Second birthday
N 44°26'48.2'' E 026°03'41,6''Events from 07.07.2006
“You can get up,” the ward doctor, Dr. Vladulescu, tells me at 7:00 in the morning. “What, are you serious?” I ask uncertainly. “Yes, try it.” Thinking about the agony of the last 10 days, which will surely be etched in my memory forever, I dread giving my body the impulse to rise. “I don’t know. Should I really?” “Yes, try it,” the doctor smiles encouragingly at me. I carefully straighten my upper body and gently let my legs dangle out of the bed. I wait spellbound for the horror of pain, but nothing happens. Only a slight tugging of the scar, but otherwise the merciless sword strike is absent. “I can’t believe it. The pain is gone,” I say happily and laugh with relief. Then I feel dizzy and lie down again. Tanja looks at me with sparkling eyes. “It was a good decision,” I say.
Later, nurse Bianca, who has looked after me in an exemplary manner all night, brings me a wheelchair to transport me out of the recovery room. “Do you think I can sit?” I ask. “Sure, try it,” she urges me. With her and Tanja’s help, I sit up again. This time I don’t get dizzy. I slowly put one foot on the floor and wobble two unsteady steps towards the wheelchair. The pain attack does not occur. Gently, supporting myself with my arms, I settle down in it. “No pain,” I laugh with relief.
Sister Bianca now drives me through the ward. “How are they?” asks Catalin, one of the carers. “Dazzling!” I shout from my wheelchair. He laughs. “I’m looking forward to the day I see her dancing,” he replies cheerfully. Mirela, Adina, Laura and many others are all smiles when they suddenly see the adventurer, who had been paralyzed for many days, sitting up again. “Fantastic to see you in an upright position, Mr. Denis! Nice to see you laughing, Mr. Denis! Well, then we can get going again soon, Mr. Denis! When you cycle to Russia, will you take me with you?” the happy voices call out and I feel like a new life has begun. I feel like I’ve won the gold medal and am delighted with the greatest gift I’ve ever received in my life. The gift of being able to live on, to live on as a healthy person. Not confined to a wheelchair, although I am immensely grateful just to be able to sit again without pain. Above all, I am infinitely grateful that the diabolical pain has crawled out of my body, that Dr. Baltateanu and his colleague Dr. Sandu with their divinely gifted hands have given me my life back. A thousand thanks to you angels who stood by my side at the right time. A thousand thanks to everyone who was and is involved in saving my life and keeping Tanja and me on our great journey.
When I leave the wheelchair and walk the meter to my bed on my own to lie down again, I am the happiest person in the world. After the doctors and nurses have left our room, I beam at Tanja. “Do you know what happened to me?” I ask her. “How am I supposed to understand the question?” “Well, I had a daydream this morning. It was something similar to a vision. It was as if the cruel pain had burned through my entire body like a fire. A fire that completely destroyed everything I once was. Completely burnt. Do you understand? This fire left nothing behind, only ashes. But it’s not dead ash, it’s ash full of energy. Ashes that are very nourishing. Ultimately, this ash is nothing more than a fertilizer, a fertilizer that makes the soil even more fertile. I feel as if everything inside me is clear, everything is pure. I feel as if I now have the unique opportunity in my life to plant new, young seeds in my freshly fertilized soil. Seeds for change. Seeds for new ideas. Seeds of happiness and harmony. Although I believe I have always been on the right path, I have been working too much for my own good. Now I have a new chance to change things that have become ingrained in me over the years, because the old Denis has been completely burnt out in the last few days. It’s a fantastic feeling, a fantastic opportunity that I want to seize. I want to change something. I want even more happiness, even more inner freedom, to recognize the details in life, to realize what a treasure this life is,” I babble on without a dot or a comma. “That sounds very nice Denis. It’s good to see how much positivity you are taking from the drama of the past few days. I’m so relieved to see your relaxed face now and I’m relieved that we made the right decision to entrust ourselves to the doctors here in Romania.”
