Mike Dean
So, this is my first post from Berlin after a hell of a long period of silence here. I have missed so many opportunities to write something interesting about new experiences, instead opting for quick “one-liners” on Facebook. So, it is about time I added to my “Allora!” witterings.
This post has nothing to do with “a cure for cancer” other than it mentions cancer, and it happens to be a title of a book that came to mind: A Cure for Cancer, Michael Moorcock.
Some time ago, I developed a painful lump on my ankle. It wasn’t a swelling, but a definite lump slightly larger than the size of a medium sized pea. Concerned by this – and not having any medical insurance here in Germany (yet), I sought advice from the Internets. Among the other possibilities which may have caused this painful lump was, of course, cancer. I was advised to find a doctor and get a professional opinion immediately.
And then we wonder why it is so hard to get an appointment with a doctor? This kind of self-help advice is neither accurate nor useful and entirely misleading and no doubt exacerbates the strain already placed on an over-stretched health service. Of course, here in Germany, where you have to pay for medical insurance, nobody should really bat an eye-lid if I make an appointment for my ankle problem, indeed, appointments mean money, so why not?
I didn’t take the advice. The lump gradually stopped being painful, and it took about two weeks before it finally disappeared. So what was it? I guess I will never know. Is that a problem? No. Should I have gone to the doctor? I reckon not.
The above part of this post is old now… I wrote it in November 2013 – it’s now January 2015. It has remained as a draft until now. It’s out of date and I am another year older. I have missed out on even more opportunities to write about my experiences in Germany. So it goes. The fact that I am publishing it now with this little paragraph added is an intention – an intention to try and get back into the habit of writing my blog again. I offer no promises and suspect that Allora! will remain as sporadic as it has always been. So it goes.
Allora! 
It’s a toss-up: if you respond to a possible problem by ignoring it, in some cases it goes away of its own accord, and in some cases it gets worse. Ignoring it is rather like not paying for insurance: if you’re lucky you save money and win, if you’re unlucky disaster strikes and you lose.
I lived for 15 months in West Berlin in 1976-77. I found that paying for medical insurance was optional, and, being young, chose not to do so. I was lucky: I needed no medical treatment, so I saved money and won.
Hi Jonathan… sorry I didn’t answer this before now. Unfortunately health insurance here in Germany is no longer optional – you are required to have it. It’s not cheap!