NEWS
One day you'll wake up, and you won't have time to do the things you've always wanted to do.
DO IT NOW !
Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
And to all those who think:
I tell them: Wrong, you won't be able to do that in your old age. Speaking from my own experience.
If I have one regret, it's that I started traveling too late in life and listened too much to people who had no life experience!
If I had had the knowledge I have today, I would have left Germany at the age of 18 and only traveled!
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2018
All trips cancelled until further notice !
I won't be able to travel for the next years due to my mother's and brother's health problems...
Travelling will have to wait, I only have my mother and brother left...
My moms & brother's health is getting worse and worse!
Dementia has now struck my mother, who is 89 years old.
It's not only very difficult for me to take care of them properly.
It's also very, very stressful, and it's starting to eat away at me.
I haven't slept through the night for many months, either my brother wakes me up or my mother. I don't know how much longer this will be good for my own health...
And going out, even for just a few hours, is out of question!
Luckily I have hobbies, like ham radio & microscopy, to keep me busy while I look after them.
I can tell you:
An expedition, no matter how difficult it may be, is easier to complete than taking care of your seriously ill loved one...
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I miss traveling a lot.
And I get really frustrated from time to time...
What really gets me is the social pressure and lack of understanding from people here.
It seems to me that they have no idea how tense and stressful my situation is.
Everything is so different from what I am used to from Alaska or Canada.
Instead of helping you, or at least showing you understanding, people here put obstacles in your way whenever they can, and contempt is never far away...
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26.03.2025
I've just come from my brother, he hasn't taken any medication for days and is now absolutely clear. I was able to have a good conversation with him.
I explained to him that he probably only has a few weeks to live. He took it very calmly.
When I asked him whether he wanted to die in a hospice or at home, he said at home!
I asked him if we should try to feed him with a feeding tube, he like to think about it carefully until Monday ...
Sorry, the picture is blurred again, but I'm always in a state of emergency when I'm with him and shaking.
I hope that he somehow makes it again, although the chances are very slim ...
But as the saying goes:
Those who are declared dead, live longer!
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25.03.2025
Bad news!
Today, I probably got the worst birthday present of my life!
I've just come out of hospital and spoken to the doctors in charge. My brother will now stay in hospital until next Monday to cure his pneumonia to some extent.
He won't have a feeding tube for nutrition. The doctors told me that he doesn't have long to live. He is now going home to die.
I knew the day would come, but the doctors' announcement made it even harder ...
What a shitty birthday...
But thanks anyway for all the birthday greetings!
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24.02.2025
Just been back to the hospital. My Brother is being fed intravenously. I think it's going to be a feeding tube in the future. He's doing a little better, but he's not out of the woods yet!
Please keep your fingers crossed....
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23.03.2025
My brother just went to the hospital with the emergency doctor, they had to suck out the secretions in his throat, otherwise he would have suffocated!
What an evening...😔
22:30 MEZ
I've just come from the hospital. My brother is not doing well, his chances are 50:50, his general condition is very bad!
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22.03.2025
Of course, it's not a nice situation for my brother, and he's struggling with it! Unfortunately, I now have to deal with his frustration and stubbornness, which is anything but easy! I understand it, but it makes my life so much more difficult.
I have ZERO time for myself. I have to look after both of them 24/7. Not easy for a guy who has spent a lot of time with himself in the bush of Canada or Alaska for the last few decades.
I notice how I have less and less energy, I'm really exhausted. I haven't had any vacations since 2013.
I don't want to complain, I like to care for my mother and my brother, but it's really extremely exhausting and I'm not getting any younger!
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16.03.2025
My brother is doing well-on the baby food and the thickened liquids. I hope this will continue as he really needs to put on weight.
The effort to take care of my brother and my mother has easily doubled! I hardly have any time for myself. I'm either looking after them, going shopping or dealing with the authorities!
When you consider that I don't even get any support from the state and have to spend all my savings, it's really outrageous in one of the richest countries in the world!
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15.03.2025
My brother came home today. He has lost even more weight! I am now feeding him baby food, which he is able to swallow.
To make sure he doesn't choke when he drinks, I thicken all his liquids with a kind of jelly.
I really hope I can get him back into shape in the next few weeks.
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14.03.2025
My brother is coming home tomorrow.
They could not find any narrowing in his esophagus. It seems to be a reaction to the stroke.
( Dysphagia ) This can sometimes happen after a stroke. Now I have to give him puréed food...
The amount of care he needs will be even greater for me now, but what the heck, the main thing is that he's back home in his familiar surroundings!
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11.03.2025
Very bad news
The doctors can't do anything anymore, he'll probably be back home at the end of the week. They give him a few more weeks or months... He can hardly eat anything, so his body is getting weaker and weaker...
The only thing I can do now is try to give him enough calories so that he can get some body fat/reserves back, but that will be very difficult ...
Sorry for the bad picture, my hands were shaky...
It is very hard to see him this way, my heart is broken...
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10.03.2025
It's hard to see my brother losing more and more weight!
He is very weak...
I tried to speak to a doctor today, but they were all busy...
Of course, no one had time to call me either....
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06.03.2025
My brother's blood values have improved considerably!
Finally, some good news again! They didn't do a gastroscopy on my brother today. His blood values have improved considerably.
Now they are trying to get him to eat again. His esophagus has narrowed, and he can only eat very small pieces. They are reluctant to widen the esophagus in his condition as they are afraid that the esophagus could burst ...
If he is unable to eat properly, they will have to insert a feeding tube. I hope that this can be avoided...
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05.03.2025
My brother is having a gastroscopy today and then it will be decided whether he will get a feeding tube...
He's already feeling a bit better, he no longer gargle when he drinks, I hope he'll be fine again...
Thank you so much for keeping your fingers crossed and for all the well wishes!
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03.03.2025
Bad news!
My brother had to go to the hospital with the emergency doctor yesterday! For a few days he had problems with mucus in his throat. I spoke to our family doctor about it, and he said he should inhale. However, last night he was in such bad shape that I decided to call the emergency services. My feeling was right, he had pneumonia. I had a phone call from the hospital in the middle of the night that things weren't good...
Please keep your fingers crossed....
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24.02.2025
My brother is finally back home.
His new medical bed has arrived just in time , thank`s again to ORTHO CORP!
He is completely knocked out with fentanyl...
(I don't like that stuff !)
Now his leg wound from the amputation has to heal, and he has to get used to the fact that he has only one leg left!
But the most important thing is that he is alive!
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21.02.2025
My brothers new medical bed will also arrives on Monday, perfect timing!
Thanks to ORTHO CORP in Datteln.
And thanks also to the really excellent healthcare advice team at the Elisabeth hospital in Recklinghausen!
They all took the time to explain to me where I could get help if I needed!
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19.02.2025
My brother is doing much better and the doctors are happy with him, everything went well, and he can go home on monday.
Of course, it will take some time for his leg to heal. And he has to put on some more weight now!
But the main thing is that he is alive!
Thankt's to our family doctor and the doctors in Recklinghausen.
They didn't want to send him home to die or to a hospice, like the clinics in
Datteln and Dortmund
wanted to do...
(I am still so incredibly angry at those unprofessional doctors there!)
A big thank you again to the Doctors and Nurses at the
Elisabeth Hospital
in Recklinghausen!
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16.02.2025
They really took a lot off my brother's leg, but it's still better than dying...
He is in a good mood and feels much better now, even though he is still in pain after the amputation.
I am so happy that he came to the Elisabeth hospital in Recklinghausen.
The medical team in Dortmund and Datteln have let him down and if it had been up to them he would have been allowed to die at home!
Thanks again to the medical team and the nurses and carers in Recklinghausen for everything!
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15.02.2025
Today my brother was unfortunately taken to an isolation ward. He has diarrhea, but they said it was purely as a precaution ...
I hope he hasn't caught any of those hospital germs!
Let's hope for the best!
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14.02.2025
20:44 GMT
Damn my brother is a real fighter, well ex German Navy... 😉
He went straight back from the recovery room to the normal station, he didn't have to go to the intensive care unit, the amputation has gone very well so far!
I'm so relieved, I'm going to visit him tomorrow, I'm really looking forward to holding him again!
Thanks for keeping your fingers crossed and your prayers!
I would like to thank all the doctors and the rest of the staff for a job well done!
I am very, very grateful!
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14.02 2025
My brother has just gone into surgery after all!
I hope he will survive...
Keep your fingers crossed!
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13.02.2025
Very bad news!
I have just come from the hospital and spoke to a very nice anesthetist. The conversation was very informative and very open!
The doctor thinks that the chances of my brother waking up from the anesthetic are very, very bad!
Tomorrow morning he will decide with the surgeons and the senior doctor whether they will operate at all...
If not, he may have 1–2 weeks to live ...
He can go than into a hospice or home.
Of course, if - he goes home, he will die in peace in the presence of my mother and me, I promised him that.
I knew it could happen, but it's quite another thing to know for sure!
I'm quite beside myself now ...
I am still of the opinion that the operation should have happened weeks ago in the hospital in Dortmund, or at the latest in Datteln...
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12.02.2025
Some good news and some bad news!
I've just come from the hospital in Recklinghausen.
They are going to amputate my brother's leg. It's not a nice thing to do of course, but it's the only way to save his life.
Why this wasn't decided weeks ago in the other hospitals is really beyond me. You can see how numb our surgeons are sometimes. And how little a human life is worth to them!
But karma is a bitch, everything bad comes back sometime and I hope it comes back very soon for those responsible!
Now I hope that my brother will survive the operation well ...
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11.02.2025
My brother has now been transferred from the hospital St. Vincenz in Datteln to the hospital Elisabeth in Recklinghausen.
But only because of our family doctor!
St. Vincent wanted to discharge him home, they did absolutely nothingto his leg!
Let's hope that something will finally be done in Recklinghausen so that my brother doesn't lose his leg or even his life...
It is incomprehensible to me how two hospitals (Dortmund & Datteln) have done absolutely nothing to save my brother's leg!
Once again, I would like to thank our Family Doctor, Dr. Mikolajewski and his team for their tireless efforts in helping my brother!
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10.02.2025
As I feared, my brother will be discharged from hospital in Datteln tomorrow and will return home! Despite the wounds and the dead toes.
It's hard to believe, but that's the way it is here in Germany!
A human life is no longer worth much!
But our family doctor has done it again, the man is amazing!
My brother is now going directly from Datteln to the Elisabeth Hospital in Recklinghausen tomorrow, to the vascular surgery department.
Let's see if they finally do something!
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07.2.2025
I've just come from my brother's hospital
(St Vincenz Datteln).
The nurses there are taking very good care of my brother, he is already looking well again, his face colour has returned and he is responsive.
Of course he is in pain when his leg dies, but even then they make sure he feels better straight away and he is in a very nice single room!
Now I hope that the doctors there show the same professionalism as the nurses...
I don't think they will decide what to do with him until Monday anyway!
A big thank you to the nurses there!
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06.02.2025
My brother is finally in hospital in Datteln.
The family doctor had been pulling all the strings...
Let's hope for the best!
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05.02.2025
My brother is getting worse and worse, now his third toe is dead too...
We can't get a place in hospital, our family doctor is trying everything.
It's hard to believe, and I'm getting angrier and angrier....
Everyone just wants to deport him to the state hospice!
The surgeons just don't want him to die during their operation, it's that simple now...
So this is the thank you to my brother, who served his country for a long time in the German navy?
They let him rot alive to save money, but spend billions in a war that never ends?
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04.02.2025
My brother came home today. The doctors at the clinic have given up on him. The family doctor is trying to persuade the local hospital to admit him there. It's difficult because, as I said, the clinic in Dortmund has given up on him! According to our GP, the chances are 50:50 that he will survive the next 2 weeks...
Now in Germany it's like in the USA, if you don't have private insurance and no money, you're left to die...
Believe me, I am so infinitely angry at all this German bullshit ....
 |  |
 Sorry for the drastic images! |  |
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03.02.2025
There is good news and bad news...
For the time being, my brother will not have an amputation! He is too weak and the wounds on his foot are not oozing.
They told me very dryly that his time to die has probably come...
Of course, he will come home to us, I won't give up and will take care of him until the bitter end, he should die at home in peace, with my mother and me on his side ...
I can tell you, I'm so dead inside that I can't even cry. I am so tired from all the fighting against the system here that I have almost no feeling in my body anymore ...
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01.02.2025
Very bad news!
I've just come back from the Hospital in Dortmund, my brother may have to have his right leg amputated...
Two toes are already dead, and the doctors there are afraid that he will lose his leg because he has no proper blood circulation in his right leg...
I hope for the best that it might turn out in the next week that his leg can be saved, but I also think that the chances are very slim ...
Life really isn't fair sometimes!
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05.01.2025
I hope you all started the new year in good health!
I had hoped that things would change for the better this year, but the health of my mother and brother has deteriorated further and the amount of care required has increased enormously!
Not only that, but I'm unlikely to find time to rebuild my expedition recumbent in the near future!
And since I'm in Germany and not in the Yukon or Alaska,
help from others is a foreign word
here in Germany ...
In AK or the Yukon, my recumbent would have been finished months ago ...
But as I always say:
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09.11.2024
The Veltop arrived today and of course I installed it immediately !
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28.10.2024
My new box is nice, but not as big as I want...
It might be possible for me to have a box made exactly to the dimensions of my recumbent.
Someone in Northern Germany could build me one out of sandwich material, if that works, it would be absolutely great!
I would be able to use the full potential of the box volume!
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12.09.2024
Best mom in the world!
Happy 89th birthday!
Today she had a very good day, she noticed everything, and it was a nice break from her dementia, I wish it was always like this...
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It is only our family doctor who is a real blessing, he does everything in his power to help my mother & brother to make their life a little better!
NWT Expedition
Film Project
ARTE / WDR 2008
Directed by:
Ralf Breier
Camera:
Chris Breier & Klaus Sturm
Underwater-Camera:
Chris Breier
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The more I learned about people, the more I like my dog.
I have studied the traits and dispositions of the “lower animals” (so called) and contrasted them with the traits and dispositions of man.
I find the result humiliating…
— Mark Twain, very well said, and I totally agree !
My dog Trixi , best travel companion!
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"I don't hate people. I just feel better when they're not around."
Continue with:
Only those who risk going too far will discover how far they can go!
Expeditions by kayak, motorboat, catamaran, motorcycle, all-terrain vehicle, bicycle in the USA, Alaska & Canada, Scandinavia…
