WINDING DOWN

It's time to go. There is not much left in most of my personal care products and with my propensity to hives, I can't take the risk of trying something new. Although, I have successfully used the Bulgari green tea soap we were given at the Renaissance in Paris.

CA has acute bronchitis. He saw a Slovak doctor on Friday and got some meds, but didn't really improve until last night his coughing fits were so scary that DM and I take him to the emergency room in Hainburg, Austria. Thankfully, the doctor has enough English to be able to communicate because we have no German other than danke schön, and I just discovered that we have been saying it wrong--blaming Wayne Newton for singing Danke Schoen... And, we have been thinking that danke means thanks, when instead we should be saying bitte. One source says that danke can actually mean no thanks. Anyway, the resources are mixed on how you pronounce it in Austrian German--either don-ka-schoon or don-ka-schen. I intend to mumble...

I digress... a lot! Not much happens at night on the eve of a national holiday [Three Kings Day, aka Epiphany--12 days after Christmas] in small hospitals in central Europe. The doctor is able to listen to CA's breathing and lungs, take his blood pressure, and check his oxygen levels. After some conversation about keeping him overnight--mainly because he has bothered to show up very late at night so he must be miserable--she takes two vials of blood and asks us to wait 20 minutes for the results. After about a half-hour she says that the white blood count is not elevated and sends him home with his Slovak antibiotic, a dose of a codeine-based cough suppressant, and a prescription for the cough medicine. I have been hoping she will prescribed at least a gallon as DM and MP can both use some.

There is actually an all-night pharmacy in tiny Hainburg--apparently the surrounding village pharmacies take turns so that medication is available 24/7. DM gets the Rx filled and we are home by 1:00am.

I am so glad that we went. CA pressed to wait until this morning, but I encouraged him--actually decided for him--to not delay. I even called Blue Cross/Blue Shield Illinois to check on our benefits and found that other than a $200 deductible, our reimbursement would be equal to U.S. coverage. I know he slept much better. His coloring was so, so grey, and the cough was wracking. He had himself very, very worried. Didn't express it, but when I suggested he was worried about pneumonia or worse, he didn't deny it. And, he was worried about the expense, too, and was particularly pleased to know that our BC/BS coverage extended. In short, he had his knickers in a twist and as usual was internalizing it all and making himself sicker.

He doesn't surface until after 11am and while he isn't much better yet, there is hope! Especially thankful because our flight back to the U.S. is at 11:40am tomorrow.