At Tubingen with Robert

Here we are with Robi at Tubingen.

On our arrival here we are welcomed with wide open arms by a Romanian, a great person, her name is Laura and I want to thank her for all the warmth she gave us and hosting us in our first day there and also for all of her kindness throughout our stay so far.

On the first day of hospitalization, in our room we met a family, half Romanian, very nice by the way, which helped us with all the translation of the long stories about the disease history. Anyway, almost everyone speaks English here or at least understand, except for the Patient Registration Representative lady…

The first day in the hospital we got to know better the building and the surroundings, the nurses, the rules, the play room and I got to understand how everything works here. Conditions are incomparable with what you can see in Romanian hospitals. Among other things, cleaning, everything has to be disinfected right at the entrance, our room is as big as an apartment and has two adjustable beds with a nurse call button, with a nice bathroom and then a kitchen at the end of the main hall, where you can find water, juice, jars of food for children, diapers, wet wipes, all at your discretion. But the most important are the people here, very kind, smiling and willing to help without expecting something in return, they look to be happy with what are they doing there and not with that attitude like they are sick to be there for you and or just because it is a must or because they want to get away quickly from the care they have to provide for patients.

Across the hospital are playgrounds and special places, interesting for children, like an aquarium, a train, bus, a cage with a lion, boats and all kind of models. After lunch we went outside for some fresh air and we stopped at the playground near by.

The next day Robi was scheduled for a barium enema test, which unfortunately could not be done because Robi was not prepared in advance for it and his colon was full, so could not introduce the liquid containing the barium sulfate which is a type of contrast material that highlights specific areas in the colon, creating a clearer image. It was interesting that every time when we were sent in a who knows part of the hospital building we discovered new playgrounds and stopping a little bit at each one of them made Robi to feel a great joy! Also today we met another Romanian lady Elvira, nurse anesthesiologist, and we are assured that we can rely on it both for translation and for any problems. In the salon meanwhile moved a family with a boy diagnosed with neuroblastoma and just had surgery for resection of the primary tumor in the right adrenal gland. I had the opportunity to find out how it works here in oncology and compare with what is in Romania.

The third day was the worst, with several rounds of crying since morning enema, continuing with barium enema and ending with couple attempts to insert a cannula. Then I got to talk with the doctor about the surgery which is scheduled for tomorrow, about the risks of anesthesia, the need of ileostomy and after I felt like my heart is getting smaller and smaller… having a lot of thoughts about what’s next. We found that it could not be megacolon, but the biopsy will reveal this. Skipping the walk we had in plan, around 6 PM we went straight into bed and slept.