On Monday I was really happy to be
back in Bonn. It had been a long 9 days of travel and I was ready for a little
break. The morning was slow and relaxing as we all caught up from the weekend
and worked on our blogs. In the afternoon we bought our body weight in Haribo
at the factory store then ate it alongside of our pizza during the movie night.
“The Life of Others” was a really interesting movie and I was surprised by how
much I liked it. It’s crazy to think that a group of like people could be
separated and forced into two totally different situations in a matter of hours
and that that separation changed the way Berliners are even today.
The rest of the week was a
whirlwind. After the anesthesiology museum and class on Tuesday afternoon we
were going nonstop. Hannover was the first stop. After grabbing some lunch from
the grocery store we went to the MHH and talked with one of the Cardiosurgical
residents. She was very personable and obviously knowledgeable about the heart
procedures that the patients in the ward undergo. We also got to talk to
several patients and touch their LVATS, listen to the internal portion of the
LVAT with a stethoscope and try to find their nonexistent pulses. I found it
really interesting that heart patients have to physically wait in the hospital
for 6 to 8 months in order to remain on the transplant list. I also thought
about the possibility of a heart transplant not being the golden standard. As
the resident explained the way the LVAT works and how LVAT patients are able to
do everything normally without the undergoing a risky transplant surgery, I
began to think about what I would choose if I were in a situation where my
heart was compromised and surprisingly I started leaning towards an LVAT. This
is one of the many times on this trip that my opinions have changed about
something that I feel that I would have otherwise been stubborn about if I
hadn’t had this study abroad experience. After that we went to the axolotl
research lab and got to look at all the cute little creatures. The free-living
spider lab was interesting as well but not even close to as cute. After our
short time in Hannover we made our way to Norderney. Once we got off the ferry
we didn’t waste any time. We hopped on bikes and headed to the mudflats. I
really liked squishing my toes around in the cool mud and seeing all of the
animals that were living there especially the jellyfish. After the mudfluthking
we headed to the hostel then rode bikes to dinner and finally watched the
sunset at the beach. It was a beautiful view and I kept having to remind myself
that this wasn’t just any beach, but the North Sea off the coast of a beautiful
German island. It was definitely one of my favorite nights of the trip. Friday morning came quickly and we were back
on the bikes and off to a long adventure around the island. I was exhausted by
the end of it but the physical activity wasn’t over yet. After the bike ride we
visited the IFR clinic and learned about the interesting view that German have
on recuperation in clinics like these around Germany. I agreed with some of the thought about
relaxation, exercise, low stress and diet but a lot of the data didn’t totally
convince me of the claimed extreme benefits. The rock-climbing wall and gym
time was really fun though! I had forgotten how much I like to play around like
that. Once we finished our time at the
clinic and took the obligatory group picture, it was back on the bikes and off
to catch the ferry. Our not-so-relaxing time on the German relaxation island
had come to a close and a weekend in Amsterdam was on the horizon.
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