One of my medical implants needed a medicine refill, so I went to the doctor in Berlin that my pharmaceutical company had recommended. First, some context: since July, when I was getting ready to leave for Europe, I had been emailing this clinic, which happens to be a very famous one (I'll leave out all names for this story), and I maybe got one or two generic responses—none from the actual doctor. I figured phone might be better, so I used Skype to call from Seattle and then with my German cell once I arrived in Marburg—all to try and schedule this one appointment. They must've been really busy or something because I didn't get an appointment until a week before I went, and only because I asked my roommate to call for me since he's German and could express my needs in German in a way I could not.
So I went to the appointment on Monday, and lo and behold, they had made the wrong appointment for me. After waiting for nearly three hours, I finally got the correct appointment lined up but not before I had been bounced from one office to another and on to another like a package no one wanted. Plus, when I asked the office how much I would have to pay (since I have to pay upfront first and file a claim to my insurance company later), they couldn't even give me a straight answer except an estimate of 2,000€.
Now, that's a huge chunk of change, and I didn't have that much money in my bank. So I figured I could use a credit card to pay the next day before my appointment. Whether I can actually use my credit card or not, I will probably never find out because I didn't even make it that far on Tuesday.
I woke up early to go to the hospital (it's an hour away by a bus and an U-Bahn), but I missed the bus due to construction at the normal stop. I couldn't find the replacement stop until seconds before the bus pulled away. So I had to wait another 20 minutes. Screw it, I thought. I'd just get there late and figure out how to pay later.
When I finally arrived, the office lady gave me a bunch of crap for being late. Whatever, I thought. On the other side of the hall, the nurse had been waiting for me, and she motioned for me to follow her at the same time the office lady told me to go pay downstairs. They had a heated discussion and ultimately the nurse won the argument, leading me to a waiting area curtained off (poorly, I might add) from the main hallway.
She told me that I would be staying overnight and had to change into the hospital gown because I was going into the operating room for the pump refill procedure. Uh...ok? I thought, "Is that how you do all your pump refills here?" I've had this pump implant for nearly eight years now and have had it refilled every 30-60 days in that time, and never have I had to (1) stay overnight or (2) take off all my clothes and change into a hospital gown just to have my pump refilled.
I convinced her that the doctor said I could simply stay for four or five hours after the procedure instead of staying overnight. She didn't seem satisfied, but said ok, just change into the hospital gown. Reluctantly, I did. As I was standing there in my basketball shorts, the office lady came back around and said, "What you're doing is not allowed. You must pay for the treatment beforehand. We'll let it slide this time, but you must pay when you are done. If you try to leave without paying, we will call the police." Riiiight. I responded, "I already know that, and you've already talked to the nurse. I know already. Thank you." No reason to harass me, seriously.
I changed and climbed into the hospital bed, which was rather comfortable. Since I had woken up so early, I was ready to fall asleep, but I forced myself to stay awake because I felt it would be most prudent to stay attentive. I can't say I had much faith in their medical abilities at this point.
After two hours of waiting, I thought about what my dad had told me on the phone that morning: If you don't feel comfortable with it, just cancel it and see if you can do it back in Marburg. Wise idea. The two hours of waiting on the bed in a hospital gown did it, I think. I called the doctor's office in Marburg and spoke with the dear secretary there who had treated me spectacularly when I went for my appointment. She had walked with me to every office I needed to visit (to register, to pay, and to schedule my appointments, etc.) and translated for me, even though she later found out I actually understood most of what the folks were saying. Still, I'm very glad she did that for me.
They were equally surprised at the strange process for pump refills that this hospital had, and we quickly made an appointment for Thursday morning. Great. Now I had to figure out where I'd stay in Marburg and book transportation as well. Easy.
I put my clothes back on, packed my stuff, and walked into the nurses' station, where the nurse looked at me with a bewildered expression. "Why are you dressed?" she asked (in German). I responded with my best German: "I'm sorry, but I do not feel comfortable with the process here. It's totally unfamiliar to me the way it's done at this hospital. I have had this pump for nearly 8 years, and in the two hours that I waited, it could've been done extremely easily. I would like to cancel my appointment."
Their silence was followed by an irritated, "Well, you'll have to talk to the patient manager." No problem. I'd like to talk to him, since he's the one who made the wrong appointment for me in the first place, even after I had spoken with him on the phone and emailed him (and again received no response).
When I explained my situation, he finally called the doctor to talk to me. Funny how I only ever met the doctor when I told them I was canceling and leaving. The doctor was overall pretty nice, and I told him he had received good recommendations from my pharmaceutical company. However, the process in which they conducted their procedures was completely inefficient and backwards to me. I told him that I've had this procedure done in a number of clinics around the West Coast and in Germany, but never had I encountered one where they would require me to stay overnight and go into an operating room for the procedure. Heck, I've had this procedure done so many times, they could've just given me the syringe and medicine to do the refill myself.
He was very sorry about how I felt and offered to do the pump refill still. But I told him that I had already made up my mind and would go to Marburg on Thursday to have it done. With that, I walked out the door and didn't bother to check in with the office lady again, since they had told me to see the patient manager too when I mentioned I wanted to cancel. Thankfully, I have not been chased down by police yet.
Anyway, the rest of the week included some speedy online reservations for carpools to Marburg. The train was very expensive (as in 145€ roundtrip), but with the carpool, I paid 40€ total for the trip to Marburg and back to Berlin. I also got to see old friends in Marburg and actually stay with my old neighbor. Oh, and the pump refill in Marburg? It took a grand total of 15 minutes for me to get off the bus, walk in the hospital, pick up my receipt for paying online, getting my pump refilled, and then hopping back on the bus into town.
Unbelievable.
The good news is that I have great doctors to take care of my medical needs. The not so great news is that I will have to travel the four hours (by train) or five hours (by car) to Marburg every month. On the flip side, it also lets me visit friends there, so that's a plus.
Speaking of friends, I had a friend from Boston visit me earlier this week. We had a fun time walking around Berlin. It had been a while since I had walked around the Mitte area, since I hadn't done that since arriving. I've seen it all before, so it wasn't a high priority for me. But with friends, it is definitely more fun.
We actually started by checking out the East Side Gallery, which is the largest segment of the former Berlin Wall that is still standing. In fact, though I have driven by it before, I had never visited it in person. Pretty neat.
After spending some time walking around Mitte, seeing the Brandenburg Gate, and going to Starbucks, we headed back to make dinner and celebrate their last night in Berlin. Pretty fun.
My research has started out more slowly than I had anticipated, mainly because the professors with whom I need to meet to establish contact in local schools are all swamped with office hours visits from students. School just started this week. So it's likely I won't have many interviews until the beginning of November, which only delays my project timeline by a month, but I will be able to manage since I had included some flexibility in my proposal.
I also have a human rights conference coming up in a week and a half in Berlin, so I'm excited for that. Talking with random students who are friends of my friends or whom I meet in a car-ride has been pretty enlightening. I've spoken with a first-year German university student who has aspirations for working for the UN and engaging in academics and work abroad. I've chatted with a Pakistani student who is my age, but has already graduated from law school and plans to continue doing research and working in international environmental law. All of it has been fascinating, and I love chatting with students who share a passion for global affairs, even if our political views differ.
Speaking of politics, I filled out my ballot and now have to send it back to Spokane for it to get counted. If you haven't already, vote!
Until next time,
Sam
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