When I asked the shop assistant in the Apple shop what would happen when the battery got so old it could not be recharged anymore she saw right through my cover and instantly knew that I was from another galaxy. She did, however, pretend all was ok and faked a surprise laugh: “By that time, sir (!), you’ll probably want the brand new
UKE – Atrium has the feeling of a modern airport.
iPod implant and this one won’t be any good to you anymore.” Seriously, who but aliens are daft enough to r-e-p-l-a-c-e a battery when everybody else is replacing the gadget? – IKEA is Apple for furniture. What used to be for life (and not just for one) has become a buy-use-and-throw-away-article in a flat pack. Printers have a build-in chip that tells them to stop functioning after a certain number of pages have been printed; nylon stockings were made to ‘run’; the piece of metal inside the light bulb that glows, a tungsten filament, could be made to last much longer than it does – but who would buy new bulbs then? Many people cannot concentrate for long enough to be able to read a book, most content on the internet is categorized as ‘perishable’: the moment it is published, it’s gone. The world comes in an endless stream of 140 characters. They say everything can be replaced…
A bit like Cape Cod Hospital – only that the UKE-Germans discreetly do not mention the amounts…
… yet, every distance is not near. There are things that remain, cannot be replaced, and are steadfast. One of the most successful songs last year captured it very beautifully what happens in our ‘real life’ Wegwerfgesellschaft, very much along Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi: “Well you only need the light when it’s burning low, only miss the sun when it starts to snow, only know you love her when you let her go, only know you’ve been high when you’re feeling low, only hate the road when you’re missing home.”
This afternoon, Pádraig was transferred to the Universitätsklinik Eppendorf (UKE), about 15 minutes’ drive from Eilbek. It’s one of Germany’s and undoubtedly Hamburg’s best hospital covering all disciplines (the Schön-Klinik is very good at rehab, for example, but it only offers cover for selected disciplines). The doctors in the Schön-Klinik in Eilbek wanted Pádraig to be treated by lung and thorax specialists. So he arrived at ICU number 4 (not counting the Beaumont high-dependency ward) at around 4pm. Again, it’s an isolation unit because he has not got rid of this multi-resistant bug he picked up somewhere along the way. And again, we had to get into gowns with OP mouth covers before we could see him. The gowns are quite upmarket, with different varieties for staff and visitors, as are some of the patients – we were told that it’s sometimes difficult to get information over the phone because staff is afraid of journalists posing as family members.
Vorsprung durch Technik
A doctor took some considerable time to talk as through a recent chest CT showing large bullae, thin walled balloon-like extensions or air sacs. They suspect that these bullae have ruptured and are responsible for Pádraig’s reoccurring pneumothorax. The plan is to remove the bullae by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), or key-hole surgery. They will then remove a very thin layer of his thorax lining that will, when it heals, form a permanent connection with the lung lining pressed against it by an artificial under pressure over a number of days. Apparently, it won’t have any impact on the functioning of his lungs but will, most likely, remove the possibility of a recurring pneumothorax.
They couldn’t give us a time for tomorrow as Pádraig will be the last person in the operation theatre (again, because of this multi-resistant bacteria he has in his stomach).
It’s a routine procedure that should be over and done with in about 30 minutes, if all goes according to plan. We very very much hope it will go according to plan and without complications, and that it will be successful. It would be great if he could leave this behind in 2013, and firmly, steadfastly continue on his road to rehab and recovery.
Today’s German Music Tip
Ideal, Monotonie (1982). – “Monotonie in der Südsee, bei 30 Grad” – what I’m dreaming of sometimes during these really dark, dull days between the years. One day. Our day will come.
What’s hot
Getting rid of bullae
What’s cold
Bullae
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Wegwerfgesellschaft
Twitter: @forPadraig
#caringforPadraig
web: http://www.caringforPadraig.org
Hospi-Tales 
Good luck. I hope the operation goes well!!
Many thanks, Diane!
Hello, Reinhard. I will be thinking of Pádraig very specially today, especially as the day wears on because my understanding is that the surgery will take place later in the day. I wish him all the very best. It is so hard that he has to face yet another challenge, but the outcome sounds as if it is really going to help him.
I don’t suppose any of your friends are of the sort to be posing as journalists. Better for all of us not to be the sort who might be in the public eye.
I realise that I haven’t actually spelled Pádraig’s name for ages. This is, oof course, because he occupies a prominent place in my predictive text – actually, he ties for first place with my own name. So we’re both in good company.
As I mentioned, my thoughts will be very specially with Pádraig in relation to the operation.
With very best wishes, Louise.
Many thanks, Louise. Yes, the plan is to have the operation late afternoon, early evening. They will spend an hour and a half after Pádraig disinfecting the theatre because of the bug he brought over, and don’t want to ‘waste’ this down time during the day. We’ll let you know how it went. – Reinhard
Halz and Beinbruch!!!! ¡¡ Mucha mierda !! Un abrazo muy fuerte para todos y muchísimos besos. Mi e-mail es anateresantos@yahoo.es si podéis mandar simplemente un mail ahí aunque no escribáis nada para tener yo el vuestro, de Pat o tuyo podré mandaros las fotos escaneadas de vuestra visita en España. Besos, besos, besos, Ana ¡Que las fuerza os acompañe !
Nada más de ‘Bruch’ 🙂 Te mandé nuestro correo, Ana.
Reinhard
Thinking of you throughout, Reinhard-but will be doing so especially this afternoon. Hoping and praying that today’s procedure will bring respite for Padraig from this exhausting lung issue and will herald a fresh start for the new year. Just as the dawn always brings new light after the darkness of night, so too each new year brings with it hope, promise and strength. These are my sincere wishes on this last day of this year for, Padraig, you, Pat and your two daughters.
Warmest wishes from Raphael.
Thank you, Raphael, for your message. Your thoughts and prayers are really so much appreciated, and have a real effect on all of us – we’d be lost on our own.
Reinhard
Pádraig is blessed in ye his family and in how ye strove to find the best medical treatment for him, and the sacrifices ye are making to maintain that for him. The medics’ application to the totality of his conditions is truly impressive and dedicated: angel hands indeed! I’m so pleased that his lung difficulty is being addressed head on. I’d thought the bacterial infection WAS the lung thing, but apparently not: another secondary disorder to cope with! That they may round on that too in due course and work it out too. It’s a real reassurance to know he has such dedicated professional care. May God strengthen their hands _ a steadfast steady crew.
Joe, I never thought I’d be doing what I’ve been doing over the past 6 months, but then I’d never thought anything even close to what happened to Pádraig could ever have happened to him. Everybody else would have done the same we are doing. What I had never expected is the truly never-ending goodness of the people around us and Pádraig’s friends. That’s the truly exceptional part of what has been happening.
Reinhard
Hi Reinhart,
I enjoy reading your blog so much, every morning I check in, first thing while waiting for my coffee.i always try before I go to bed too, but guess my bedtime is earlier than yours!
Now, I am in a dodgy wifi zone, and myself and Fred are discussing, stemming from your blog, whether passengers song is a cover version of big yellow taxi, or does it just include one common line???
Hope the operation goes well and that 2014 will be full of positive news for all of you,
Niamh
He brings it out in us all: a Honey.