The time I got the Plague

After Amsterdam we spent 4 days in Bonn -about a week too short if you ask me. The first day we accomplished many minuscule tasks that we had been putting off. Mainly shopping. We also went to the Cologne zoo which was really fun. Who doesn't love zoos? The next day is when things got interesting.

On Tuesday we woke up super early. Really early. Earlier than any human being should ever be awake. 530am early. I was not okay. None of us were okay. But we had to be at the bus station by 630 to make it to the university hospital to see surgeries at 730am. Early starts must be a surgery/surgeon thing. None of us have a burning desire to do surgery and this just might be why. We jumped into scrubs and crocs and strapped on hair nets and masks before being escorted down a long hallway with doors into the surgery theaters.

***Reader discretion is advised -the squeamish should stop here***
Alyssa and I were the only two left. Our friends had all shuffled into different operating rooms. We came to a room and the doctor motioned for one of us to go in. I entered to see an old man spread eagle with his feet in stirrups. I later learned that Alyssa could see this from the door and opted to let me go instead -thanks Alyssa. The operation was relatively short, about an hour, and they were just scraping a tumor off of the inside of the bladder. The next procedure was much more involved.

The anesthesiologist brought me in to see the next patient. She let me feel his back in between the vertebrae where she would insert one of her lines. She plunged this giant needle into his spine but couldn't find the right spot so the department head came and did it for her. He had trouble with it too and ended up jamming that needle in. I thought the needle would break. It didn't look pleasant. I watched the surgery from above a curtain. They were removing his entire bladder and were going to make him a new one out of his intestines. After making a six or seven inch incision along his abdomen they started pushing and pulling his organs around like nothing. They clamped the incision open and started clamping vessels to the bladder so that they could cut it out without major blood loss. It was always the same. Clamp, pinch, clamp, cut, repeat. All the way around the bladder. The procedure started at about 10am and by the time I left at 1pm they had only removed his bladder. Right before I left they pulled this giant mass of tissue out of his abdomen, his bladder, and I could see the tumor (cancer) at the base. I can't imagine what else they had to do to make his new bladder. I almost wish I could have stayed. Almost. I was getting a bit nauseous towards the end -take me back to the pharmacy, please.

The next day we got up early again to go on a Rhine cruise. It was fun and beautiful, but that is when the plague started to take me so I slept most of the ride. Once we got to St. Goar we hiked up to Rheinfels Castle and had a great time running through the tunnels with candles and learning about the history.  

On Thursday we spent most of the day moping around about it being our last day in Bonn. This is when the plague really took a toll on me. I was really looking forward to going out one last time but unfortunately I had a fever and thought it best to sleep instead.

We arrived in Berlin yesterday...although most of it was just a blur to me. As soon as we got here I went to sleep. I skipped the bike tour and dinner. I slept much longer than I intended to but it was well worth it as I am feeling better today. I'm 100% positive that it was the plague. We are all coming down with it. I guess Europe is tired of us.