Happy Birthday, America! Independence Day would take on an added meaning for me today! I found out that morning that I could leave the hospital whenever I was ready. We received my discharge instructions and medicine mid-morning. We also stopped by the business office to ensure everything was in order and to get all the documentation we would need for later claims with the insurance company. The physical therapist also came by with some exercises and strict instructions for the next few weeks. No sitting for more than 30 minutes at a time! No lifting anything over FOUR POUNDS! Yikes. And we’re in the middle of a European vacation with five big suitcases. LouAnn was signing up for more than she bargained for!

In the meantime, LouAnn and the kids had moved us from Bloberger Hof to our new home-away-from-home down the road, Pension Frauenschuh. They did a great job accommodating us for the final week in Salzburg, even if they didn’t have an elevator!

After a final goodbye to Tasso and Guenther, we packed up and left the hospital at 2:00pm. This was my journal entry that day:

“Today I should leave the hospital, after 10 days. Independence Day, indeed! I hope that at some point the words to describe my experience here – both the day-by-day and the profound – will come pouring out of me. But for now I don’t seem to have them. The staff here have been wonderful, and I almost hate to leave them. The nurses, the doctors, the orderlies, the people who bring my meals, clean my room…. They have all been delightful, and have served time and time again to confirm the RIGHTNESS of my being here. Certainly, God’s plans – his INTENT – can often be hard to discern, even in retrospect. But I feel like the veil has been pulled back with such stark, vivid clarity on this whole experience that it almost seems to be too good to be true. Too RIGHT. That in my over-excitement at getting better, at getting to be in this special place, I end up OVER-ascribing my good “fortune” to God’s perfect, deliberate work in my life. But how can that be possible? How can I doubt something that is so clear? It’s because of my still-immature KNOWLEDGE of him. Because of the enduring UNFATHOMNESS of God’s abundant grace upon someone as undeserving as me. I allow my intense self-awareness to crowd out and drown the deeper knowledge of God. I have become an excellent student of myself, and a poor student of Him. Deeper self-awareness, self-deprecation, self-focus is not what’s needed. This self-awareness that I’ve always treasured, trumpeted in myself, and sought earnestly in others – I’m learning that it’s of little value unless that insight is revealed through the lens of God – his love, his grace, his mercy. An awareness that’s gained through my own self-examination starts with a shallow foundation; it has little to stand on, and its resulting “smarts” have little eternal value. To look instead to know HIM first is to start over, to set aside what I believe I’ve “learned” about myself. God’s goodness and love and grace and mercy will NEVER be fathomable if we start from our assessment of our OWN character and abilities.

Of COURSE He can pull all this off. Of COURSE He can engineer my arrival in Austria, my “ill”-timed sneeze, our navigation to the Christian Doppler Klinik, just the right doctors, just the right technology, just the right family support, the right decisions. Of course he can place Tasso and Guenther in my life, to give me a focus beyond myself. To get me OUT of myself. To lend me PERSPECTIVE. To give me the privilege, in some small way, to participate in HIS work in the lives of total strangers, now friends. I would never have been able to conceive of it. Could never have imagined that this would all be for GOOD.”

Final breakfast!

Dressed for the 4th!

My cool new waterproof bandage.

Dr. McPike reviewing my recovery instructions with me….

Getty antsy…..

Final group shot in the room!

Sweet Dr. Rosenlechner.

Guenther!  He was feeling MUCH better.

Tasso!

Goodbye, Bloberger Hof!

LouAnn and Inge

 

Pension Frauenschuh had a pool!!!

View from our balcony.

Out to dinner in Grodig..

Following the doctor’s orders not to sit for more than 30 minutes at a time, I got up for short walks during dinner.  And sweet GT came with me.

Another good night’s rest; feeling better all the time. An early-morning breakfast on my own (6:45 sharp!), Psalms, open windows – my morning routine. Once the family showed up, we delivered to both Tasso and Guenther the get-well collages that Aunt Netter and Georgia had made for them. Guenther was recovering from his surgery and doing very well! Tasso also seemed to be light-years ahead of where he was the previous day – positive and hopeful. Such a blessing to find him that way. The morning also entailed me wearing my lederhosen swimsuit and anti-thrombosis hose for pictures. SEXY!!!

After lunch, we decided to take a walk OUTSIDE. It would be my first step outside in NINE DAYS. Hard to believe. It was a beautiful day, and we walked down to the little on-property cafe for some ice cream and drinks, then a walk back to my building through the grass. I removed my slippers and walked barefoot through the cool grass, with the sun on my face…it felt INCREDIBLE.

After our excursion, given that today would be another day of steady recovery, I urged LouAnn and the kids to go do something fun. Tasso, who works for Red Bull (started by a guy in SALZBURG), had suggested the Red Bull Hangar 7 at the airport, which houses a lot of Red Bull’s race cars, jets, wing suits, etc. They agreed and off they went. Dad hung around and we spent a lazy afternoon reading and dozing. I had finished the Bonheoffer biography and moved on to Stephen Ambrose’s “The Victors – Eisenhower and His Boys: The Men of World War II” in anticipation of our upcoming trip to Normandy. It was recommended by a dear friend.

Hangar 7 was AMAZING, apparently, and the kids promised to take me back once I got out of the hospital – WHICH NEVER HAPPENED. That evening my sisters and dad took the kids back to the hotel, and LouAnn and I had a DATE NIGHT (she hates that term) on what would be my final night in the hospital. I scooted over so she could we share my bed, and we enjoyed cold Almdudler and a Tour de France preview show. The height of romance!

Good look!  That’s a Guinness t-shirt, to make all you Irishmen proud…

First steps outside in NINE days….

 

Ahhh….walking in the grass…..

“From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised.”  Psalm 113:3

Red Bull Hangar 7

Red Bull egg-shaped toilet!

Guenther!  Post-surgery and feeling better.  His son and daughter-in-law had just placed well in the Austrian Ironman.  Two days later, LouAnn and I were flipping channels at the hotel and we got to see his daughter-in-law competing in the Ironman!

Date night!

Collage for Tasso.

 

My get-well collage.

I slept really well the first night after surgery.  The pain – or, rather, the CHANGE in pain – was hard to describe.  I really didn’t have any of my age-old disc pain left; it was just pain from the surgery itself.   This day, Wednesday, was the first day I was allowed to sit up, which made me a bit nervous, but made me feel good.  I sat up for a normal breakfast, read my Psalms, and was overwhelmed with GRATEFULNESS.  To be in this place, at this time, with these doctors…it all felt so perfectly planned.  Planned by a God who knows exactly what is needed, and, miraculously, continually seeks our greatest good.

LouAnn and the gang came up late morning, and we spent the day hanging out.  Georgia and Aunt Netter worked diligently on their get-well magazine collages, several for me, and then ones for both Guenther and Tasso.  Lunch included alphabet soup, but of course all the words that formed were in German, so I couldn’t read a thing….

After lunch I got up and walked around.  I kept making excuses to get up.  “I’ll take those coffee cups to the kitchen!”  “I’ll get you some coffee!”  But I also rested.

LouAnn and I checked on Tasso later in the afternoon, and he was not doing well.  He was in a lot of pain, and having serious regrets about deciding to have the surgery.  He was in a tough spot.  We did our best to cheer him up and urged him to have PATIENCE, reminding him that each day would be better, and to not let his emotions run away with him.  Georgia gave him his get-well collage, and we left him.

Good morning, Salzburg!

Yes – Austrian alphabet soup!

Georgia and Netter working on their sweet collages.

Finding reasons to get up and walk around.

LouAnn was ONE SLEEPY GIRL.

My FB post from that day:  “When I FINALLY got this Sweet Girl to agree to lie down beside me for a bit on this hospital bed, she fell asleep immediately. A full week of managing kids, an injured husband, doctors and nurses and office clerks, drives back and forth through town, laundry, and all in a FOREIGN COUNTRY. She’s earned a nap, to be sure. And she’s done it all with full LouAnn style – with love, generosity, selflessness, and laughs.”  She’s been amazing.

The gang back at Bloberger Hof for dinner that evening.

Jack re-telling his now-famous LEMUR STORY.

Schnitzel…..

…..and strudel.

 

Surgery day!  Slept very well last night.  LouAnn and the gang were up early and at the hospital to ensure they saw me before I went in.  There was a bit of a delay due to insurance issues, but soon I was gowned up and heading to the OR!

While I was under the knife, the nurses came by and informed LouAnn that they would be moving me to a private room after surgery.  Woohoo!  That way they could corral our big gang!  But it turned out to be  real blessing; it gave us a place to gather and hang out without disturbing Guenther.

I awoke in Recovery after about 90 minutes, and Dr. Krombholz came to see me.  He told me the surgery went well, and he was able to remove the disc material that had leaked outside the disc.

Once back in the room, I was naturally a bit groggy.  I couldn’t have anything to drink for an hour or two, so the nurses had given me lemon-sugar swabs to suck on in the meantime.  Or at least I THINK that’s what they told me.  We got a bit, admittedly groggy, laugh out of imagining the nurses coming into the room, seeing me with the swab in my mouth, and in a panic trying to explain to me in their broken English that it was a suppository.  The whole group was there to greet me, and I drifted in and out while they plied me for descriptions of anything I remembered.

My pain was pretty much under control.  The private room had a TV in it!  So that evening we were able to watch the World Cup.  A good, successful day.  God is good!

LouAnn was up early and took this sunrise picture from the B&B.

Showing the kids the gown I was supposed to put on….

Sweet Stefanie getting me ready to go!

Heading to the OR.  The tech at the foot of my bed – with the shaggy hair; the kids called him “Newsies Nurse” – was really sweet.  He ended up being tasked with taking my blood pressure every thirty minutes after the surgery.  I joked with him that they must be paying him 10 euros every time he took my BP, so each time he came in he would laugh and talk about getting his next 10 euros…

While waiting, Aunt Netter and Georgia worked on magazine-cutout collages.

Waiting…..

And waiting……

He made it!

Luckily they didn’t mine for deep, dark secrets….

This is me amused with myself over the “wait, Mr. Stumbo, that doesn’t go in your MOUTH,” scenario….

Papa and Jack sitting with me.

I was allowed to turn from side to side, but not to get up.

Getting to watch the World Cup.  The “listen, here” hand placed against my father’s arm must have meant I was giving a soccer lecture!  SO good to have him there.

Monday, June 30th – I found officially this morning that my surgery will be tomorrow morning, 7/1, first-thing.  Ready to go!  My sweet family also arrived today from the States.  My father, John, sisters Annette and Laurie, and brother-in-law Jon.  They came over to support me and be with LouAnn and the kids.  So sweet!

LouAnn and the kids came by and hung out at the hospital in the morning, then headed to the Salzburg airport in early afternoon to meet them.  They arrived safe and sound, and we spent the afternoon together at the hospital.

Tasso, our friend next door, had asked that we pray together with my family before the surgeries, so we stood together in my room that afternoon and prayed.  I go in on Tuesday, and he is scheduled for Wednesday.

At this point, I’m ready to get on with it!  God was so good to bring us to this point.  I had full confidence in the doctors and our direction.

Same breakfast every morning, 6:45am on the dot!

LouAnn’s new find – Interspar.  The Target of Salzburg!

Waiting at the Salzburg airport for Papa, Aunt Netter, Aunt Laurie, and Uncle Jon to arrive.

Waiting…..

Papa and Aunt Netter arriving.

Jack, alluding to the Van al Dente incident in Florence….

They’re here!

Laurie.

Annette.

Dad, Jon.

My friend Tasso!  He had asked that we pray together, as he was facing surgery later in the week.  We did, right after this photo was taken.

Georgia checking the pre-surgical marks they’d made; making sure it was the right spot!

Later that night, the very tired gang having dinner back at Bloberger Hof.

LouAnn: Ahhhh… we woke early to church bells chiming!! So pretty. I wish we could hear that back home.   The kids and I took our time getting ready and eating breakfast together downstairs.   Sweet Inge knows what we like now, and automatically brings us “our usual.”   Today we were supposed to fly to Barcelona.   Inge was able to let us stay in our suite through next Friday- another 6 nights! What a blessing to not have to move B&B’s now. She also was able to accommodate Paul’s family, coming tomorrow.   It will be so nice and so much easier to be staying at the same place!

We got to the hospital around 11:00 and Paul was sitting up eating lunch. He had also enjoyed hearing the church bells that morning as he ate his breakfast. Günther was gone with his wife for the day, so we were able to visit longer and not have to be so quiet. We played cards around his bed again, and watched the movie “Fletch” on his ipad together.   We laughed and laughed. It was fun to hang out with him for the afternoon.

By this point, after a week here, we were desperately needing to do laundry again.   We tore ourselves away from Paul so he could rest, and headed home to gather the mounds.   We went back to our favorite laundromat, Green Clean!!! It is NOT CHEAP. 10 euros per wash load. 6 euros to dry.   However, the capacity is HUGE! Worth every penny! It took a while to find a parking place. Parking is not easy in this town. We parked several blocks away, illegally I think, (never could translate the sign) and trekked down the street with all of our clothes, in the rain, I might add. While the clothes washed, the kids played once again in the park next door.   They spent far too long on the merry-go-throw-up, and when we headed back to switch the clothes, I turned to make sure they were following me.   I found them all evenly spaced out along the grass, bent over, hands on their knees, sick as dogs.   That was the last we saw of THAT park!

As our clothes dried, we played a mean game of Liverpool Rummy. I love playing cards with the kids. They are all competitive and laugh a lot.   After 2 ½ hours, we finally finished folding all the clothes, took them back through the rain to the car, which was mercifully still there.   It was now 9:00pm. The kids were again starving. Keep in mind, EVERYTHING closes up around 7pm every night, and even fewer things are open on a Sunday night. Jack searched for places to eat on my phone and found Tokyo Bar a block down from the laundromat.   We walked there and had the BEST dinner!   The food was great! Not Austrian for a change.   The kids were tired and punchy, and everything was making them laugh.   They all made puppets out of their chopsticks and had fun doing “Punch and Judy” routines to each other.   I have not seen them get that hysterical very often. I’m sure the few others in the restaurant wondered what we had been drinking!

 After dinner it was too late to visit Paul again, so we headed home, full, clean and happy.

Sitting up for lunch!  I know these seem repetitive, but to get to sit up seemed like a privilege at this point.

Watching movie with the kids

And after a shower, a stroll through the halls!

Literally!

It makes ME sick just to WATCH this!

And…..the result.  All in the name of FUN!

Liverpool at Green Clean.

I think this is Ellis’s “they’re MULTIPLYING!” face.

Getting late at this point.  Tired and HUNGRY.

Yea Tokyo Bar!

Sanity was slipping away at this point….

They were pretty punchy!

Paul:  LouAnn finally took the chance to sleep in on Saturday and have a leisurely breakfast with the kids at Bloberger Hof instead of rushing up to the hospital early in the morning. I felt pretty good Saturday. Up, showered, walking around, spending time resting and reading. LouAnn and the kids came up around noon, and visted with me and Tasso for a while. I was BEGGING them to take the afternoon to go do something fun. The kids had not been out and about in several days and Salzburg was waiting. So they decided to go spend Saturday afternoon at Hellbrunn Palace, the amazing summer palace built by Salzburg’s Prince Archbishop Markus Sittikus von Hohenems (everybody remembers him, right?) It’s an amazing place. He was quite a jokester, and designed his palace with lots of fun in mind!

LouAnn: With kids loaded in the car (which thankfully was equipped with a navigation system,) my trusty Austrian Siri guided us to Hellbrunn Palace and Wasserspeil. It is a gorgeous drive out there…past open meadows and mountains.   As we got close, I was able to play “Sound of Music” tour guide and point out some location spots to the kids.   We drove through the trees that the Von Trapp children were hanging in as the captain and Elsa drove by, we walked down the sidewalk by the yellow wall that Maria walked beside, swinging her suitcase and guitar as she was singing “I Have Confidence.” Also located on the grounds is the gazebo used in filming “Sixteen Going on Seventeen.” The film producers gave it to the city of Salzburg after filming, and it is located on the palace grounds now.

We decided to do the Wasserspeil tour first.   It is a tour of the beautiful garden surrounding the palace.   It was built in the 1500’s and is unusual in it’s design because it is built into the varied natural landscape, instead of on a neatly designed grid.   It is unpredictable, with grottos, caves, fountains, all following beside the natural flow of the river.   Markus Sitticus von Hohenems created these gardens to entertain himself, as well as his guests. Using only the natural water power from the river, he had built many, many hidden fountains and waterspouts.   Undetected by his guests, he could secretly turn them on and douse his unsuspecting guests at any point along the way! The methods have been virtually unchanged since it was built in the 1500’s. It is amazing! So creative in it’s design. He also built many 3-D moving scenes along a small stream. These were powered by the water and all moved… man chopping wood, knight saving victim from dragon, etc.

Our tour guide was getting quite a kick out of spraying us all! When we’d least expect it, arcs of water would come spraying out of the seats around a table (yes, making guests look like they’d wet their pants) out of the ground, out of the side walls or ceiling of the grottos, out of the horns of mounted stag heads. Nowhere was safe!   The archbishop delighted in entertaining his guests, and it quickly became THE place to be invited to a dinner party.   During it’s time, the grounds also contained many wild and exotic animals, which could also be spotted as one walked around.

The kids all squealed with delight every time they were sprayed. Georgia got soaked!   It seemed like the tour guide was after me, too, as my shorts were dripping by the end of it!

We toured the palace after that. I am really enamored with ancient things. Loved touring this place and seeing how beautifully constructed it is.   We listened to the audio guide and found out all sorts of neat things! We LOVE audio guides! It’s so cute to watch the kids listening to them as they walk around. They’ve discovered they DO NOT like the kid versions…”too baby”…and request the adult ones every time.

By the end of our time there, we were starving but the kids wouldn’t leave without playing in the park. They spotted a zipline (which seems to be the thing to have at these parks) and made a beeline for it.   The setting here is so beautiful! I wish Paul could have been with us.

On the way back to the hospital, we stopped at McDonalds. (cringe!) I know, I know… but there are NO fast food restaurants other than this, and it’s hard to find a place to eat sometimes. It’s still hard to get used to NO ICE with our drinks. It’s such a let-down to get a cup, go to the soda machine and there is no lever for ice! What’s with these people??

Paul was excited to see all of our pictures when we got back. He had been before, but loved hearing the kids excitedly tell him all about it. We stayed and visited with him for awhile that night. He was feeling a bit better- was able to sit up more, so we gathered around his bed and played cards with him while his roommate was gone for a bit.

It was a good day! It felt good getting back to being a tourist. On Wednesday we had suddenly gone from being tourists – viewing Salzburg through tourists eyes, being excited about “what’s next” on the sightseeing schedule…to living there.   Shuttling back and forth between home and hospital – doing day-to-day, utilitarian things instead of touristy things. I’m glad we went to Hellbrunn! The kids loved it!

Sitting up for lunch!

Gee, thanks for including this one, LouAnn.

The trick dinner table – water would squirt up through the seats!

Jack looking appropriately amazed.

Sound of Music gazebo!

Ah, they found a zipline….

Sound of Music trees!

Time to go back to the hospital…..

….for Liverpool Rummy!

LouAnn:  Got up early again -usually around 5:30am – so I could get to the hospital by 7am to be there when the doctor came.  Again, the kids stayed back to hang out at Bloberger Hof.  When I got to the hospital, Paul was sitting up, eating breakfast!  This was the first I’d seen him up in 3 days.  I was so happy he felt good enough to be up a bit.  After breakfast, two nurses came storming in to bathe him.   It was a bit of a comedy routine…. Neither nurse spoke much English, so initially there was lots of pantomiming back & forth…what THEY wanted him to do….what HE wanted to do…  Finally, Paul got out the translation app on his phone, and the nurses eyes lit up!  He would “tell” them something, then they would type their response into the phone and show Paul.  Finally!  Smiles and laughs of understanding all around, everyone began to be on the same page.  I offered to help him shower instead of them.  He felt sooo much better being fresh and clean!

Later that morning, “Dr. Porcupine” came back in with Dr. Rosenlechner (who we loved) and another doctor.  He had reviewed all of Paul’s test results again and encouraged him to have the surgery.   Because of scheduling, they needed a decision soon – THAT DAY.   They left and Paul & I talked….what to do?   The decision process felt rushed, but at the same time, nothing was going to change.   I left Paul to head back to the kids for lunch.  We decided to both think and pray about it, and talk again later.

When I got back to the B&B, the kids were soooo excited to show me what had arrived for us.  A giant gift basket full of toys, a soccer ball, English newspapers for Paul, English fashion magazines for me, snacks, drinks, and candy!   The card revealed that it was from our sweet friends, Gordon & Julie Rhodes and Chuck & Merritt Seely.    What a day brightener!!   The kids were thrilled and immediately ran outside with their new soccer ball.  We spent the afternoon at the house and shopping for flowers to brighten Paul’s room.

Paul called and said that another neurosurgeon, Dr. Eckert, whom we hadn’t met yet, had come by to visit.   He spoke perfect English and talked with him for 20 minutes.  He answered all of Paul’s questions and really calmed his fears and encouraged him about the surgery and recovery time.   By now, Paul had pretty much decided that having the surgery was the right thing to do.  I could tell he was relieved that we were moving forward now, and not in limbo anymore.   His text to me was priceless:  “LET’S FIX THIS THING!  Dr. Eckert said that with every surgery you get a free pair of lederhosen, so that pretty much clinched it for me!”

 Paul:  Slept MUCH better Thursday night; no more of the sudden, life-ending spasms.  This was the first morning I tried sitting up to eat breakfast as well.  And the nurse insisted I try to shower, which I desperately needed.  So when LouAnn showed up, she helped me into the shower and helped me get clean, like a little old man.  Like her Gramma Tillie used to say, “you wash up as far as possible, you wash down as far as possible, then you wash POSSIBLE.”  It’s AMAZING what a shower and a fresh set of pajamas will do to your perspective.  As my head cleared and I became more comfortable with what we were learning about this hospital, I came around to the idea of having the surgery.  Everything we’d been reading about Austrian healthcare was incredibly positive, and we loved the surgeons we had met, particularly Dr. Krombholz, the head of the spine unit.  And, surgery would provide at least the POSSIBILITY of continuing our trip in some form; a decision against surgery was a decision to fly home immediately.  So by Friday afternoon we had decided to move ahead.  We were at peace with it and it felt good to have some direction decided.

The mountain next to Bloberger Hof.  LouAnn was up early!

Showing up early to see the patient!

LouAnn befriended an Australian woman, Ina, in the parking lot.  She had come back to Salzburg with her Austrian husband to visit.  He had begun feeling disoriented and dizzy, and it was discovered he had a brain tumor.  The doctors at CDK were not comfortable with operating, so they were arranging for a private flight home to Australia after being in the hospital for 17 days.  She was such an encouragement to LouAnn as she raved about her husband’s treatment there.   And Ina was thrilled to have an English speaking comrade for a little while.

I have to say the food at the hospital was AMAZING.  Friday’s lunch was fried fish, incredible potatoes, soup, and fruit.  From Friday on, as I was feeling better, I inhaled every meal.

LouAnn selfie, shopping at our local grocery store, Billa.

This is how LA found the kids when she got back to the B&B.  Just chillin’…

The incredible gift basket that was delivered to LouAnn and the kids at Bloberger Hof.

It took some deciphering, but we figured out it was from Gordon & Julie Rhodes and Chuck & Merritt Seely, with an assist from sweet Inge, the owner at Bloberger Hof.  SUCH sweet friends; we love them.

The kids were THRILLED, obviously.  Such a loving gesture from our dear friends.

LouAnn and the kids returning Friday afternoon.  They had put together fresh flowers not just for me, but for Guenther and Tasso as well.

They were relieved I was starting to feel better.  And I was relieved to finally be SHOWERED.

Sweet Georgia always wanted to make sure my water cup was filled.

Leaving the hospital again…..always hard.

 

LouAnn:  Well, it was another short night.  I need more sleep.  Got up early, left notes for the kids, and went up to be with Paul around 7:30am.  The kids slept in, ate breakfast around 10 at the B&B, then stayed there and played until I got back.  Sweet Inge, the owner, kept an eye on them for me while I was gone.

When I got to the hospital, Paul told me he had had the worst night of his life.  His pain was so bad that he couldn’t shift positions in the bed, or even raise his arms without excruciating pain.  He had been lying in the same position for 14 hours.   I felt so guilty for not staying with him. 

Dr. Rosenlechner (a wonderful, young doctor, bright blue eyes, thin, long hair in a ponytail) came in and took lots of time talking to us.  His English was perfect and he was concerned and compassionate, and explained the situation so well.  He told us they had ordered an MRI because of the results of the CT scan and the extent of Paul’s pain.  Paul was concerned that he would not be able to hold still in the MRI machine, because of the pain, so they gave him some drowsy medicine.  He still could not move- was still in the same position as the day before.  Not long after the doctor left, they came and wheeled him down to get his test.   I was able to go and wait outside as they took him in.  I heard him scream in pain as they transferred him from his bed to the MRI table.  It’s a helpless feeling to not be able to do anything to help him.

Paul:  I was dreading the MRI.  I knew that the success of an MRI depended on me keeping still, and I knew that if one of my spasms exploded, I would not be able to hold still.  Sweet Dr. Rosenlechner was the first doctor from whom I felt real understanding.  He also subtly expressed an understanding of my distaste with Dr. Lisringhausen (whom we affectionately named Dr. Porcupine), the head of the unit that had come by.  When I had described the spasms and that they shot my pain level to a 10, Dr. Porcupine sneered, “no, it is not a 10.  At a 10, you are dead, so your pain is not at a 10!”  If he were closer to the bed at that point, I would have punched him in the crotch; it would have been worth the resulting seizure.  Dr. Rosenlechner prescribed a powerful pain drip and a relaxant before the MRI, which helped immensely.  I was able to lie still in the MRI coffin. 

LouAnn:  While he was getting his MRI, I was called to the business office to pay for our stay.   I met Sibile, a firecracker of a gal, who was super sweet, very energetic, friendly, laughy and eager to help me.  She walked me through the process, and I got that squared away.

By the time I got back to Paul’s room, he was done, and hurting still, despite heavy pain meds.   I checked on the kids – they were playing cards, soccer, and were occasionally bored, wondering when I was coming back.  Several hours went by, and Dr. Rosenlechner came back in with Dr. Novak, an older, soft-spoken man – his long grey hair also in a ponytail.   He also spoke perfect English, and very thoroughly explained the MRI results.  They confirmed the CT scan… Paul had a very severe prolapse in his L4-5 disk.   A very large part of his disk had come out and was compressing a nerve bundle, causing his pain.   Dr. Novak was very concerned about this, and recommended surgery.  Paul told him that he preferred to try to get to the point where he could travel home to consult for surgery there.  Dr. Novak said that even if he could get his pain level down, that the risk of further damaging his back and permanent neurological damage was far too great to fly home.   He looked at Paul’s chart and decided to make a new IV “cocktail” containing morphine, muscle-relaxers, an anti-inflammatory, and an antibiotic. 

We told him we wanted to think about it before we made a decision, so after at least 20 minutes with us, they left us alone to try to process everything.  

The hospital is calm.  Simple and old-school.  There is no A/C, so we opened the windows, which is wonderful.  There are no screens on the windows, so you feel a bit more connected to the trees outside and birds singing in them.   The nurses, who don’t speak much English, brought in Paul’s new IV, and before long, he was getting some relief.

I headed home around 1:30pm, to get the kids and figure out the rest of the day’s plans.  I assumed the kids had eaten lunch, since Jack had called me at the hospital, asking me if I knew how to make the box of pasta, as the directions were in German.  I arrived home to find them all starving, and learned that Jack had burned the pasta, so he turned on the ventilation fan over the stove, which blew the breaker in our suite.  No lunch and no electricity.   The kids got presentable and we decided to go into the next town to buy Paul a fan to have in his room.  Without A/C at the hospital, his days were getting pretty warm.  Our venture into Grodig proved to be a good one!   We quickly found a fan at a tiny electronics store, where Jack got a pretty good ZAP from a bug zapper racquet.  Don’t ask.  Given our starved condition, we found a nice dinner place while we were there, and enjoyed our late afternoon lunch. 

Paul was thrilled to get his fan!  And I think his roommate, Guenther, was too.  We visited for as long as we could, but it’s hard to have the kids there too late in the evening.  We just couldn’t be quiet enough when Guenther began to doze – especially since there was no privacy curtain.   It was hard to leave at night.  We always wanted to stay late, but couldn’t.   This night was particularly hard for the kids to leave.   They all cried their way down the hospital halls when we left Paul.  It’s hard for them to see him in pain and see him upset too.  Even though he tried to hide it, they knew.

Paul:  I was really struggling against the idea of having surgery in AUSTRIA.  During the 15 years since my back issues began, I had staunchly put off surgery, convinced that such a permanent action was not a good idea.  That 15-year-old record was playing in my head as I lay in the hospital bed.  I thought if I could just get the pain to a point that was manageable, then I could travel home and figure things out there.

This was also the day I met Tasso, my next-door neighbor.  He was an American who’s been living in Salzburg for five years with his Austrian girlfriend.  His back issues had finally escalated to the point where the doctors were recommending a more invasive surgery, where they were planning to essentially fuse two of his vertebrae.  Tasso was really struggling with whether to go through with it.  It was comforting to have an American there, even though it didn’t change my situation or dilemma. 

On Thursday afternoon, my family organized a call for all of us to discuss the recommendations.  I was the lone holdout, with all of them strongly supporting the idea of having the surgery in Salzburg.  The pain improved throughout the day, though I still wasn’t able to sit up or get out of bed.  Did a lot of reading, mainly the Bonheoffer biography.  And my Bible.

The view out my window.

Being rolled in to have my MRI

This is my MRI – note the white blob in the center.   It is half of the nerve bundle – supposed to  have a section of white on the left side too.   It doesn’t show because it is being compressed by the protrusion of the disk.

This is the drawing of what his MRI showed.   Dr. Anton drew it for us to better understand what was happening.   It is the side view.  The green “blob” to the right of the disk is what was outside the disk and compressing the nerve bundle (shown in red.)

Dr. Krombholz – Head of the Spine Unit who likely would do Paul’s surgery.

Leaving the hospital.  I loved seeing the mountains around us!

Our little restaurant in Grodig!  We had the place to ourselves.

“We three kings of leftovers are…..”

 

Fan is delivered.  Spending a few more minutes  with Dad that evening.

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!!!!!!