Indoor Plumbing (Article #42) 3/8/2007

While I normally recap the full week through Shabbat, this week’s column will only cover events through Thursday, since Friday through Monday were one long Purim celebration that I will save for next week.

I am amazed at how many people think we are living in Kenya or Afghanistan or Togo or some other such undeveloped country. We live in ISRAEL, one of the most advanced countries in the world!

Ever since Goldie’s medical problems started we have received a regular stream of emails, phone calls and messages of support and encouragement. However, along with those calls come an unbelievable amount of advice and instructions about what it is that we should be doing to address the situation.

Don’t get me wrong. For all those who emailed contact information of physicians that they know, offering their contacts as potential sources of information and assistance – we say thanks. We may not have called your specific friend, but knowing that you thought of us and were quick to lend us your advice was a source of comfort and support when we needed it.

However, to the umpteen dozens of people who asked us if we are ready to come back to the USA now, I ask in return – “WHAT FOR?”

I have deliberately omitted pertinent information regarding what Goldie’s symptoms were because that falls under the “too much information” category (we finally found something that fits in that category). Yet, I can say that the department that treated her in the hospital and the physicians who continue her follow up are considered among the best in their field worldwide.

In previous weeks I have written about having checked out the department and physicians who treated Goldie and how pleased we were with the reports we had gotten as to their qualifications and abilities. In their field they are recognized as pioneers and one person (in the USA) reported to us that these doctors are discovering and formulating new medications and treatments that are literally considered to be “on the cutting edge.”

No matter how many times I tell this to people, they still ask, “Yeah, but when are you coming to America to see a real doctor?” or “When you come to America for decent medical treatment, make sure to see Dr. So and so – he cured my (insert mystery ailment here) and he will fix Goldie’s problem in a second!”

So let me share this wonderful insight with one and all… we have indoor plumbing in Israel. Air conditioning. Computers. Automatic gear shifting automobiles. Cellphones. You name it.

We are not some backward impoverished land of witch doctors and shamans. Not a single physician has prescribed Snake Oil, recommended that Goldie use leeches as a regimen of bleeding therapy, sprinkled the blood of four chickens on her or any other ridiculous nonsense. This is not Israel of fifty years ago. I am astounded by how many people think so lowly of Israel and its professionals.

We are not going to see the “Major Leaguers” in the USA. As of right now, there is nothing for them to add. That is not to say that there aren’t wonderful doctors overseas. There are. There are also great doctors here and we are using them. When they recommend a specialist that is only available out of Israel – that is when we will think about it, not before.

On Sunday morning, Goldie – who had been experiencing tremendous side effects from her spinal tap and had not been able to stand or even sit up for longer than two or three minutes at a time – decided to return to the hospital for a procedure that might bring her some relief. She had postponed it from the prior Thursday in the hopes that she would improve without having to go to the hospital (and have to put up with more needles), but she was so frenzied to be able to get out of bed that she overcame the fear of needles and I took her in.

I am not sure why everyone has horror stories from the hospitals here. I definitely see that you have to fight for yourself (or your loved one who is the patient). But the people do care – Israeli style. They made sure we had something to eat, that Goldie only moved around when she was 100% sure she could and were really wonderful about everything.

We even had a nice talk with one of the nurses about Chaya who we think would make an excellent nurse. She encouraged us to have Chaya volunteer in the pediatric ward and have her experience a little of what it is like to help/be in the hospital with all the illness and needs of the patients. We think Chaya would be perfect for this and are encouraging her to do so.

By Sunday evening, Goldie had seen tremendous results from that morning’s procedure. She was able to sit up within minutes and by the time we left the hospital she could walk around for five minutes or so without problems. By that evening she was able to stand, walk and generally move around without complication other than soreness from more needle pokes.

She spent the week mostly at home. After two weeks of being confined to bed, she found that she tired easily and had a lot of sore muscles now that she had started to use them after such a long period of inactivity. She tired easily and really had to take things very slowly.

She left the house a couple of times to go to her doctors (specialists and general) for follow up and to take care of some paperwork from her hospitalization. She also took a couple of hours to come with me to Yerushalayim to go to a specific lab that does a certain blood test. While she was waiting in line, I ran in to Machane Yehuda (one of my favorite places) to get some stuff for Mishloach Manot. And – I bought a Bubbee wagon.

What’s a Bubbee wagon? It is one of those wheeled metal shopping wagons that you always see the Bubbees (and some Zaydes too) using to take their groceries home when they are shopping. We really load up at Machane Yehuda when we shop there and there is no parking nearby, so I end up either shlepping all the stuff around or making several trips to the car. So we bought a Bubbee wagon (biggest size of course), using all the money we saved by shopping in the shuk.

It has been a tough couple of weeks. Goldie’s incapacitation made my life very busy as I tried to balance her needs and making sure the kids were all taken care of. She still can’t drive, so I have to do the bulk of the errands and shopping which makes for a busy schedule when factoring in my full time job.

I spoke to her about how difficult the time has been and how it made her feel; many people have asked if it has discouraged us or given us second thoughts. She had a great outlook that really encouraged me and reminded me how lucky we are.

She said that even though a specific day or week may be difficult, she is so happy being in Israel that she looks forward to each coming day. Her life is so full with the trappings of life here, be it adjusting to the language, figuring out the supermarket or wading through hospital bureaucracy, that she is too busy and involved to worry too much. She is so happy just being in Israel that the setbacks seem trivial and really only something that she knows that she will forget in the fullness of time.

I wish I had her sense of joy and her optimism, but it certainly makes my life easier knowing that she and the kids are all very happy with where we are and how far we have come and that we are really making it work here.