Woken up in a New Life

The glass is half-full says the optimist. Such a person is Bernd Deifuß from Thuringia, Germany. Within one year he lost his mobility and his stomach. However, this does not seem to be a reason for him to give up.

01.12.2011

Bernd Deifuß; © private

“The last thing that I can remember is the moment when I stopped in front of a red traffic light,” Bernd Deifuß remembers, “the next one is waking up in a hospital without knowing what had happened or how I got there.” In April 2006 he had been on the way back from a meeting with some old friends when had a stroke.

The consequence: the stroke paralysed the right part of his body. He could not eat, speak or walk on his own. “From that time on I had to relearn everything like a little child,” he describes. “During the first time I just tried to understand and to deal with the situation somehow.”

However, the 59year-old did not let this misfortune get him down. He set himself a goal: “I did not want any other thing but leaving the clinic as soon as possible, going to rehab and for all things coming back home,” he explains.

For being mobile Deifuß uses a wheelchair;
© privat

Fortunately, Bernd Deifuß had the opportunity to go into a rehab centre in his home town where his girlfriend could visit him often. The physicians were surprised about his fighting spirit and his strict discipline. These were the characteristics which had already helped him during his time as an officer in the army and as a sportsman. Later on, he got a self-employed technician with a wholesale for electric cables.

Misfortunes never come singly

Finally, half a year after the stroke the technician went home to find the way in his new life. However, he could not recover. Since one day in December he had blood in his stool. The shattering results of the medical examination: Stomach cancer. “However, I was still lucky under the circumstances,“ he sums up with his usual look forwards. “Short time later, one could not have helped me anymore.” The physicians were able to save his life by chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a surgery to remove the whole stomach.

“Now my bowel works for the stomach,“ Deifuß explains. “However, I have no more feeling of hunger or satiety. Therefore, I eat according to a plan, several little meals a day. This plan determines the rest of my daily routine.”

His body needed six months to get used to the new rhythm. The stroke, the missing stomach – everything that followed, Bernd Deifuß had to reconcile first. Now, he does gymnastics and sports twice per week. If of the Thuringian needs help, his girlfriend supports him. Practically in everyday life while washing and pulling, but also emotionally. “When I sometimes mope around, she reminds me: “Think about that others fell worse!‘ She supports me in everything I want to do.“

Love and fighting spirit encourage the former officer in achieving one aim after the other - more than his physicians would have thought; © privat

He also read to her from the newspaper to train his speech after the stroke. Today, it is already easier for him although he still has to exert himself very much so that one can clearly understand him. Because his right side is paralysed and without feeling he now has to use the left hand. He can only walk with the help of others; otherwise, he uses a wheelchair.

“Today, I know what I should have done differently before the stroke. Less work, being more spontaneous and travel more. Less stress could have prevented the stroke maybe,“ concludes Deifuß. Since this melancholic look back does not help him he tries to make the best from his situation. “One must be honest to oneself and accept the change. I do not want to rum seats and cry but take part in life and be useful. Therefore, my partner and I go to the cinema or theatre and meet people,“ he says.

The same hobby – only different

From his childhood on Bernd Deifuss had gone camping with his family. So he spent almost every week-end on the camping place with his girlfriend, as well. “After the stroke I had to stop it for a while. However, when I had recovered a bit I needed an aim again. The discoverer mind still waited in me,“ he tells.

The most important thing for him is being together with other people; © privat

He noticed soon that it would not be easy to keep up his favourite leisure activity in a wheelchair. So he began to find out where he could find accessible campsites. With poor result: “Only two places in Thuringia are really suitable for people with a wheelchair. That means, among the rest, that there is also a shower which I can use with the wheelchair and where my girlfriend can help me.“

Nevertheless, he does not give up camping. On the contrary: “There I meet the most different people. And to me it is so important to be right in the middle.“ The traveller has come along to the hobby to find destinations without barriers. And he likes to share his knowledge with others.

He is quite busy with this job and everyday challenges. „I have got another view on the things after the illnesses,“ he closes. „For me a pebble stone which lies on the way can already be a rock. But I am proud when I can achieve something.

Natascha Mörs
REHACARE.de