Birgit Berger's husband, Holger Hannemann, was admitted to Hawke's Bay Hospital where he received exemplary care and now the family are happy to have him home. Photo / Warren Buckland
Birgit Berger's husband, Holger Hannemann, was admitted to Hawke's Bay Hospital where he received exemplary care and now the family are happy to have him home. Photo / Warren Buckland
Birgit Berger's husband, Holger Hannemann, 55, was a marathon runner who took his health seriously.
Now he's just grateful to be alive.
Hannemann was diagnosed with dermatomyositis, a rare inflammatory disease, towards the end of 2018. It got progressively worse, impacting his digestive system.
"After the diagnosis he couldn't lifthis arms above his head, he couldn't walk," Berger said.
He and his wife are immensely grateful to the Hawke's Bay District Health Board team that kept him alive and then nursed him to health.
"On January 4 he was admitted to the ICU because his breathing was compromised," Berger said.
"He had emergency surgery over two days and he had 45cms of his small bowel removed."
Hannemann started to recover but then he relapsed again and a further 10cm of sections of his bowel were removed.
Birgit Berger and Holger Hannemann are just happy to be together again. Photo / Warren Buckland
After some time of recovery from the surgeries, he was transferred to SHANA ward (on the third floor) and finally to a normal ward on the fourth floor.
"Unfortunately, the coming weeks didn't go as we'd hoped and we faced many setbacks," Berger said.
"These included massive weight loss, from 60kg to 45kg with 1.85m height, and complete loss of mobility (from being able to walk normally to only being passively moved). Ultimately, we had to go back to another emergency operation.
"The odds looked grim. We were all utterly tired, but luckily, thanks to the amazing work of the doctors and the whole surgery team, he survived again and slowly recovered in the ICU.
"He was fed through an IV and given the highest possible dosage of steroid."
He was again transferred to the normal ward on the fourth floor.
"His bowels had started working again and 98 days later he was discharged," she said.
She said between her husband relapsing and getting better, the hospital was also dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
"At one stage we could not visit him any more because of coronavirus, so he had to cope by himself," she said.
"Us getting through this trying time without losing courage or hope would not have been possible without the incredibly kind people that we met every day in the hospital.
"Starting with the cleaners, the nurses, the physiotherapists, the dietitians all the way to the junior doctors and surgeons, they all helped him stay strong and keep fighting, to retain the will to live.
"People are quick to criticise our healthcare system and all its aspects, but what these skilled and dedicated people do daily is too often taken for granted."
She wanted to publicly thank the DHB team who helped her family get through the 98-day journey.
"Thank you for your amazing work, which saves lives every day."
