Back from the Netherlands
I just got back from a last-minute trip to see my Oma in the Netherlands. She had a heart-attack and required emergency surgery. They did a bypass and replaced 5 major arteries. I'm happy to say everything went well. I found out only a couple of days before her surgery and dropped everything to leave that day for Europe. Thanks to www.travelzoo.com and www.1800flyeurope.com I found a last-minute flight and arrived in time to see her before she went in. Afterwards I visited everyday as she recovered in ICU and then the cardiac ward of St.Antonius hospital in Nieuwegein. I have to say their staff was amazing and I am very thankful to the doctor and all the nurses that helped her through this incredible ordeal. She's back home now and my mom's helping to take care of her. I'm hoping to go back for Christmas to see how she's doing.
The one thing I learned from this trip was to avoid the ICU. Most people I saw were recovering from heart surgery. They were on respirators, catheters, morphine drip, needles every 1/2 hour and lots of IVs. It was a weird feeling being there and I want more than ever to take care of my body so that I don't have to go through that.
The trip wasn't all difficult. Once things settled down a bit I got to wander around Utrecht (interactive map). I met up with Indra and her roomates and we partied at the University with her friend Charlie and his basketball team and downtown at a few bars and clubs. I even got to ride on the old bicycles that they use to get around. I took full advantage of the great public transport system to get around and got to practice some dutch. I love it over there and can't wait to go back! One thing that I forgot in my rush was my camera... but I have some photos of Utrecht already in my gallery.
Lastly, thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers over this tough time. Especially George who battled traffic to drive me to/from the airport and my girlfriend Amanda who will hopefully get to meet Oma soon enough. I'll be trying to post more often again now that I'm back. I'm busy preparing for TechEd 2005 in Orlando. I leave June 5th for a week.
The one thing I learned from this trip was to avoid the ICU. Most people I saw were recovering from heart surgery. They were on respirators, catheters, morphine drip, needles every 1/2 hour and lots of IVs. It was a weird feeling being there and I want more than ever to take care of my body so that I don't have to go through that.
The trip wasn't all difficult. Once things settled down a bit I got to wander around Utrecht (interactive map). I met up with Indra and her roomates and we partied at the University with her friend Charlie and his basketball team and downtown at a few bars and clubs. I even got to ride on the old bicycles that they use to get around. I took full advantage of the great public transport system to get around and got to practice some dutch. I love it over there and can't wait to go back! One thing that I forgot in my rush was my camera... but I have some photos of Utrecht already in my gallery.
Lastly, thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers over this tough time. Especially George who battled traffic to drive me to/from the airport and my girlfriend Amanda who will hopefully get to meet Oma soon enough. I'll be trying to post more often again now that I'm back. I'm busy preparing for TechEd 2005 in Orlando. I leave June 5th for a week.
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2 Comments:
hey bro sorry to hear about your Oma. I'm glad things went well though. take care
-Ewan
hey you what a wicked website
smile the short one
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