Surgery in Germany vs US
Hello everyone,
i week and a half ago I did my RARP at the Martini Klinik, part of the University Clinic Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany.
The Martini Klinik is also known as the Prostate Clinic, as this is ALL they do there, and NOTHING ELSE.
I am a US citizen but i have been living in Germany for 9 years now.
I am going to describe my experience.
Day1 (the day before the surgery):
-check in at 0900. The reception area is quite big and can rival with the reception of many hotels.
-Brief discussion with a nurse, taking vitals, urine and blood analysis. Here you get your bar coded wrist band that you will have for the entire stay.
- Discussion with an urologist, during which there is a finger rectal exam and an ultrasound rectal exam, and an ultrasound of the bladder and the kidneys.
-1200 you are sent to your assigned floor (i will explain this later). There you find another reception area (which is actually the nurses stations) and then they send you to the lounge area to wait for room assignment. Here there is free water, coffee, cookies and snacks, and various teas.
-12:30 one of the nurses greets you and begins your orientation of the Station where you will spend the next 7 days (YES in Germany they do not discharge you with a catheter a they make sure everything is ok before leaving home)
-12:15 you are in your room that will be shared with one other guy (if you opt for the private room there is a 150 Euro/day extra). The room has two beds a table and 2 chairs, two closets and a toilet WC with Toilet, shower, sink mirror, and small cubbies for each of the occupants)
-13:00 they served me lunch for a relatively large menu (over 20 options) I had fish with steamed vegetables and some souce.
-14:00 I as called downstairs for a discussion with the anesthesiologist and then one brief discussion with the psychologist
the rest of the fist day was open, just hanging around with the other patients, most of which have already gone through the surgery the days before.
-17:30 dinner was served which consists of a rolling buffet stopping by each room. you are given choices of bread, deli meats, cheese assortment, yougurt/pudding, fruits, teas, and nuts.
Then off to bed
Day 2 (surgery day):
-07:00 we were accompanied to the surgery floor (both my roommate and I check in the same day and we went into surgery in parallel) .
Surgery rooms: they have 7 fully equipped, fully staffed surgery rooms, and the operate everyday (M-F) in two shifts, sometimes if they have a lot of patients they may add a third shift. So they are operating at least 14 patients/DAY. This adds up to over 3000 surgeries/year. I have googled this information and I could not find any other Center of Excellence in US or Europe that "pumps" so many patients per year.
Some of you may be concerned, but trust me the conditions there were excellent from all perspectives.
They have 15 permanent surgeon Professor Doctors on staff and a probably about 15 additional surgeons on permanent staff. This is on top of the Urologists, Psychologists and Nurses that are constantly present on the floor.
Going down with the elevator and getting to the surgery floor felt like i was an astronaut going to the lunch pad. there are sliding doors with green/red lights.
In the first prep room there is a surgery rolling bed, equipped with a heated air mattress that feels really awesome. then the cover you with a heated blanket and they roll you down a hallway to the second prep room. Here they insert several IV in both hands/arms scan your wrist band, ask you couple of questions and within 3 minutes the oxygen mask is on your face and all I remember is counting to 1,2,3,4.....then lights out.
To Be Continued in the first comment......
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Thanks for sharing. I really appreciate all the details.
It is a possible option for some of us to consider.
I looked at TULSA PRO, even if I had to pay the full price, out of pocket. Location and size of lesion, made me not a candidate for TULSA.
My wife and I have saved our entire lives. I have not made a treatment decision (when and what type). Good to know different options.
Best Wishes on the recovery.
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4 ReactionsWe have had great experience with medical care in Germany too. My husband has got his cancer treatments here since 2021. They are very cautious and thorough. My husband is currently on the treatment for his recurrent- radiation treatment. I must give credit to where it dues. When my husband was half way through his 25 sessions of radiation treatment at Stuttgart Klinikum, he experienced mild cramping pain on his lower left abdomen. He told the radiation oncologist, who immediately examined him after the session. She sent him straight to their ER. There, they did all necessary examination, including CT scan. They diagnosed him with diverticulitis. His radiation oncologist saw him again after the session on the next day to go over his result, explaining and giving recommendations. We went to see another specialist just to make sure that his diverticulitis is under control. Unfortunately, radiation therapy can trigger the underlying diverticulitis that the specialist thought that it had been there and been asymptomatic for quite sometime after his colonoscopy in 2024.
Not just them, but also our GP, his urologists, and other doctors we have seen here. They are very good and caring and are very expertise. They take time to really listen to our concerns, examine, answer all questions, and explain everything. I'm very impressed of their thoroughness and am very thankful that they have taken excellent care of us.
The only problem I have is that with HIPPA, they cannot send most detailed summary letter via emails. Most have to be sent by post mail, and sometimes the mishap mail system cause great delay. My husband almost missed PSMA scan appointment because DP was delayed the letter. Thankfully, the urologist's secretary called us two days before appointment because we didn't call to confirm with the center. Had she not called us, we would miss it.
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8 ReactionsIt's a wonderful process.