User blog comment:Mara the Marine Marauder/Diary Discussions/@comment-131.246.191.250-20150703152437/@comment-25369681-20150704162442

Thanks for all the practical hints!

Yes, they probably can and will, if needed, give me clothes at the hospital. I'm not shy about wearing clothes that are not my own - but a) I'm not sure how well they'd fit, and b) I don't know if they'd cost something, and how much, and c) I guess it would be complicated to get them (like many things are complicated at that hospital), and cause the nurses there more work (and they're already overworked), and it would probably be better all around if I just managed to bring my own. (About fitting clothes: I'm overweight - and that probably contributed to me getting cancer at all, because I don't have many other "health sins": I never smoked, drank alcohol, or took any sort of drugs besides chocolate, and I always exercised regularly (ranging from just a little to quite a lot) - but was still overweight. But I'm losing much of it lately, which is good!)

I brought an extra set of clothes to my first chemo because I expeced to throw up on my clothes. The nurses told me that was extremely rare during chemo treatment itself, and also told me that if I had, they'd have given me nurse uniforms to get home in! (And as far as I can judge, they weren't joking.) I wonder what havoc I could have wreaked walking around in the hospital in a nurse uniform... They must have a lot of trust in their patients.

Yes, I could probably take a taxi and wear a face mask, and I'd do exactly that if necessary. However, all that biking is probably doing me good (despite the current heatwave, and even more so in more moderate temperatures). I've read a little more about fatigue syndrome during chemo, and about exercise during cancer, and all the sources basically say: "Move as much as you can - even though and especially when you feel exhausted! When you're healthy, exhaustion means your body needs rest. During chemo, exhaustion is almost permanent, and is usually fatigue syndrome and means you should get more exercise." So, biking is good - though I'd prefer spending less time biking through the city to do errands, and more time biking or walking in some nice green environment (and less time doing household chores and paperwork, and more time doing yoga and stretching). I'm kind of trying to get myself into the mental state of an athlete or a marine in training or a fugitive having to run for their lives - they push themselves to their physical limits all the time, and (except for the fugitives) voluntarily. I guess that's what I'll have to do when fatigue syndrome really sets in badly. (So far, I'm only feeling it slightly.)

Health insurance does pay part of the cost of a taxi if the drive is to or from chemo, to or from radiation therapy, to or from an operation, or to or from a stationary treatment. They don't usually pay any other taxi drives that occur during cancer treatment. And you always have to pay a copayment of 5,- to 10,- € per drive yourself. (Though, if and when my copayment exemption gets through, I guess I won't have to pay even that.)

The hint and link about Vollmacht (power of attorney, I think) for other people to fetch prescriptions etc. for you is interesting! It doesn't mention letters of referral - but that might be possible, too. But the gynecologist did say she'd fax-then-send her letters of referral "in case of emergency" - and, for her, emergency means you can't possibly get to her anymore - not just that it's hard for you. (For example, if I'd been hospitalized because of my low leucocyte count, and had then needed a letter of referral, she'd have faxed and sent it.) And while I can still get to her in some way or other, I don't want to bother another person to do that for me - some persons are already doing a lot for me, I don't want to stress them more than necessary. But it is an interesting hint and might come in handy when I really can't reach my gynecologist in time because of, say, another very important appointment.

About health insurances paying (or partly paying) a housekeeper or general help: They do, but only if you're physically or mentally unable to do the necessary daily tasks (feeding yourself, keeping yourself and your environment halfway clean, etc.) - not if you just don't manage because you're stressed, have too much on your to-do list, are disorganized and have poor time management skills, etc. You'd have to be at least in Pflegestufe (level of care) 1, which I'm definitely not (yet, and - if I survive the cancer - probably never during cancer).

The hint about the hospital pharmacy was very useful! I looked it up on the internet, and yes, the hospital has one! That will definitely save me some time whenever I get a receipt directly from the clinic. They never told me. (Then again, I never thought about it either.)

Oh, and btw Vielen Dank!