Kim's Adventure to Arcadia Clinic, Germany 2021

Wow, these two days have flown by!  I didn't even have a chance to walk today and get my usual 7 miles around Bad Emstal.  It was probably for the best because I was too tired and it was a bit overcast, rainy, and cool.   I met my fellow patients yesterday for the first time and we seem like we have known each other much longer as of the end of today.  The patient to doctor/nurse ratio is just as I had hoped for (the individual attention... I have met with my doctor on both days.  There is one patient from Germany (the only one who speaks no English), two Swedes, a woman from Slovenia, a woman patient accompanied by her husband from NY, another woman from Sacramento, CA, a Chinese woman from Ireland, a woman and her husband from England, a young man from Kuwait with his brother, and an American who lives in Germany and works for the federal government.  Some of us are in our first of three weeks while others are in their second/third week of treatment....

It's Sunday, FINALLY!  I'm anxious for a negative COVID test tomorrow a.m. so that I can get started with testing and treatment.  It's been okay to have all this down time but I'm ready for a change in schedule. I'm on the second season of Ted Lasso (Apple TV and thanks brother for recommending it), watched the first Grey's Anatomy for the season, have read substantial parts of three books, walked 9.5 miles yesterday, and 8.8 miles Friday, and already have a run and a walk in today for over 6 miles.  Of course I am writing in this blog and taking pictures.  Since I am in quarantine, I'm not talking with too many people.  Actually I speak with the person who delivers my meals but only about the food and what a German word means in English. If you look at the pictures (I have added some since the last post),  https://photos.app.goo.gl/yanG9Ht3YD9iAjgN9  you will see pictures of my apartment and the clinic.  According to my schedule for tomorrow, I w...

Well, they surely will not find a body in this apartment that is malnourished if I were to die in Germany.  I have received three square meals per day and it has done the trick...the detox promised as part of the treatment!  Porridge with blueberries and cherries, one egg, two slices of bread with butter and jelly, coconut yogurt (pretty sure it was sugarless!), and slices of cheese was breakfast this a.m.  Lunch was some fish wrapped in zucchini, LOTS of cooked veggies, a berry smoothie, a piece of berry bread,  some couscous "thing" and a salad.  After each meal, I take long walks in an attempt to digest but also to learn about this little town of Bad Emstal.  It appears on the map in the area north of Frankfort as Kassel.   When walking around the town or even as we drove here yesterday, I noticed the fields of corn, beans, and others that had been plowed already.  Huge windmills are present in every direction you look and solar panels on ...

American Airlines had a flight from Dallas Ft. Worth (DFW) into Frankfort.  So, I left yesterday (Wednesday) from Columbus and arrived here in Germany today at 8:15 a.m. (2:15 a.m. in OH)  It was a 9+ hour flight from DFW, the first all-nighter that I had pulled since college!  Fortunately, the plane had nine seats across each row and it wasn't crowded.  I did have three seats to myself, lots of free movies to watch, and dinner, breakfast and a snack as we "hopped" over the big pond (Atlantic!). Arcadia had arranged for a driver to meet me at the gate and transport me the 2 hours to Bad Emstal, north of Frankfort.  Unfortunately Wolfgang, the driver, didn't speak any English per se nor is my German (from studying here as a junior in college) passing.  He could drive and at times we reached speeds of 170 kph (105 mph) as I hung on in the back seat of his taxi.  I must admit, I was happy to reach the clinic after all the travel.   They have me ...

Tomorrow's the big day!  I'm sitting in my office at Otterbein getting loose ends tied up with interns and student academic advising.  Everything is clean and packed away from last week's Colorado trip (kimandjimsfourpassloop2021.blogspot.com) and the permit for the December backpack Rim to Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon has been faxed.  COVID or not, I'm moving around the country and world! I leave on an American Airlines flight tomorrow at 12:15 p.m. to Dallas-Ft. Worth.  From there, I will fly directly into Frankfort Germany where a driver will be present (hopefully he speaks English and has a sign to indicate the clinic!) will transport me to Bad Emstal where the Arcadia Clinic is located.  Because I am coming from a high risk country, I will quarantine at the clinic (they provide lodging and food) and be retested for COVID prior to starting treatment on Monday. The Arcadia Clinic appealed to me for many reasons.  Recently I learned that Germany is a le...