Day Two/Three June 17, 2010

Had a few procedures and tests done at the Asklepios Hospital today.  An EKG and ultrasound for the heart to determine whether the port can be installed without risk.  That turned out just dandy by the way.  

We were sent home within 45 minutes WITH the test results in hand.  How's that for speed?  And all for 247 Euro's.  It practically costs me that to get my teeth cleaned.  

Asklepios is a greek god of medicine and healing.  The sign outside refers to it as a Krankenhaus.  Sounds like crankyhouse to me.  

I think it's important to let my hubby know that they offer this clinic at Asklepios. 

I think he should come and take advantage of this asap.

And Mom?  

She was taking it all in stride.

A waiting room televising the World's Cup soccer match of the day?

She could've waited all day with no crankiness whatsoever.

Guten Morgan, wie geht's?

Points of interests and not so:
Laundry facilities for public use are unavailable here at the clinic or anywhere locally.
This creates an interesting dilemma.
Do I case out the nearby valley for a local stream and bring my bar of soap?

Public washroom facilities are also a novelty.  Unless you find a fairly upscale restaurant with such a luxury, one's request is met with a shrug of the shoulder.   You have the option of playing the charade game to get the point across and follow an animated set of directions in German.  This could be highly entertaining.

There are no screens in the windows or doors.  Move the handle down to lock.  Move the handle to a centre position to open.  Move it upward to tilt the top of the door forward a few inches for some fresh air.  It's all very... provincial.
I couldn't get my patio door to stay shut at all and eventually moved a chair in front of it to keep it closed until the morning when the resident Mr. Fix-it Stop's 'em Fella came to show me a thing or two about European doors.

There are cows mooing in the pasture behind us.
There are two horses eating grass in front of a house about 90 seconds down the road in front of Leonardis.  They are the size of a Clydesdale.

This is a sugar free, wine free facility.
This is a cruel realization.

I humour myself however, with the small gains today.  Fritz the cab driver made a detour to Faukland (Germany's diminutive WalMart) on our way 'home' from the Asklepios Klinic in Bad Tolz.  He even escorted me into the supermart to scout out some shampoo and laundry soap.  

I was using the shampoo today and suddenly thought:  What if Fritz thought I meant Hair Remover??  

.... It was the quickest application and wildest rinse of my life.  

Six dice.  It's Mom's game and I need to prove to my sisters back home that I am sacrificially honing my skills.  In fact, I beat Mom two out of three today before supper arrived.  Hey.  I tried not to but only a seasoned gambler would know how to manipulate dice.  And I'm not seasoned.

The food is really good.  Yesterday I tried Ostrich Stew.  

I had to block out that pervasive mental image of a very tall beady-eyed bird staring me down,

but eventually my taste buds won out.  

Mom is getting infusions intravenously (thru a vein in her hand) until the port is installed in her chest cavity.  We take a cab back to Asklepios tomorrow for that procedure.  We may cajole Fritz (or Victor or Hans:) to make another detour of interest on the way back?  

I still have my hair on my head -- it seems the man can be trusted after all.  

Day One * June15/16 * 2010

We had a remarkably smooth flight to Germany. 

We made a timely arrival to Pearson only to discover that we had no assigned seats and since the flight was overbooked, we were placed on standby. !?! This made us feel rather anxious.  We waited at gate 172 and the very moment the gate was staffed (generally one hour before take-off) I marched off to the desk to haggle for a place on that plane.  The way an airline can gouge for a last minute seat only bolstered my conviction that I would NOT be playing the polite mousy Canadian!  :)  Thankfully, it turned out to be a non-issue.  We did however get the two seater bench in the back forty right by the rear bathroom.  Row 50 H & K.  So I suppose that makes it the back fifty then.  Neither one of us could sleep on the aircraft and hence we missed a lot of the green rolling countryside during our hour long taxi ride from Munich to Bad Heilbrunn - taking turns as we did, dozing off for little catnaps.  Victor was waiting for us at the baggage drop with a sign marked Leonardis Klinik - Mrs.Vanderkruk.  So cute. It is raining here (and apparently has been for two months!)  so he carted our bags off to the car and made us wait under an overhang for pick-up at the door.  His English was pretty good and he played the attentive tour-guide most admirably for all those moments that we were'nt dozing off.   

 

The view from Mom's balconey.  When the fog lifts, we will be able to see the Alps.  The hills are alive with the sound of music....you're supposed to know that tune and if you were here, you would be singing it met fulla borste with me.  

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Psalm 19:1  

Momsie took in the soccer match between Spain and Switzerland.  What a fiesty fan that woman is!  At one of her exuberant outbursts, I managed to slip a stitch or two off my knitting project and now sadly - I'm rather stuck.  I will have to park in front of Skype and show the sorry mess to my sisters at home so they can pace me through it.

Every house and building around these parts looks very alpine-ish.  Y'know what I mean?  Painted shutters and wooden balconeys on three sides?  I half expect to see Maria vonTrapp and her gaggle of choristers bursting forth.  I did hear the distinct and lovely sound of church bells pealing the 8th evening hour.  *sigh*  That is truly a wonderful, exclusively European experience it seems.  

My room is more spacious and I've tried to switch with Mom ever since making that discovery but she'll have none of it.   I spent a fair bit of time finding out about adaptors and convertors and what was safe to hook into my laptop.   I am still smarting from the hot-rollers and hair-blower Catherine and I blew up in England and it makes me VERY cautious with my laptop!

Look beloved, at the beautiful beech trees within view of my balconey?  

Almost like home.  But not quite of course.

The Shadowlands

Mom's cancer has returned and spread.  

With a bit of vengeance it seems.

The oncologist's conclusion of the matter?  

A year and a half with treatment - treatment being the operative word here...

Conventional Chemotherapy (somewhat indiscriminately applied here in North America) 

annihilates the immune system at the same time, a route Mom has gone before and is understandably, unwilling to repeat.

That makes a bleak prognosis even bleaker.

So, after much due consideration we are headed to Germany's Leonardis Klinic

where optimal individualized care is the founding principle.

The Leonardis Premise

Our individual treatment concept encompasses

special innovative methods, such as

chemosensitivity testing, gene molecular and

enzyme tests. The results of these tests enable us

to find out which substances the patient optimally

reacts to and to determine the maximum doses of

these tested substances which the patient can

tolerate (in order to reduce the side effects to a

minimum) as well as the type of metabolization of

these substances in the patient’s body.

At the same time we can determine prognosis

methods and lay down preventive measures (among

others reduction of heavy metal load etc.) on the

basis of these immunological tests (of blood, urine

and mucous membrane). According to these data

we can develop an optimally individualized therapy

and nutrition concept for the specific patient in

concern.

It just seems to make a whole lot more sense given the circumstances.

Tentatively, this may be a three week stay for mom.  My sister and I will share the privilege of making this journey with her.  Many of you go with us in spirit and for this we are humbled and grateful.  Your prayer support is earnestly sought for traveling mercies and especially for finding peace and comfort in whatever God ordains.  
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will  fear no evil.

For you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  Psalm 23:4

House Rules and Asperger's

It's been a crazy few months around here for varying reasons. I saw a fondly held dream of mine unfold right before my eyes (& ears) last week with about 75 others, holed up in the great acoustic chamber of a church to record 19 songs for a new CD recording

accompanied by more than a dozen very gifted musicians!

Talk about surround sound.

The experience was both amazing & exhausting.

Two grueling recording sessions culminated in a

Grand Finale Concert

on the Friday evening of last week.

I am consistently plagued by euphoric terror as we approach these events but the response of a truly wonderful audience set me so much at ease, I quite frankly had the time of my life!

The spirit of our theme: Ephesians 5: 19,20 went ringing loud and clear that night -

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.

Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I did however, need to stay in house and jammie-clad for at least three days afterward

for a time of recovery. The fact is, a whole week later I'm still chillin'....

I've been listening to HOURS of unedited audio and am regularly stirred to tears. First for the sheer joy of what I am hearing and then .... how do I say this? I feel almost embarrassed to realize how slavishly everyone worked to bring to this project, the caliber it owns.

*******

And I've treated myself to reading again.

Silence too, can be sublime.

A thoughtful family member gifted me with a hard cover copy of Picoult's newest work of fiction with a firm suggestion to put my feet up and rest awhile with it which is precisely what I've done. The couch, outside Muskoka chair, and a high back library lounger have never seen so much of me -- to the utter abandonment of any so called house rules around this place.....

There's a haphazardness around here that must be (and beloved? it will be) addressed but first....

..... the disconnect that sadly developed with my little grandpeeps due to my hectic schedule could only be restored with a minimum two night sleep-over.

Hence, the delightful haphazardness continues to reign supreme for a wee bit longer.

And doesn't the DVD player dare to malfunction at this critical juncture?

Little Einsteins & Fifi and the Flowertots by laptop it is.

Naps? Whatever. When a thumb will do nicely??

Yes, I know the temperature is dropping as we speak but I heated the water....

Och....my little leapster, it's so good to be snuggling with you again.

Lazing around, drinking.

The book I just finished was fascinating for subject matter it tackled - the fairly recent phenomena of Asperger's Syndrome - the rise of it's appearance and effect on interpersonal relationships.

Do you have any Aspie's in your life? Could you be one yourself?

House Rules is fictional but the subject matter is most definitely not.

Sadly, the author employs enough raunch and expletives to make a drunken sailor sit up and take notice - *sigh*

...so I'd recommend a search engine to tap into the glut of information now available to those who know of, care for and love an Aspie.

The story and arduous work by Craig.Kendall@AspergersSociety.org for the love of his son and family is decidedly non-fictional and very much worth a serious look.

From his site:

Asperger’s Syndrome was first defined by Dr. Hans Asperger in 1944, when he identified symptoms that included a lack of empathy, an inability to form friendships, one-sided conversation, intense absorption in a special interest, and clumsy motor skills in a study of boys who were autistic. Prior to this, autism was thought to be a symptom of schizophrenia. But Dr. Asperger felt that these “little professors” – as he called them – could contribute to community. A lot of Dr. Asperger’s work was lost in a bomb attack during World War II and his findings weren’t translated into English until after his death in 1980.

It wasn’t until the 1990s that his findings gained acceptance, and that Asperger’s syndrome became a diagnosis for high-functioning autistics worldwide.

*******

The 2pm yawning stretch has struck with a vengeance and the three musketeers are tucked away in their beds with an armful of books apiece to enjoy some 'quiet time' -- code for:

yer grandma needs a nap :)

Talk to you again soon.

Late night (early morning?) Ramblings

I love these people. I call them my choir peeps. They are 25 strong and are working very hard with me preparing for a CD recording in two weeks time. We are singing an album entitled

Great Hymns of Faith and Other Favourites along with the CCS kid's choir (which is 37 peeps strong) plus a full scale orchestra. I am up at this ridiculous hour filled with the typical terrified euphoria that always grips me as we approach deadline..... it's a strange type of 'happy' terror that propels me to reach for the best we can be but remembers

to enjoy it at the same time.

Does that make any sense to you?

.... Ah well, do late night ramblings ever make sense?

Don't bother answering that.

Just know, I am happy - even at this hour.

When words leave off, music begins. ~Heinrich Heine

Truly to sing, that is a different breath. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Music is the shorthand of emotion. ~Leo Tolstoy

C.S. Lewis Song lyrics

If I find in myself, desires nothing in this world can satisfy,
I can only conclude that I was not made for here
If the flesh that I fight is at best only light and momentary,
then of course I'll feel nude when to where I'm destined - I'm compared

[CHORUS]
Speak to me in the light of the dawn
Mercy comes with the morning
I will sigh and with all creation groan as I wait for hope to come for me

Am I lost or just less found?

On the straight or on the roundabout of the wrong way?
Is this a soul that stirs in me, is it breaking free, wanting to come alive?
'Cause my comfort would prefer for me to be numb
And avoid the impending birth of who I was born to become [CHORUS]

[BRIDGE]
For we, we are not long here
Our time is but a breath, so we better breathe it
And I, I was made to live, I was made to love, I was made to know you
Hope is coming for me
Hope, He's coming

Sundays. What's not to love?

Family Feastage and Fellowship

Interrupting play for the call to the family dinner table

But what if I put that flashlight safely BESIDE my plate?

Asparagus and mashed potatoes... uhm...

But what's this I hear?

!?!....Ice cream for dessert?

Ice cream with sprinkles you say??

..... and CHOCOLATE!