Sunday 16 June 2019

Back from the recovery

Back in Warsaw, at home from the sanatory. The fortnight lasted quite long, yet I was doing my best to make the most of the pastime.

Friends familiar with the purpose of my journey had been wondering why I had not chosen a less distant destination (especially since long time spent behind the wheel is a hard time for lumbar spine). Firstly, my everlasting fondness for Dolnośląskie region draws me there, secondly, my only family well beyond Warsaw live in Jelenia Góra, who have kept me company for some time.

I also could have chosen a posh resort specialising in therapy, however given I am still rebuilding my savings after my flat purchase and the threat of a surgery (cost of PLN 30,000) and subsequent recovery has not been fended off, I have opted for a state-run sanatory with the full-board stay and three cure sessions per day set me back 175 PLN per night. If you count out three treatments which cost around 75 PLN, the remaining 100 PLN was the price for a single room and three meals a day (turning up to the canteen punctually at 8 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. was infuriating to me) which was a cheapie, so I should not complain about the standard of a run-down two-star hotel which was my dwelling for nearly two weeks.

The usual day schedule from Monday to Friday was repeatable: three treatments between breakfast and lunch and then time off. The only weekend was also free of sanatory-based activity.

Not every day after morning treatments and exercises I had enough energy to take trips (some exercises and treatment can be exhausting), but I have done my best to make the most of my presence in South-western corner of Poland. I have not revisited places I had popped by in 2009 and 2013.

To the right, on the last day of May, I drove (without a car I would have gone crazy there) to visit Wodospad Kamieńczyka. I had been advised not to strain myself, so I slowly climbed a mile-long ascent, on the last section quite steep, but the effort was worth it. The waterfall in the seclusive, yet commercialized place is a marvellous venue.

On the next day I took a longer trip to see Zamek Czocha, one of less known attractions of the region, yet with fascinating history. The guided trip around the castle's nooks and crannies (duration 1 hour 20 minutes) is a must if you are in the vicinity of Jelenia Góra.

On Sunday I took my aunt and my niece for an all-day foray to the Rock City in Ardsprach, Czech Republic. The place had been recommended to me by many of my friends and they had been absolutely right. Despite crowds of visitors (most were Poles) and heat (+26C in the afternoon) the excursion was more than enjoyable.

The last destination of an afternoon trip on Wednesday before the check-out was Harrachov in Czech Republic, a winter resort famous for ski-jumping competition. My goal was to behold Mumlavsky Vodospad, literally a murmuring waterfall. Hidden in a forest and on business day in low season not plagued by droves of people. Only a group of Czech pupils were hanging around. I could not make a longer pause because of thunderstorm hanging in the air and threatening to burst out.

On my way back to Warsaw the obligatory stopover was Wrocław (one not-just-in-business visit this year ticked off). I walked around Ostrów Tumski and market square for more that an hour, then headed for an eatery to munch a lunch and set off to Warsaw.

Impressions?

My hopes for a company were dashed soon after the arrival. Average age of a sanatory guest is around 70, maybe except for some soldiers on a three-week ZUS-paid stay who began their day with a tin of beer before breakfast (and nobody bothered to pay attention to their inebriation); not my cup of tea. The very elderly people with their irritating habits can also make a young man’s life a misery.

My general observation is that the entire sanatory system ought to be torn down and built from scratch. In Poland a sanatory is a form of state-subsidised holidays for pensioners rather than form of cure for those in need regardless of age. My ideas for a turnaround are simple.
1. Prevention is better than cure, while sanatoria are focused on curing pain rather than on causes (in my instance, the goal was to prevent a surgery).
2. The system, just like in many other institutions, is based on pretending. If you don’t enforce what they are bound to provide you with, a sanatory will pretend to help you and you will pretend to be helped.
3. The sanatoria and towns where they are located should get focused on treatments only. Today, some parts of the ancillary business such as discotheques contribute to miracles of recovery then patients ill in the morning pull through on their way to the dancefloor.

Yesterday I was at the orthopaedist to have a professional examination of my MRI. I thought I was already on the mend, yet it turns out my spine might require a surgery in a few years, even despite continuous exercising. The vision of getting under a surgeon’s knife works as a first-rate motivation to me to sacrifice twenty to thirty minutes each evening to ward off the worst eventuality…

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