Monthly Archives: July 2003

Thursday, July 31, 2003

Ferien!

Today was the first day of my summer holidays – did I mention that they last six weeks? After the last two busy weeks – which were even more stressful with André being in the hospital and so on – I’m more than ready for a little relaxing. I spent the whole day today doing… nothing. But tomorrow I’ll sort through my school things and clean up my desk, I promise!

Diese Woche in der Zeit

Leben: Wieder allein. “Vier Jahre lang war Latif Yahia der Doppelgänger von Udai Hussein. Eine Begegnung nach dem Tod des Diktatorensohns.” Von Heike Faller.

Wunschbild: Ein Deutschlandbild nach Wunsch. “In Berlin lebende Migranten haben sich von der Fotografin Anna Voswinckel ein Lieblingsbild gewünscht. Vier Geschichten, die von der Hoffnung erzählen, heimisch zu werden.”

Billig verreisen: Nur 299 Euro! “Ganz Deutschland im Sparrausch: Nichts darf mehr etwas kosten. Aber wie fährt man so in die Ferien? Wir haben drei Autoren um einen schonungslosen Selbstversuch gebeten. Jeder bekam 299 Euro ‘all inclusive’ – und eine Einwegkamera, um unser Fotobudget zu entlasten. Michael Allmaier schlug sich bis ins rumänische Temesvár durch, wo er im Luxus schwelgte. Elke Michel buchte Mallorca pauschal und heuerte auf einem Fischerboot an, als ihr der Magen knurrte. Ulrich Stock reiste auf die teuerste Nordseeinsel und erfuhr: Wer nach Sylt kommt, muss bluten – so oder so. Fazit der drei: Wenn einer eine Billigreise tut, dann kann er was erleben.”

Und letzte Woche in der Zeit

Medizin: Kampf ums Herz. “Früher mussten sie den Brustkorb spalten. Heute machen Herzchirurgen möglichst kleine Schnitte. Das soll Patienten locken. Doch das schonende Verfahren ist nicht immer das beste.” Von Harro Albrecht.

Neue Operationsmethoden – der Trend zum kleinen Schnitt.

Halbgott in Edelstahl. In Leipzig geht der Roboter dem Chirurgen zur Hand.

Feuersturm: Das Hamburger Inferno. “Eine Stadt verbrennt im Feuersturm: Vor 60 Jahren zerstörten englische und amerikanische Bomber die Hansemetropole.” Von Theo Sommer.

Sunday, July 27, 2003

Fractals

I’ve been researching the Julia and Mandelbrot sets for school, and I’ve found a few interesting and useful sites:

André Update

The day after he came home from the hospital, André got a smaller cast on his right arm (Sam, he got a purple one, not pink like Abby suggested). His arm movement is improving slowly but steadily, and he will start getting physiotherapy next week.

Thursday, July 24, 2003

André Update

He’s home! André just came home from the hospital. His left arm is no longer in a cast, just in a bandage. However, the arm is still swollen and he can’t really move it much because of the surgery. But it will get better, slowly.

Thanks again to everyone who posted on their weblog, sent email or called. Your sympathy is much appreciated. facehappy:

Saturday, July 19, 2003

André Update

I spent much of today at the hospital again. It’s terribly hot in Bonn at the moment, around 35°C (95°F), so casts are not the most comfortable thing to wear at the moment. But at least André felt fit enough today to go for a little walk around the hospital.

Zwei Gipsarme:

The left cast has an extra part at the end which was used to hang the arm after the surgery. He will probably get plastic casts next week – or maybe just one cast. They said that the bone which was screwed back together (left arm) only needed a cast for one week.

And for comparison, I dug through my photo albums and found this:

Noch zwei Gipsarme:

Me in October 1988. I had the casts for four weeks. My casts ended below the elbows, so I could use my arms better than André can now. After some practising I was able to eat, dress myself and even play the piano a little bit.

Saturday, July 19, 2003

Update

André was in good spirits when I visited him in the hospital yesterday. He still can’t use his arms for much, but he can manoeuvre them more easily. He’s allowed to get up and walk a few steps (as long as he can carry the heavy casts). He also managed to read a newspaper yesterday. The doctor told him he would have to spend another week at the hospital, so lets hope he will be released next Friday. Incidentally, that is also the last day of school before the summer holidays, so I’ll be able to take care of him then.

I’m planning on spending much of today in the hospital so I can help him with eating and so on. Garret, thanks for your idea! In the hospital, he’s getting bottles of water. They put a straw in and tape it to the top of the bottle so the bubbles won’t push it out. It works quite well.

Hal, thank you for posting the photo of us in he kiva at Pecos. And thanks to others who have sent email!

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this (or scroll down).