I kept thinking and wondering: What if the Artze (Doctor) doesn't understand a lot of English? How will communicate our needs? I had to figure out a way to communicate with him.
I had this bright idea to list all of the issues and then translate them into German using my online translator, just in case. It took me over an hour to do the translations. I also put all of the medications I had been taking and the ones Ted had been taking into plastic baggies so that he could see them.
It looks cold outside and Ted said it was cold outside yesterday. I'm sure it's not higher than the 40's! And it's overcast and cloudy. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it rained again today. I'm really tired of the rainy weather.
I check my email from work to find a voice mail from my boss with work instructions. Hooray, something to do other than "putz around" and sleep.
Ted was first using the bathroom. I was still putzing around with getting my ducks in a row. Ted wanted me to look up the German translation for the US Z-pak which is the antibiotic that Ted wanted. I found that too. My little notebook is full of translations with the gist in English at the top so I'd know what to give the Doctor at the appropriate time.
It's my turn in the bathroom and the hot spray feels so good on my face and head I spend an extra few minutes breathing in the hot steam.
I decided not to medicate before going to the doctor so he could see what was going on with my sinuses.
Ted was just about done getting ready and reading his email. I realized what day it was and wished him a Happy Birthday. Being sick and in a foreign country, I didn't do anything special for him except to wish him a Happy Birthday and tell him that He has his pick of where he wants to go for dinner tonight.
It's just about time for us to leave and Ted asks me if I have the Doctor's address. I told him I had the card the Klinik gave me and the address is on there. We'll just plug it in and let the GPS lady direct us.
Ted was right, it is cold outside. It's more like the beginning of March and not the beginning of May outside. We both could use some sunshine. We both agree that we are going to stay close to home this weekend. It may be a perfect weekend for us to look at apartments, I don't know. But we will not be traveling.
We get in the car, and the "Julie" directs us to the doctor's office. I thought I understood when we were at the Klinik that the doctor said the doctor is in the same place as the Klinik. I guess I wasn't paying too much attention but that's exactly what she was saying. After stopping at the information booth, we find that the Klinik doctor was indeed right. The doctor's office is in the Klinik. It turns out, the Germans are incredibly efficient. During off hours (nights and weekends) the doctor's office turns into a Klinik. During the weekdays, it's a doctor's office. What an incredibly good use of facilities.
Not only is the building used efficiently but also the grounds. We arrive in the parking deck, take the elevator up to the roundabout and front of the building. And there's a park-like grassy area with flowers and benches. This is what's on top of the parking deck. I think it's an extraordinary good use of space, considering what's under the park!
We go in and the receptionist, speaks a little English. The doctor came in and walked by. We were completing the forms when he asked us if we were ready in German. The receptionist reminded him that we don't speak German. He smiled broadly and asked us if we were ready.
I had been wondering if we would have to do the usual 20 page medical history questionnaire that is standard whenever you visit a new doctor and I had been dreading how we would accomplish that. But we didn't do that. The receptionist motioned for us to follow the doctor. OK! No waiting, now there's a plus! (But I think we're his first patients of the day.)
He leads us to a consultation room that was bright and airy. His desk was extraordinarily neat. He motions us to sit down. I could tell that I was not wrong in translating our issues. He didn't speak much English. He spoke a few words here and there.
I pulled out my trusty little notebook and looked for Ted's stuff. I handed the doctor the little notebook. He tried to ask Ted some questions but it was difficult. We tried to let him know that the antibiotics prescribed to him by the Klinik were not strong enough to get rid of the "infektion" (infection). (Funny how many words are the same - but spelled differently.) We pumped our arms as if showing our biceps to get the point across. I then gave the doctor the name of the antibiotic that we wanted: a Z-pak. He looked at the page and said: "You know"...and he said the actual name Zithro-something. We said yes, we do. He then went to his desk took down a big book and started looking through it. He wrote the Rx and gave it to Ted. Now on to me.
I gave him my page that talked about my Sinus infection. I also showed him all of the over-the-counter medications I was taking along with my BP medication. I told him the mucous was "grun" (Green). He asked me if I wanted antibiotic or homeopathic medicine. I jumped at the change to experience the homeopathic medicine. I reasoned that the infection was already starting to break and that homeopathic medicine, in my case, was probably a better route than antibiotics. Once again, he went back to his desk and used not only the big red book that he used for Ted's Rx but also a little white book. He wrote out the meds and gave me the Rx. He told me that there were several things I needed to do. And that the course of medication would take about two weeks. OK. It can't be any worse than it is right now. I'll continue to take my Juice Plus+ while doing so since it is food.
I had a few more issues I wanted to ask him and went through them one by one. One was our medical records and whether or not he needed copies. He said no. I found this somewhat surprising but I didn't question it. It didn't look like they kept any kind of paper records, at least what I could tell.
The doctor said it was a smart thing to do, to have translated the issues in German. Well, I'm not taking any chances with our health. Who knows what they would have given us otherwise. My husband said I was smart. Thank you, honey!
Ted wanted to go to our village to get the Rx filled but I nixed that idea because our friend Birgit told us they don't speak English, for one and for another it's Market day on the street where the village Apoteka is and we would have a difficult time parking the car and getting the Rx.
I thought we had the Apoteka's (pharmacy) address in the GPS but it wasn't there. So we were gong to wing it. I think we can remember where it is. We did remember. Not far from the doctor's office at all. The problem is the parking. There is none. At first I didn't see it but there's underground parking. We go back and forth a few times before finally turning into the parking deck. It's a tight squeeze but Ted manages to put the car between pillars and this huge van. UGH!
We take the elevator up and we are at street level right outside the Apoteka. We go inside and I ask the lady if she speaks English. (It's a different lady from the last time we were here). She speaks rather good English. I give her the Rx and she quickly gets the z-pak for Ted. She tells us the other Rx would be ready this afternoon at 3:30. They are open until 6:30. OK. Ted just has to make sure he's home on time to go to the Apoteka to pick it up!
On the way home, I have Ted stop at Trieber to get a loaf of bread as we are all out. We also pick up some breakfast. We're both hungry. We get home and Ted takes the first of three Z-pak pills (we thought it would be a five-day dose, but it is not) It's a 3-day dose but it looks like the dose is larger than what he's had in the past: 500 mg.
We have our little breakfast and off to work he goes. The outing took its toll on me and I was fading fast. I decided to get some sleep. By this time it was around 10am. I still had work to do but since it is 2am West Coast time, I can get rested and then work. I sleep until 1pm.
I get up and do my company work for a few hours and patiently wait for Ted to come home. I'm not sure if he wants to go to dinner for his birthday or if I have to make something here. I'm hoping he decides to go to dinner because frankly, I'm not up to cooking.
He gets here at 6pm and calls me to come out to the car so we can go to the Apoteka to get my prescription. I hop into the car and off we go. There is very little parking there and we didn't want to take the time to park in the deck below the Apoteka. So because of the parking situation, I go into the Apoteka to get the prescription and Ted stays in the car.
When I go in, the lady that waited on us this morning (and who speaks English) was with another customer. So a young lady comes to me and I give her my receipt. She fetches the Rx and starts speaking in rapid German. I must have had a bewildered look on my face because the other lady said "In English". The young lady waiting on me was struggling for the translation so the other lady AND her customer were doing the translation.
Finally, I sort of heard the word "Italian" in something she said which caused me to believe that she speaks Italian. Hooray! We can communicate. I ask her if she speaks Italian and she says yes. So we converse in Italian and she gives me the dosage and how I'm to take this remedy. I also ask to purchase a thermometer, which by the way, has instructions in Italian. WHOPPEE! She asks me how does an American come to know the Italian language. I explained that all four of my grandparents were born in Italy and I heard the language growing up. She tells me her mother is Italian and her father is German so she knows both languages.
I leave with the prescription and Ted asks if we have to go home before going to dinner. I said no, we don't. We encounter quite a bit of traffic and since he knows where he's going we don't have "Julie" help us.
The place he chose is called Pier 51. The exterior looks like any other German restaurant with offices or homes on the floors above it but when you go inside, it totally reminds me of restaurants on Pier 39 in San Fransisco. How funny that we are 9,000 miles away from California and we find a little bit of California in Stuttgart.
After having a wonderful dinner, we go home. It took a lot out of me to go to the doctor's office, then to the Apoteka - twice, and then to dinner so I'm ready for bed.
Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.
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