Doctor's family fights back

Lost place in rehab center due to brain tumor

Doctor Bettina R. in front of the stairs she fell down in March(Bild: Eva Manhart)

First the cancer diagnosis, then the night-time fall down the stairs and finally the loss of their therapy place - a medical couple from Vienna will take the AUVA to court after being abruptly evicted.

Sitting at the dining table in the living room of the smart house in Vienna-Liesing is a composed, impressively strong woman - who has had to endure terrible things over the past eight months.

On March 7, the former competitive athlete and doctor was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Just two weeks later, the next stroke of fate in the life of the mother of three: "I got up in the night and, probably affected by the medication, took a wrong turn in the dark," she says. "When I fell down the stairs, I heard C5 and C6 crack. And immediately realized that I couldn't move anything."

Her husband immediately rushed to help. "She was bleeding from her nose and mouth and was completely limp," he remembers the night of horror. Nevertheless, the respected doctor quickly turned his attention to the future: "Good rehabilitation is the be-all and end-all in the first few months after such an accident. I wanted her to be able to live independently again as well as possible and manage in a wheelchair," he says.

Doctor Bettina R. in front of the stairs she fell down in March(Bild: Eva Manhart)

Rapid progress at the rehabilitation center
His wife quickly got a place at the Meidling rehabilitation center and made impressive progress. For example, she learned to use her hands. "The team was great. All of them! The therapists, the nurses, the psychologists," Bettina R. enthuses.

She was promised by the manager that she could stay at the facility until October. Her stay was interrupted as planned by brain surgery in mid-June, where around 50 percent of the tumor was removed.

Hasty transfer after circulatory problems
A few days after returning to the rehabilitation center, Mrs. R. briefly fainted due to circulatory problems. "Nothing unusual for paraplegic patients, especially as blood pressure is often low," says her husband, himself an emergency doctor. The neurologist on duty called the ambulance against the patient's wishes: "I didn't want to be transferred! I defended myself loudly." In vain.

"The next day in the morning, I received an email from the manager saying that my wife was not allowed to return. The tumor treatment was the priority, not the rehab," says Z.

The "Krone" visits the family home in Vienna-Liesing(Bild: Eva Manhart)

Her husband, a respected doctor, now cares for his wife himself at home.(Bild: Eva Manhart)

The shock of this still brings tears to the eyes of the cancer-stricken woman today - a traumatic experience for the 54-year-old.

Husband gave up most of his job
After a stay in Lainz while the stairlift was installed in the house, her husband has now taken over the 24-hour care of his wife: "She has had my back for 30 years. It goes without saying that I will look after her for the next few years," he says, stroking her hand tenderly. Doctor Z. has largely given up his job for this.

Bettina R. as a sportswoman and with her husband at the doctors' ball(Bild: zVg)

"Would like to look her in the eye in court"
Together with lawyer Florian Höllwarth, he is preparing a lawsuit against the AUVA for the eviction from the rehabilitation center. "I want to look the director in the eye in court and tell her how unfair that was," says Ms. R. "According to the doctors, I only have five years to live, and the withdrawal from rehab has taken away an important part of my life."

When asked by "Krone", the AUVA ruled out any errors in the case. If a readmission is not possible from a medical point of view, it cannot be carried out.