u/Opening_Log_6674

Hallo zusammen,
ich bin bei der TK versichert und lebe allein. Vor kurzem wurde ich wegen eines Bandscheibenvorfalls an der LWS operiert. Nach einigen Tagen im Krankenhaus bin ich inzwischen wieder zu Hause.

Nach der OP soll ich nicht mehr als 5 kg tragen und mich möglichst nicht nach vorne beugen oder den Oberkörper drehen. Ich kann zwar laufen, aber Tätigkeiten wie Putzen, Wäschewaschen, Kochen oder Abwaschen sind für mich momentan schwierig, weil sie den Rücken belasten.

Schon vor der OP war ich beim Einkaufen und bei anderen Dingen wiederholt auf die Hilfe von Freunden und Nachbarn angewiesen. Ich bin dafür sehr dankbar, möchte aber nicht weiterhin regelmäßig kostenlos um Hilfe bitten müssen. Deshalb würde ich gerne Freunde dafür bezahlen, dass sie mir vorübergehend im Haushalt helfen, und die Kosten – sofern möglich – über die TK abrechnen lassen.

Ich habe das im Krankenhaus angesprochen. Der Arzt meinte jedoch, dass ich grundsätzlich gehfähig sei und deshalb auch Dinge tragen und Essen zubereiten könne. Daher sei es eher unwahrscheinlich, dass eine Haushaltshilfe genehmigt wird.

Seit meiner Entlassung haben sich meine Beschwerden durch die zunehmende Belastung zu Hause sogar etwas verstärkt. Ich möchte deshalb vermeiden, mich jetzt zu überlasten und dadurch den Heilungsverlauf zu gefährden.

Soweit ich § 38 SGB V verstehe, kann eine Haushaltshilfe nach einem Krankenhausaufenthalt bzw. einer Operation unter bestimmten Voraussetzungen auch für alleinlebende Personen ohne Kinder in Frage kommen, wenn man den Haushalt vorübergehend nicht selbst weiterführen kann.

Daher würde mich interessieren:
Hat jemand nach einer Bandscheiben-OP als alleinlebende Person eine Haushaltshilfe über die TK bekommen?

Wurde bei euch auch berücksichtigt, welche konkreten Haushaltstätigkeiten ihr ausführen könnt, oder hauptsächlich, ob ihr laufen könnt?
Wie lange hat die Bearbeitung bei der TK tatsächlich gedauert?

Ich freue mich über eure Erfahrungen, besonders von Leuten, die allein leben und nach einer OP schon einmal Haushaltshilfe beantragt haben.

A few hours ago, I had surgery, and I’m writing this from my hospital bed.
I’m from Asia and currently living in Germany. I’ve been dealing with sciatica for almost a year now, while living alone.

Over the past few months, I’ve gone through various treatments, but eventually an L4/L5 disc herniation compressing my L5 nerve root was found, and I also developed some weakness in my left big toe. Eventually, I decided to have surgery.
And honestly, these past three days have been incredibly difficult.

Two days ago, I went to the hospital for the pre-operative examinations 7:30. It takes 45 minutes by tram and I spent almost five hours there. Sitting for long periods already makes my symptoms worse, so the whole process was physically exhausting.

Then yesterday, I was supposed to have surgery.
But there was conflicting information from the hospital about fasting.

The information on the tablet said that clear liquids were allowed until two hours before anesthesia. On the phone, I had been told that I could eat and drink until I arrived at the hospital.(means until before 6 hours)

I followed the instructions I had been given on the phone and ate breakfast.
But when I arrived, I was told by the anesthesiology team that my surgery could not go ahead as planned because I had eaten breakfast. The surgery was postponed until the next day.
I don’t consider this to have been my mistake. I had received conflicting instructions from the hospital and followed.

Nevertheless, the way I was treated on the ward yesterday made me feel as though I was being reprimanded for having done something seriously wrong.

So today, I came back to the hospital at 6:30 a.m. left home 5:40.
Of course, I was fasting. I was waiting two hours in the waiting room , sitting chair without any information.And waited.

I have a tendency to become extremely emotional when I get beyond a certain level of hunger. This has happened to me before.
And today, it happened again.
I suddenly couldn’t stop crying. I completely broke down.

The strictness and coldness of some of the nurses on the ward made the situation even harder for me that morning.
Eventually, they put me in a bed, but they never hgave me water.
I had been crying so much that my face started to feel numb.

I was told that I was second on the operating schedule, but that they couldn’t tell me what time my surgery would actually happen because it depended on when the previous surgery finished.
And then I just waited.

I think I completely became a three-year-old at that point.
“I don’t want this anymore.”
“I’m hungry.”
“I’m scared.”
“Someone please be kind to me.”
That was basically where I was emotionally.

But then, when I went to the op, the staff there were incredibly kind.
A guy said hello in my language.
They asked me things like, “Are you feeling anxious?” and later “Are you relieved that the surgery is finally over? When I was crying.

Their kindness actually made me cry even more.
I wanted to explain what I was really feeling.
But I couldn’t express it properly in German, and that was painful too.
It wasn’t simply that I was scared of the surgery.
It was the accumulated stress of the past three days.
The postponed surgery yesterday.
Being extremely hungry this morning.
The coldness I experienced on the ward.
Being alone through all of this.
And just feeling completely overwhelmed by everything.
I wanted to explain all of that.
But I don’t have the German vocabulary to express those emotions in that kind of detail, and that made me feel even more alone.

My family is not very good at emotionally supporting other people.
I’ve known this for a long time, so I don’t know why I expected something different this time. I texted them right after the surgery.

Maybe I look like a strong person to them.
And, honestly, I am strong in many ways.
I’ve been living alone in another country. I’ve dealt with my illness by myself. I’ve made my own medical appointments, navigated the healthcare system in German, dealt with all the paperwork, and ultimately came to the hospital and had surgery on my own.
But being strong doesn’t mean you are strong all the time.

This surgery really broke me emotionally.
When my family told me things like “Keep going” or “Good job,” that wasn’t what I needed.
I didn’t need to be encouraged to be stronger.
I wanted someone to say:
“That sounds really hard.”
“You’ve already been through enough.”
“You don’t have to be strong right now.”
Thankfully, the surgery itself went well.

My wound is quite painful right now.
But honestly, at this moment, the physical pain almost doesn’t matter because emotionally I’m struggling so much more.
I think I had been holding myself together for much longer than I realized.

If anyone happens to read this, I would really appreciate some kind words right now.
That’s honestly all I need. (I appreciate if you talk to me like I’m 3 years old baby….

These are my previous posts

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sciatica/s/kKHIB4Cai6

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sciatica/s/zGSnNjyy5H

I’d love to connect with creative founders in Germany.

I’m currently developing KATAN, a plant-focused design project exploring new materials and forms for plant-related products. It’s still at a very early stage — at the moment, I’m mainly experimenting with materials and building the project’s social media presence.

I’m also dealing with some health issues, so I’m taking things slowly for now. But I’d love to meet people who are interested in plants, design, materials, craft, or simply building something creative from scratch.

If you’re looking for a creative project to grow with, I’d love to connect and see if we could become collaborators or teammates. 🌱

Here’s my account!

https://www.instagram.com/katan.de\_jp?stkn=NXJxeHprM3N3cWZw&utm\_j=qr

You guys know Kaze was big fun of „Yahoo Chiebukuro”(like Japanese Reddit) when he was child.

So I believe he watch here. How are you Kaze?

Hallo liebe Kölner!

I’m a 38-year-old single woman from Asia, and I’ve been living in Leipzig since 2018. I’ve been working as a freelance photographer since 2015, although I’ve been employed at a café since last year for visa reasons.

This summer I visited Cologne for the first time — actually, it was my first time spending any real time in western Germany.

I stayed in the city centre for two weeks. Unfortunately, due to some health issues, I couldn’t explore as much or meet as many people as I would have liked. But even in that short time, I clearly felt a difference between Cologne and Leipzig (and Berlin).

I felt surprisingly safe and relaxed in Cologne. Even the sound of church bells somehow made me feel calm. I’m not religious, but I grew up with some Catholic cultural influence, so maybe that’s why!?

I’ve been feeling for a long time that Leipzig might not be my city. But over the past eight years I’ve had so many ups and downs — the pandemic, losing a major client, visa changes, job changes, and countless WG moves and dramas 😅 — that I always somehow missed the right moment to leave.

At the same time, living in Saxony over the past few years has also made me increasingly aware of political and social changes here, especially when it comes to the everyday lives of immigrants. The results of the election were honestly quite depressing for me, and I think that was also part of why my experience in Cologne felt so strikingly different.

One thing that really surprised me culturally in Cologne was dating. On Bumble, I noticed that many of the men I found interesting were actually looking for serious relationships. In Leipzig, I rarely come across that. It feels like I either meet someone who is a bit of a weirdo, or someone who seems lovely but is looking for an open relationship 🫠

I’ve heard people say many times that “Germany is still not really one country”, and after this summer I finally understood what they meant.

Next year I should finally be able to apply for permanent residency, and if everything works out, I’m seriously considering moving to Cologne.

So I’d love to hear from anyone who has moved from eastern Germany to Cologne, or who has lived in both places. How did you experience the difference — people, atmosphere, lifestyle, work, social life, etc.? Is there anything you miss from the East?

I’m also interested in the creative scene. I’m currently trying to focus more on architecture and real-estate photography. I’ve heard that Cologne has quite a strong media and creative industry.

Obviously, I know the creative fields aren’t exactly easy economically these days, but I’d love to hear from people working in photography, architecture, media, design or related fields. Any advice on building a career here?

I also have a few personal creative projects and would eventually like to rent a small studio/atelier. Are there any communities, networks or areas in Cologne where artists and makers tend to gather?
I’d be really curious to hear your experiences. 😊

Thanks for reading this chaotic stream of thoughts. 😂 I just wanted to write down everything I’ve been feeling!

Danke☺️