, Paul was in a triage room with 2 IV’s dripping.  Both the nurse and doctor were really sweet.  The “emergency” room was deserted other than us.  Dr. Ildiko Deak was her name.

The IV’s were a pain reliever and a muscle relaxer.  An hour later, his pain was only down to an 8-9, so they gave him an injection of stronger pain meds in his stomach.  Morphine.

A bit later, Dr. Deak came and drew blood to run a complete workup and said they’d keep him another hour.  She stated she would not send him home until his pain level was down.  Said she only gave ½ dose of Morphine, and if his pain isn’t better in an hour, she’ll give the other half.   If it’s not better after that, she’ll order a CT scan.

The chronicle of the rest of the morning: 

5:17am – Paul’s been sleeping since 5.  Finally. 

5:30am- Pain still at a 6-7, so they gave the other dose.  At least he is able to stay in one position and sleep.  Only hurts to move now.

6:15am – Doc back in and has Paul stand and walk in the hall a bit.   He says pain is at a 7- not as low as they would like.  Still really hurting.   In hallway he was waiting at door, sipping some water and passed out, falling to the floor.  They ordered a CT scan and got him back in bed.

6:50am – Took Paul for his scan.   He is still in a lot of pain.

7:30am – Dr. Deak back in to say his scan looked bad.  “Lesion” at L4-L5.  This is the same problem spot previous scans have shown and without comparing films, it’s hard to say if he’s worsened.   She wants to admit him so they can monitor him and keep him on strong meds to get his pain level down.  It’s ok when he’s still, but any movement, and the pain is back to at least a 7.  It will be better to have him in the hospital so he can get better under supervision.   It’s too scary for him to be home alone with us running around and no one there to help him.   I hate to leave him though.  She left to give us time to think about it.  He has been in excruciating pain that two rounds of morphine did not help.

8:00am – Doc back in to check.   They will admit him for a day or two.  Paul asked to look at the CT films to see if he can tell any change.   We’ll try to have Maria find his old films and notes at home and to try and send over for comparison.   Poor Paulie.

8:15am- Got to see his new CT scan and Paul can tell L4-L5 is worse.  Much more bulged down than what it had been.  

9:15am- In a room now.  Rm 218.  Shared of course.  Paul is resting.  They just came in to draw blood.  Went home and got the kids ready and got Paul some books and other stuff.  

Paul:  LouAnn had not slept the entire night at this point.  While I was in and out of sleep in the ER, she stayed up, sitting next to me.

LouAnn:  Noon –  I went home and slept for 30 min, got kids cleaned up and headed back to hospital.  Paul is not good.  Really cannot move anything without excruciating pain.  The kids were glad to see him.   Sad, though.    We didn’t stay long, as his roomie was asleep, and there are no privacy curtains.   The kids and I left ate in a little café on the hospital grounds.  As we were leaving, we noticed Dad’s roommate on a bench, visiting with his wife, so we booked it back up to Paul’s room to visit again without disturbing anyone.  

4:00ish – The kids really want to ride horses, so we went our way to find horses to ride.  Checked with Inge – the owner at Bloberger Hof – and she suggested some down the street.  Nope.  THEY suggested another house down the street.  Walked 600m to see?  Nope.  We did have a pretty, cool and sprinkly walk, though. 

Paul:  That first day in the hospital was agonizing and scary.  I really struggled with the idea of being in a foreign hospital and not being sure of the type of care I would receive.  But I also knew that it would be very difficult to manage the pain I was having at Bloberger Hof.  At least in the hospital they could monitor me and give me additional medicine as I needed it.  Plus LouAnn felt much better having me there instead of leaving me at the hotel.  The room was stark, basic, yet peaceful.  Lying in bed I could see pretty trees out the window and the birds were singing.  The nurses were sweet and helpful, but with the language/culture barrier, there’s always that feeling that they don’t really understand what I’m going through.  I knew that this pain was unprecedented.  I also knew, looking at the CT scan results, that the degree of disc herniation was much more extreme than my films from several years before. 

LouAnn:  After our walk, we quickly went back to Bloberger Hof and changed into our dressier clothes.  We had a night out on the town, as we had booked tickets when we arrived, to see Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” at the Salzburg Marionette Theatre!  Bad timing, as it turned out, as Paul couldn’t go with us, but the kids and I had a great evening together.  It was cool and rainy, making it fun to walk the streets to the theatre.  The performance was astounding!   The artistry involved in making the marionettes come to life takes 10-15 years to master.  The kids were on the edge of their seats-totally caught up in the story and the beauty of it all.   The marionettes  are controlled so perfectly.  Their motions, gestures, choreography, interactions are so realistic that you almost forget you’re not watching real people acting out the story.  Seriously.  It’s THAT good!

Afterwards it was too late to visit Paul again.  It was so hard to not be with him.   I desperately wanted to be at the hospital 24/7, but had to take care of the kids too.  Hard.

 I stayed up really late corresponding with family and getting things ready for the next day.

Paul:  This night, my first full night in the hospital, was quite possibly the worst night of my life.  The pain was unmanageable.  I lay on my back with my legs raised, but any movement – even to a slightly different position – would trigger spasms in my lower back during which I was sure I would pass out.  The spasms made my entire body tense up, I would stop breathing, and it would reach the level where I’d think to myself, “there is no possible way I can stand the pain if it gets 1 degree worse…”  But somehow the body and mind endure, and after about 20-30 seconds, the spasms would subside.  But I would then lie there in fear, still as I could manage, anticipating the next spasm.  And I could tell when it was coming; it was as if my back would give me three build-up contractions before the tsunami-of-pain hit.   I called the nurses in for more medicine several times during the night, but the morphine-blend capsules never touched the pain.  At last, morning came.  The sunlight gave me hope and made me feel better.  And LouAnn walked in around 7:30.

About 3:00am.  Waiting to see a doctor at the second hospital we tried.  He kindly redirected me to Christian Doppler Klinik, our THIRD hospital.

In the ER at CDK.

About 6:00am.  Pain still not under control.  Lots of praying going on.

Riding up in the elevator after they admitted me.  Look at the goofy tech photobombing us!

Finally resting a bit.

Sweet kids coming to visit.  It was the first time they’d seen me.

Worried…

This is a schematic of the hospital grounds.  I was in building #2.

They found a small café at the hospital….

…then came running back up to see me one more time!

Taking a walk to find horses to ride.

Never found any, but enjoyed our cool walk by the mountain.

At the Salzburg Marionette Theatre to see Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”

Beautiful marionettes.

Ready for the show!

Walking home… selfie in the store window!  Love the reflection.

Missing Dad.

Sun still setting.  Time?  10:35PM!!!!!!