[Artificial Disc Replacement / Lumbar] WPKat's Journey to Stenum (Artificial Disc Replacement L3-L4 & L4-L5)

[Cindylou]

Dear K,

Postponing surgery a full week is still blowing my mind. Not many people could have allowed their schedule to accomodate such a change. You seem to be good with it though so that's the important thing. Would you mind elaborating why a full week was necessary and what the complications were/are? I'm glad you have your whole family (immediate) there to support you. What a blessing. Hang in there. My best to you, Cindylou

[KBear]

We have a lot of in common as my great grandparents immigrated from Germany to American when my grandparents were quite little. My Mom only knew the German language when she entered kindergarten and had to learn English from scratch. It was hard because her family only spoke German at home.

My mom is 100% German, it was her dad's father who came in 1907. I think her mom's family came later, b/c they also spoke only German. My grandma still says some words that are obviously a mix of German and English. My Great Grandpa, who lived to 95, loved it when he would meet someone who knew the language. When he was 90 and hadn't spoken German to anyone in years (he was the last surviving sibling), a family friend had an exchange student from Germany and they got together and he just loved getting to speak in his native tongue with him! It was really sweet. The town I grew up in (and the neighboring town) were both German communities, where many immigrants settled (my great-great grandparents were the first people to buy land there). In Muenster especially you can see the German heritage, the buildings are built the same, very old neat area. There are several restaurants and stores that are German food. My uncle owns one that has been around for 80+ years, Fischer's Meat Market, which sells all the good German style food (love me some German sausage, sauerkraut and hot cheese). Here is a link to their website, there are some neat pictures on their http://fischersmeatmarket.com/index.html
Just curious, what was your family's German last name? Ours was Hesse (though we dropped the e at the end after the war, as a Hesse was one of Hitler's right hand men) and Sandmann. My uncle went to Germany this past year and at some point when he had his ID checked, the person told him that they don't see that last name there since the war, that everyone had changed it. What a small world, huh? They say we are all connected by 6 degrees of separation and I'm starting to think it's true. Enjoy your time there!
Kathy

[WPKat]

Dear K,

Postponing surgery a full week is still blowing my mind. Not many people could have allowed their schedule to accomodate such a change. You seem to be good with it though so that's the important thing. Would you mind elaborating why a full week was necessary and what the complications were/are? I'm glad you have your whole family (immediate) there to support you. What a blessing. Hang in there. My best to you, Cindylou

Cindylou,

In February of '09, I was told that I would be back to work two weeks after my surgery in March of '09 (See my signature below for details) ... some 15 months later there is still no end in sight ... now that is one heck of a major delay if you ask me. A few days, in reality, is nothing compared to what I have been through already and trust me when I say that it is in my best interests medically to wait.

After my previous experience, I gained the wisdom that no one has control over everything ... especially me. There are a number of things in my case that could delay surgery and the recovery thereafter. I may end up staying longer. I knew that going in and was prepared for whatever was put before me. Let there be no mistake here ... my only goal, my only focus ... at this point in time is to fix my mean, angry spine and to get my life back. A few days either way will make no difference in the end. I feel bad for anyone that is in a rush (because it makes everything harder ... especially recovery), but I am not restricted by a tight schedule (I already lost my job the first time around).

We have been put up in an exceptionally nice hotel in the beautiful countryside of Germany, waking up to beautiful birds singing and being spoiled with all sorts of things I would never get at home. I could not ask for a better setup. I would like to put it on record though that all the good food is hard to resist and it is a good thing I am not my normal self ... because I could easily gain 50 pounds in no time flat ... now then ... if that happened, I would feel the need to complain to management about all the temptations laid before me.



K

[WPKat]

My mom is 100% German, it was her dad's father who came in 1907. I think her mom's family came later, b/c they also spoke only German. My grandma still says some words that are obviously a mix of German and English. My Great Grandpa, who lived to 95, loved it when he would meet someone who knew the language. When he was 90 and hadn't spoken German to anyone in years (he was the last surviving sibling), a family friend had an exchange student from Germany and they got together and he just loved getting to speak in his native tongue with him! It was really sweet. The town I grew up in (and the neighboring town) were both German communities, where many immigrants settled (my great-great grandparents were the first people to buy land there). In Muenster especially you can see the German heritage, the buildings are built the same, very old neat area. There are several restaurants and stores that are German food. My uncle owns one that has been around for 80+ years, Fischer's Meat Market, which sells all the good German style food (love me some German sausage, sauerkraut and hot cheese). Here is a link to their website, there are some neat pictures on their Welcome to Fischer's Meat Market
Just curious, what was your family's German last name? Ours was Hesse (though we dropped the e at the end after the war, as a Hesse was one of Hitler's right hand men) and Sandmann. My uncle went to Germany this past year and at some point when he had his ID checked, the person told him that they don't see that last name there since the war, that everyone had changed it. What a small world, huh? They say we are all connected by 6 degrees of separation and I'm starting to think it's true. Enjoy your time there!
Kathy

Kathy,

My mother's maiden name is Theis ... pronounced like "Tie" with an "s" ... she is 100% German as well. I just joined Geni the other day where many of my hundreds of relatives have added their family tree. I have just tapped the surface. There is so much information, I do not know if I have any living relatives here. I would like to find out before I leave ... but doubt I will have enough time.

Wouldn't it be funny if we were related in some way?

Many of my living relatives are in Minnesota, but some of us moved to other areas ... like Alaska

Do you know where Muenster is in relation to Berlin? If I am able and it is close enough, may I will be able to check it out before I leave.

Bis spater,

Kathleen

[KBear]

Kathy,

My mother's maiden name is Theis ... pronounced like "Tie" with an "s" ... she is 100% German as well. I just joined Geni the other day where many of my hundreds of relatives have added their family tree. I have just tapped the surface. There is so much information, I do not know if I have any living relatives here. I would like to find out before I leave ... but doubt I will have enough time.

Wouldn't it be funny if we were related in some way?

Many of my living relatives are in Minnesota, but some of us moved to other areas ... like Alaska

Do you know where Muenster is in relation to Berlin? If I am able and it is close enough, may I will be able to check it out before I leave.

Bis spater,

Kathleen

I know my mom's fathers side started out in Kansas, before coming to Texas. The Muenster I was referring to is in Texas. I grew up there and Lindsay, TX; both little German towns. Just curious, is your family Catholic? All of my family is Catholic, both communities were set up as German Catholic communities. I'm no longer a practicing Catholic, consider myself non-denominational. That would be so cool if you found living relatives there. I know our family has a lot of our genealogy mapped out already, it's in a Centennial book we have of our town. I don't think it goes farther back than 1 generation in Germany though. I watched a special on TV not too long ago, where they drew your blood and by DNA found out where people's ancestors were from. I thought that was pretty cool. Probably not cheap though!

You have a great attitude on your surgery and it will serve you well. As many have said, you only get 1 shot at healing correctly.

[Cindylou]

K, you do have a great attitude on surgery and that will serve you well. Thank-you for the explanation as well. Your day will be here before you know it! Good luck and God speed. Cindylou

[Fuzzy]

I agree a delay of your surgery is even a good thing as you can get adjusted to the time difference. This is something I value highly and I do these trips regularly. When i went to Munich for my lumbar surgery i also delayed by a week and had time for some more study, retaking MRI's, CTs etc. I stayed in germany for 6 weeks and do not regret doing that as I was sort of stable by the time we went on the big trip home.

I wish you the best for your surgery.

Did you know that the museum for music intruments at the Potsdamer platz (behind the Sony center) has the only Wurlizer theater organ in Europe? Its got an interesting history and sounds wonderful. it is played every Saturday. I was able to get some time on it last year (09).

[WPKat]

I know my mom's fathers side started out in Kansas, before coming to Texas. The Muenster I was referring to is in Texas. I grew up there and Lindsay, TX; both little German towns. Just curious, is your family Catholic? All of my family is Catholic, both communities were set up as German Catholic communities. I'm no longer a practicing Catholic, consider myself non-denominational. That would be so cool if you found living relatives there. I know our family has a lot of our genealogy mapped out already, it's in a Centennial book we have of our town. I don't think it goes farther back than 1 generation in Germany though. I watched a special on TV not too long ago, where they drew your blood and by DNA found out where people's ancestors were from. I thought that was pretty cool. Probably not cheap though!

You have a great attitude on your surgery and it will serve you well. As many have said, you only get 1 shot at healing correctly.

How funny, the name of the town sounded as if it was in Germany and my eyes skipped over the part that it was in Texas ... my bad.

Oh yes, my family is Catholic all right. I'm like you though and consider myself non-denominational.

I have an Aunt on my Mom's side who is a nun. I also had an Uncle on my Dad's side who was a brother in the Catholic church. He was a very nice man. I cried when he past even though I didn't know him all that well. He was a good hearted soul who was super easy to like.

I wonder how much it costs to do the DNA thing; it would be quite interesting ... unless you discovered you were related to a serial killer that is ... hahahahaha ... okay, not so funny if it were true.

I tried looking up your family name in Geni to see if we were related, but not sure how that part of the program works. You might want to take a look at the site to see what you could learn. I only just entered my family into it and have other things to focus on right now ... like surgery

Bis spater,

Kathleen

[Cindylou]

I keep wanting to chime in on this discussion of heritage with Kat and K-bear, but alas, I am not German! I am Norwegian and English. Kat, I don't use the Geni site....but I use Ancestry.com site. I have been quite active on there for a number of years and also have a cousin of my Dad's who was very big into our geneology and she has filled in alot of blanks over the years. I find it fascinating.

[WPKat]

I keep wanting to chime in on this discussion of heritage with Kat and K-bear, but alas, I am not German! I am Norwegian and English. Kat, I don't use the Geni site....but I use Ancestry.com site. I have been quite active on there for a number of years and also have a cousin of my Dad's who was very big into our geneology and she has filled in alot of blanks over the years. I find it fascinating.

Cindylou,

Small world, the other fifty percent of me is also Norwegian, Danish and a little bit or Irish ... but the biggest percentage of the other half is Norwegian. It would be really amazing if KBear and you were both related to me in some way!

What is so funny is that back in the day, when my Mom was dating my Dad, it was a big "no no" for a German to date a Norwegian. Why? I have no clue ... all I know is that the two groups did not like each other.

Someone else put the family into the Geni program, I just learned about it recently, signed up and found hundreds of relatives. I have yet to find the time to scroll though them all. Perhaps when I am recouperating and on bed rest for large chunks of time, bored to tears and in need of something to do ... then I will find some quality time to search through it.

It is my hope to find out that I am related to some rich, distant relative ... who put a billion and change into a trust fund for future family members way back when (because the poor soul never married or had children), and the family trust fund is just patiently waiting around for me to find it ... hahahahaha, boy howdy, do I know how to dream big or what?



Kathleen