Learning the German Health Care System

Well, it has been 10 days since we landed in Germany, and we had our first visit to the ER today! Samantha was playing at the park yesterday with the kids, and other friends, and was running DOWN the play equipment. She ended up slipping while going down the ladder, and slipped. Unfortunately, when she slipped and fell, her leg got caught on one of the rungs, and she “dangled” before falling to the ground. Jason could hear her screaming before Victoria even got back to the house, and quickly ran down, to find Samantha in terrible pain. He carried her home, did a quick assessment and determined that it was “ok” to put ice on it, and wait to see how she does. We put ice on it and propped it up and put her to bed. She slept through the night, but woke at 7am and when she put her foot on the ground to walk, she quickly fell to the ground in tears! That was Jason’s cue to shower and dress for a trip the Emergency Room.

Normally the ER is not a huge challenge for us, but our post here in Wiesbaden doesn’t have a hospital, and the clinic is only opened Monday through Friday during regular business hours. Outside of those hours, we must utilize the Germany health care system, or drive to another army hospital (Landstuhl), which is over an hour away. So, Jason picked up his German/English dictionary, wrote down some key phrases he would need and away they went. Of course, it does help that he has taken 8 years of German, and just finished a 1-month immersion course with the Army this past May. He didn’t have any trouble communicating with the hospital staff, and after 4.5 hours, Samantha was sent home with a tightly bound leg, with a “No fracture” report! WHEW!!!

The doctor bound her leg up tightly, but under it was a large gauze that had some sort of numbing cream on it. Jason didn’t know what is was, exactly, but what he did know was he wants some of it. Samantha could bear weight within an hour of having it on. She is doing great with her leg now, so for that I am pleased!

Today we were supposed to go and visit some castles in the area, but the ER trumped our plans, so we stayed home. It has turned out to be a great day, as Jason and I are able to rest, and the kids have had tons of friends over to play. I think, at last count, there were 9 on our new trampoline! A worthy investment, indeed!!!!

Tomorrow will be our first day of church here, so I am excited. We have 2 offerings of services, one “blended”, and a “contemporary” worship, so we will try the contemporary first, and hopefully everyone loves it. I have heard there is a great group of women in PWOC here, so I am hoping to try that this month, as well as get the kids involved in a youth group this summer. They have heard that the youth groups do some great trips throughout the year, so Alex, Victoria and Samantha are quite excited.