A Medical (Mental) Adjustment

I am a fairly adaptable person. There are many pieces of German culture that we have adopted and will remain a part of this household forever, wherever that household migrates to on this planet. But in two years of trying, I find I am unable to break my American perspective on all things medical, having for too long enjoyed the world standard in medicine.

Existing on the 'good' side of the equation, German medicine offers real, true well-child checkups for children: 2 hours long, vision/hearing/mobility/cognition tests done in the office in addition to the all over exam. Also in their favor is the lack of medical malpractice suits to drive every doctor out of town and country. Finally, they have on-call house doctors when desperately needed, even on weekends.

But the American in me also wants, and does not often see:

• gloves to be worn when drawing blood or fluid samples (or at least hands being washed inbetween drawings being performed by the same person. seriously)
• a waiting room that is bigger than a closet, has more than a plastic plant for diversion, and contains fewer than 38 people waiting to see the same doctor at the same time.
• a bit less of 'doctor knows best' and a bit more of 'the mom knows' kind of listening.
• the ability to purchase Ibuprofen without a prescription.

My biggest complaint was highlighted last year with Eli's nasty tonsils and this year with Mary's troublesome ears, however. And that is the reluctance of doctors (and parents) to do even the simplest operation (tubes in the ears, for example) unless they have exhausted all homeopathic and modern medicines, the full store of a mother's patience, and countless hours of time spent at checkups and pharmacies. Last year I gave up on this side of the pond, went to the states, and had Eli's tonsils yanked, FINALLY solving the problem.

This year remains to be seen. The ENT is nice. He actually has a decent office. But he has prescribed no less then 7 different medicines in various combinations to fix Mary's very real fluid-in-the-ear and ear infection issue in the last 3 weeks. All but one are homeopathic. A new (and somewhat alarming) experience for me. These drugs, for adults and children, almost ALL contain ALCOHOL. To dry up the fluid, silly. And now we're putting oil into her nose that has Glycerol-something-or-another in it.

Ranting to my German friends has proved predictably pointless. They have informed me I am too quick to operate and operations are all dangerous and scary. They have a point. I am trying to listen. But "wait-and-see" has never, ever been my strong-suit. I pursue a solution as quickly as possible. I am being forced to hold my horses.

Honeymoon's Over

Eek. Two months gone. Not sure how I couldn't have noticed since I slept very little during that time. After Denmark / Norway we spent crunch time bonding with all our friends here then we left for three weeks to the states (see pics at right) where Mary was sick the whole time and Eli part of the time and I travelled through three states in a VW bug with too much luggage but saw lots of good friends and then back here with mom where we went on a weekend to the Black Forest, rushed through busy regular life, then flew to Madrid for five days / nights (see pics at right) and then back here but Kevin was gone to the States and he's still not back but now my mom is gone and i'm still not getting much sleep. Now you're all caught up. Thanks for (attempting) reading.



For October, at least, we will be the boring Flikkema family, we hope. The Honeymoon (with Europe, with travelling) is over.



Being in the States showed me that there are many good things to be said about my home country. Things I miss and would like to be a part of again. Living abroad is not better than all things. I still love it here. This is home. But perhaps not living here forever is okay too. And, if you are interested in advice (i'm pretty free with it so ignore at will), here's mine. Don't travel to check off a list. Don't travel for the sake of travelling. You'll still find lots to enjoy if you do. But you'll weary of it. As often happens with my husband and I, we both became enlightened around the same time. I wouldn't change my last trips for anything (great times with my mom, fabulous times with friends and seeing my new nephew). But I am going to change my future plans. Rather then checking off Berlin, Brussels, and Vienna - we're giving Europe a rest - many sights yet unseen.



We're going only where we really want to go. When we really want to do it. And preferably with loved ones who are visiting. We miss being a part of the lives of the people we care about. Your summer weekends, campouts, and reunions were the cause of much jealousy around here. We can't wait to do them with you. Your side of the ocean or ours.