Whew...

After nearly 48 hours in a Munich hospital, I've been released and am feeling fine. One learns interesting cultural perspectives from how the unwell are treated. Well, feeling fine, other than three-day old clothes and I've had my contacts in since Monday ;-).

I'll post more about the experience later, with a medical TMI cut tag. I had a peppercorn-sized kidney stone, which is now expelled, and I've been checked and imaged repeatedly and there aren't any others waiting to come forth. And I feel good, ready to head back to the conference as soon as I clean up and change. May socialize at the reception this evening, at this rate...

yay! I'm, well, free :)

alone, in pain, far from home... and out the other side :)

As I figure it, being hospitalized in a foreign country is perhaps the third-worst thing that can happen to a traveller (behind being killed or imprisoned). The language and cultural barriers become acute, and possibly critical given the consequences of misunderstandings.

However, I have only good things to say about the care I received at the Technischen Universitat Munchen hospital, a largish teaching hospital where I spent most of the past two days. There were enough English-speakers -- even if only a little -- that combined with my small amount of German, I got the care I needed, when I needed it.

While I thought it unusual regarding some assumptions, the Bavarians here seem to put much weight on personal competence and responsibility. Not much hand holding... while that could seem brusque at times, once I adjusted it was fast and efficient. No one wants to be seen as sloppy or cutting corners... not the medical student, or nurses, or even the janitorial staff. Going the little bit extra for tidyness or completion is, well, reassuring as an inmate of a medical institution.

And it felt a bit like being an inmate... neither my roommate and I spoke more than a few words of the other's language, but we held long conversations at times. There wasn't much else to do... no TV or online access, cellphone reserved for calls to work and insurance and to home, no English-language magazines or books in the kiosk downstairs. Lots of time for thought...when I wasn't too drugged on painkillers.
( What happened, may be medical TMI for some) )

So, today I was deemed cured, or finished with the episode, and released after lunch. :)

Feeling like my normal self again, even well-rested with lots of sleep...