Frank Elstner: Darm-OP and three months of hospital

Frank Elstner (82), who turns 83 on April 19, reported on a intestinal operation that had a three-month hospital stay. During a routine examination, his doctor found “that something was wrong,” says the moderator. He was immediately transferred to the hospital, where an emergency surgery was carried out. “It was urgently needed and I am glad that I survived it,” reports Elstner.

His wife Britta, with whom he has been married since 2009, was always by his side after the operation. In addition, he would have had “a fantastic doctor”, says Elstner, who can now play with his dogs in the garden again. His wife also fits that he takes his tablets. He explains the “Bild” about his Parkinson’s disease: “I am still confident that you can slow down the course with the right sport and physiotherapy and may be able to brake medically in the foreseeable future. And maybe there will be a healing at some point.”

A Parkinson’s diagnosis is “not a death sentence,” emphasized Elstner, who first made his own illness public in 2019, in conversation with “Bild am Sonntag” last year. “Rather, it is the request to face the development of this disease,” he said. In particular, it is important not to lose your humor and remain optimistic. He also always preserved both according to his diagnosis.

Elstner, who is currently working on his SWR series “Elstner’s Travel”, will celebrate his birthday with his family in his hometown Baden-Baden this weekend. “It will be my adult life’s first birthday that I will celebrate without red wine,” says the moderator, who has been without alcohol for several months.