3 Year 6 Months Update: Flying to Germany during a global pandemic – Part III

In this Update:

• Third Germany trip in one year (still pandemic-style)
• Welcome back to the battle zone
• Self-care efforts

Third Germany trip in one year (still pandemic-style)
It’s been two month since my labral tear repair and tendon release surgery, and to be honest, I underestimated the recovery time and challenges. I am “ok” but far from recovered. There have been a lot of ups and downs in pain, weakness, and limited range of motion – very different than recovering from lumbar ADR, I must say. But “ready or not, here we go” was the motto as my departure date arrived on August 14^th. As always, leaving Ralf behind for two weeks has been giving me HUGE anxiety and insomnia, but across the Atlantic Ocean was my super-excited mom waiting for my arrival. I had a tight agenda again, trying to finalize some legal and logistical matters. But just because you have a plan, doesn’t mean you’ll get it done…

The Orlando airport was busier than expected. I was mortified because the Delta variant was in full swing, listing Florida as the worst state regarding infection and mortality rates in the country. Even though I am fully vaccinated, I decided to do a PCR test a couple days prior – just in case. And sure enough, Germany declared the US a “high incident region” again on the very day I flew out. Still got around quarantine restrictions, thank goodness, since that would have severely limited my plans. I made through the check-in, used my Global Entry/Pre-TSP privileges to limit my exposure during the security check (5 minutes vs. 30 minutes), and took the monorail over to the terminal. Typical Florida, wearing a mask optional, so I zigzagged my way to my gate. I was so very anxious, it felt like being in the twilight zone.

One of the perks of flying business class is that you board relatively early, and since you are seated in the front of the plane, there is no parade of people passing you by. Once I was in my seat, I could relax a bit. There was this very nice German flight attendant servicing my area, and when she came over to greet me and to see if I wanted something to drink, I asked her if I could have a glass of Sekt. In Germany, Sekt is the equivalent to regular sparkling wine, such as Cooks. So, she looks at me and says, “well, if you insist, I can bring you Sekt; however, you could also have Champagne instead…”. Well then, bring on the Champagne!

The flight itself was as pleasant as can be, and I even got to sleep a little. On all Lufthansa flights, passengers have to wear a surgical/NK95 mask at all times. No cloth masks allowed. I also had the entire aisle to myself, plus I brought my lucky charm cat. So far, so good.

I usually hit the ground running after I reach my destination. Now I was curious how Germany would compare to Florida, in terms of Covid restrictions and compliance. So far, everything went pretty smooth. Having two passports, especially my European Union one, served me well. I witnessed the looooong lines of frustrated non-EU citizens trying to get through immigration, whereas I got through in less than five minutes. After one more short connection flight from Frankfurt to Hamburg, I finally reached my destination.

My mom was already waiting for me when I walked with my luggage through the exit. This moment always gets to me because Karl-Heinz’s absence is the first painful reminder of this new reality. Outside at the curb, an acquaintance was waiting with his car to drive us back to Buesum.

It’s still so strange to walk into my mom's assisted living apartment. A one-bedroom, 45 square meters, with a little patio attached. I realized pretty quickly that my mom would need ongoing help to keep the place clean, but first things first: taking Bella for a walk, or so I thought...

I guess living in tropical climate for so long has spoiled me. Besides, last year in August, there was a heat wave. I clearly remember that it was a record-high summer in Germany. This year? Not so much… Let me just say that even the dog refused to walk any further, pulling on her leash to go back inside. I surrendered.

The first couple of days were just nasty! Cold, wet, and windy. Over the next two weeks, the weather would wildly fluctuate, between brutal late-fall and early spring temperatures. But when it was dry and warmer outside, it was much more bearable. On those days, we would pick up Karl-Heinz and go for a walk. Something that is a lot more physically challenging than it should be for a wellness town. The sidewalks are too narrow, uneven, and with high curbs, which makes it quite a workout to maneuver the wheelchair safely. Kudos to my mom, who manages to take Karl-Heinz to a café for ice cream or cake twice a week.

Speaking of Karl-Heinz: on August 17^th, 2020, he missed his 70^th birthday since he was still admitted to the hospital after his stroke. This year, we decided to celebrate twice. On his birthday (a Tuesday), we picked him up for the day and surprised him with a birthday cake, gifts, and a pop-up card. The weather wasn’t very nice that day, so we stayed mostly in. However, the following Saturday, we took Karl-Heinz to the Eis Café Bohne, where all of his close friends came to celebrate. I fact, this was the first time they had seen Karl-Heinz since his stroke. The smile on his face warmed my heart, and I am so grateful to the employees of the Café, who went over and beyond to make this get-together special.

So, before I go into the “epic fails” of my agenda, here are a few themes I picked up on while submerging back into German culture:

1. It is completely acceptable to drink beer for any meal but breakfast (unless it’s a brunch). I guess that qualifies the majority of us to be labeled “alcoholics”.
2. Germans LOVE to smoke – despite all we know about the detrimental health consequences. And they smoke everywhere!
3. Trying to get anything done, such as banking or registration matters, is frustratingly complicated and backwards – despite the German reputation of efficiency and innovation.

Here is a collection of different beers I enjoyed while being “German” again:

Of course, food and desserts were also explored extensively:

Despite the challenges and anxiety that this visit brought me, I must say that I was the most “social” person in a loooong time! Nothing is perfect, but Corona wasn’t nearly as scary in Germany than the US. First of all, there was the mandate of wearing only surgical/NK95 masks whenever indoors. NO cloth masks allowed. And guess what? There was 100% compliance! EVERYONE wore a mask over the mouth AND nose – no dangling halfway.

Secondly, whenever my mom and I went to eat at a restaurant, we had to show proof of vaccination before we were allowed inside. They also do tracing with an app (mostly) to make sure possible exposures are followed up on. Very refreshing and reassuring indeed! I haven’t felt comfortable enough to eat out back home in US since regulations are more or less optional, and I never felt safe since Delta came along.

So, back to my ambitious agenda: I needed to transfer Karl-Heinz’s bank account from one state to another. Same bank, no problem, right? Wrong! Not only was I required to submit all kinds of documentation while waiting for an appointment, I also didn’t realize that his ID had expired back in June – and without his ID, I can’t move accounts. So, why am I the court-authorized, legal guardian if I can’t move the account of someone who resides in a nursing home and has been declared incapacitated? Well, after much back and forth, I now have to file for exemption for his ID and try again when I return.

Secondly, I paid an attorney to help me with that freaking supplemental disability insurance Karl-Heinz paid many years for. And now that he is disabled, they deny payment because he isn’t “disabled enough”. Seriously? All I can do now is wait to see what comes of it.

Thirdly, as an add-on issue, I wondered if my mom’s ID and passport expired as well. They did. Fudge. Here I was, again making phone calls and appointments with the Rathaus (local courthouse) to renew her ID. Straight forward, right? Nope, as it turns out, I needed to submit her birth certificate to RENEW her ID. Did she have one? Of course not. So I had to request a copy from a courthouse in a different state where she was born, but of course that wouldn’t happen in time. At least I sweet-talked the courthouse employee into letting us come in and sign the paperwork to at least get started. To be continued, I suppose…

Concurrently, my mom was apparently waiting for me to address a few more skeletons. She doesn’t like to ask strangers for help, so she waited for me to return. Needless to say, taking it easy to give my poor hip a break was out of the question. Besides sleeping on an air mattress blown up in her living room, I assembled a shoe cabinet, hung a bunch of pictures, discarded of several cardboard boxes, bought a new radio, and cleaned the shower (repeatedly). I also tried to find a cleaning service to help my mom, but even the assisted living resource had nobody to offer – massive shortage of cleaning personnel! Who knew?

I miss my Ponce so much, and having Bella (my mom’s Jack Russel) on or behind me all the time was kind of nice. She also really enjoyed my air mattress and took full advantage of it.

Despite all the setbacks and struggles, I tried to have some good times with my mom as well, especially since she waited for me to do a lot of things. So, when the weather permitted, I took her to the beach area, or just for a stroll in the city. We had a beer in that cute little pub where locals hang out (and she was too shy to go my herself).  We also encountered a training event of the local fire house.

Germany is also very progressive by providing designated parking areas for your Centaur.... However, I waited some time to spot one, alas to no avail...

In addition, I was subjected to quality German television… one amazing revelation was that any in-person shows had 100% compliance with mask-wearing.

I also realized that Otto is still around!

As the end of the trip came closer, I had to do this Covid home test from Ellume. Apparently, this is the only (emergency) approved home testing kit that can be used to return to the US. However, I had to order a proctored appointment along with it to make the results official. This was a new pretty nerve-wracking experience, and the person who walked me through the steps and observed me doing the test had a rooster crowing in the background, which made me almost snort out the swab. Since the results were uploaded electronically and generated an official PDF form, which I presented to the airline during check-in, I was good to go. I do admit that event though I knew I didn’t have Covid, the last 10 seconds gave me anxiety nevertheless…

What else… oh, I actually got to meet Patrick for coffee this time around. Patrick is a taxi driver in Büsum and drove us several times last year when Karl-Heinz just had his stroke. Turns out that he is a huge America fan, so I brought him my expired license plate as a gift. He found an awesome place for it!

On our last day, we went to the Eis Café one last time: my mom, Karl-Heinz, and I. The weather was mostly compliant, and we made it without getting soaked. I was rewarded with the biggest smile I have ever seen on Karl-Heinz’s face!

The next morning, my mom and I got picked up by the same friend, who drove us back to the Hamburg airport. Did I get done what I set out to do? Nope. The bank account is still in another state, the attorney to fight the insurance was taken care of but the outlook of success is unpredictable. Since my mom’s birth certificate hadn’t arrived yet, I wasn’t able to finalize the renewal of her ID and passport, and I was also not able to find a cleaning service to help my mom keeping her apartment clean. Oh, well, why have all the fun all at ones, right?

Appropriate for the occasion, the weather was grey, cold, and rainy.  I knew I had to return before the year was over, but leaving my mom behind day, alone, looking so small and vulnerable, and with everything being so different nearly broke my heart. But then there was Ralf, waiting for my return home, and I was also looking forward to seeing him. Can’t win either way…

Welcome back to the battle zone
Overall, the travel back home to Germany was pretty smooth and mostly uneventful. Both flights were in business class, so I had plenty of space. Everyone was wearing their masks, and going through security in Hamburg was efficient and safe. Fun fact: I was seated in the same row as a fellow traveler, who also lives in Orlando. We then ended up next to each other on the long flight as well. Small world. And guess what my first beverage of choice was when the flight attendant came over…? Hey, got to take advantage of luxury items when you get the chance…

10 hours later, we landed at Orlando International. Exiting the plane and going through immigration was a breeze. In fact, I was the first person to enter the big hall where all passengers have to go through immigration. Still, I tried out my Global Entry perks and made it through in less than 5 minutes. After my suitcases finally arrived, the struggle began. People, so many people: some with masks, some without, no keeping distance… yup, I am back in the States. I didn’t want Ralf to come into the airport, so he waited outside to pick me up at the curb.

I arrived on Saturday evening, so I had Sunday recuperate before starting work on Monday. Initially, I wanted to telework to mow through my gazillion emails and reorient myself, but since there were some unexpected issues that needed my personal attention, I got cleared by occupational health and made it to the Sim Lab by 10 AM.

We were still cross-training staff who had been detailed to inpatient areas. The mobile ICU was assembled in the ED parking lot and ready to receive Covid patients the next day. The hospital was beyond capacity as Covid went rampant throughout the community. Welcome back to the battle zone!

Because so many nurses poked my IV training arm in such short periods of time, it actually started to leak, so I had to order replacement veins already. I also got my repaired Nursing Anne back, so I dismembered the loaner to ship back to the vendor. While I wrapped the torso in a plastic bag, I couldn’t help but feel like a serial killer disposing of a body.

Self-care efforts
Even though I was still coming to terms with the idea of having returned to the capital of Corona and was pretty anxious, I picked up PT to tend to my neglected hip. I also did my first short bike ride but my overall endurance has much declined. But as always, I am picking up the pieces and try to make the best of things…

Speaking of biking: Ralf is really trying to get back into biking shape. I admire his resilience and determination to find a way to overcome his health issues. It really has taken a profound toll on his/our quality of life, the daily pain, fear of a looming obstruction, the morning rituals that prevent him to even leave the house before 10 AM. It’s bad. It’s unfair. And the post-Covid world we live in adds to the hardship tenfold. It makes me feel so helpless. So I support his efforts whenever I can, which included a rescue mission to save an Osprey.

Ralf was out with his bike when he encountered a beautiful Osprey, who hung upside-down in a barbwire fence! He disentangled the bird and shushed it away from the fence. But the Osprey appeared hurt and would not fly off.

That is when he called me for assistance. Since no agency was able or willing to come out and rescue the Osprey, we were going to try capturing him ourselves. The nearby wildlife refuge was willing to take in the poor thing, but they were unable to come out to help retrieving him. It was so hot outside, the sun was burning, and there was no shade to be had. Thank goodness though, when we finally approached the Osprey, he suddenly spread his wings and flew away.

Well, this update has become much longer than anticipated, so I decided to defer my experience with the IV Lounge to my next one. We just had the third infusion, so one more to go next week to complete the loading phase. Let’s see how it goes…