forty hours

I woke up this morning after having pretty much been asleep for the previous forty hours.  All of yesterday barring an hour or so in the morning and the evening, and most of the previous day.  Its all a result of having been vaccinated against a bunch of potential killer diseases.  So, with three injections, I was vaccinated against TB, Diphtheria, Polio, and two others I can't translate; one of which is part of the standard vaccination sets given to children here, and one to counter the disease carried by tics which you can encounter in the mountains here. 

I continue to be impressed by the quality of medical practice here, and the complete absence of payment except to out medical insurance group.  Don't get me wrong, we're paying about two hundred euros per month for that medical insurance, but it seems to be very comprehensive.  For example, most of our drugs are covered, all of our medical costs (so far) and access to specialists is particularly easy. I wanted to get a follow up test done for my cancer, and instead of needing to be referred by my GP, I can simply pick up the phone and call a specialist.

I have to admit to a certain amount of cynicism about medical things when we came over here first.  In London, we paid nothing for our medical costs either, but the conditions of the hospitals and GP practices were positively Victorian.  I have seen both sides of that system too, both the beautiful (private room in Westminster hospital overlooking the houses of parliament) and the ugly (public room in the same hospital where there were eight of us in a ward), and even the best of them left a lot to be desired.  Here in Germany you have to pay for medical insurance, and its typically pretty damn expensive, but you really get what you pay for.

Oh, that reminds me of something.  There is apparently no blood test for the type of cancer I had (seminoma), but they took blood from me every time I went back for a check up.  Have to go look at my medical records and see what they were looking for...