My Journey with Farrah - Alana Stewart [17]
Unfortunately, Farrah will need to have another laser surgery in a few weeks. I can’t believe what she’s been through this year. Nobody deserves to have to suffer like this. But somehow she manages to retain her sense of humor. Later, when Dr. Vogl came into the room to see her, she asked him if she could have a set of the “skewers” that he uses to puncture the liver. She said she wanted them so she could practice on other people! He smiled. By now he’s getting used to her sense of humor.
Dr. Vogl examined her briefly, declared the laser surgery a success, and swept out of the room without further conversation. Farrah nicknamed him “Dr. In and Out.”
September 12, 2007
We were picked up by Dr. Jacob’s driver and began the five-hour drive to the new clinic where Dr. Jacob has moved her practice. It’s in a little town called Bad Wiessee on Lake Tegernsee, one of the most beautiful areas in Bavaria. Each of the surrounding towns and villages is right on the lake, surrounded by the Bavarian Alps. It’s quite breathtaking. We arrived at the Alpenpark, the new clinic, and were taken to our rooms, which were up two flights of stairs. No elevator in sight. But they had a beautiful view overlooking the lake and the mountains. The clinic itself was very different from the Leonardis, which I loved because it was small and the service was very personal. This clinic was a large, sprawling facility that treated mostly older German patients recovering from orthopedic surgeries and needing rehabilitation. Dr. Jacob had rented a small area of the clinic for her practice. It felt big and impersonal and slightly confusing, and the hallways at night had an eerie feeling. The first night I told Farrah I felt like we were in The Shining. I expected Jack Nicholson to leap out of one of the rooms with a knife. Here we were again, beginning a brand-new chapter in our adventure.
September 20, 2007
I went to sleep while Sean’s preliminary hearing was still going on back home. This would determine whether his case would go to trial, and I checked my e-mail for the results the minute I woke up. I was disappointed to learn that the judge hadn’t thrown the case out but had sent it to trial, which will take place in a few months. I was pretty upset, but I couldn’t reach anyone until later because it was the middle of the night in L.A. Then Farrah and I had to leave the clinic to go to Frankfurt on our friends Bren and Mel Simon’s plane, which they very kindly gave us for the day. Farrah was to have the final tumor in her liver lasered, unless it hadn’t shrunk enough, in which case Dr. Vogl would do another embolization.
We got off to a rocky start when the driver waiting for us outside the clinic pointed out two paparazzi hiding in the bushes. Apparently the groundskeeper of the clinic had just chased one with a pitchfork. Way to go! I made Farrah stay inside while the car went around to the back entrance. I tried to photograph the paparazzi with my camera, but they slunk away deeper into the woods. We got to the plane (a beautiful G5), took off, and landed in Frankfurt without incident. But when we arrived at Dr. Vogl’s clinic there was another paparazzo waiting, and he got a picture before we realized what was happening.
Then, when we arrived in Dr. Vogl’s office, he explained that he couldn’t laser the tumor because it was too soon after the other laser treatment. “It could be dangerous,” he said. “So I will embolize it.” Farrah was surprised and quite disappointed because she’d hoped he was going to do the laser treatment