Category: general

03
Jul
2025

DOING NOTHING AND EVERYTHING

I’ve felt a little stupid about some of the medical terms that have been flying around me for the last 2 months, and part of that has had to do with the differences in Swedish and English, and part of it was not having really thought about the differences in terms. I’ve felt that the words ‘inflammation’ and ‘infection’ seemed to be used rather interchangeably, but when I mentioned that to my doctor, he said, “Not by the medical establishment. They mean completely different things.” So I finally looked up their definitions, and like, duh, of course they are different,...

28
Jun
2025

DOING ALL THE THINGS, EXCEPT SLEEPING

Since I was in the hospital, I’ve been having trouble sleeping. Or rather, getting back to sleep after I wake up in the middle of the wee hours or middle of the night. I’ve woken at 3, 4, 5, and one particularly bad night at 2:30 am. I have to get up to go to the bathroom, and when I get back to bed, I cannot fall asleep again, no matter what I try. A few nights I manage to doze off after a couple of hours only to be awakened again to go to the bathroom. UGH. I read...

24
Jun
2025

FINDING BEAUTY EVERYWHERE

I don’t go to nearly enough art exhibitions or photography exhibitions or dance recitals or concerts these days. Maybe part of it is living all the way out here in a tiny, quiet village. It is mostly Camilla that finds art exhibitions in and around Malmö and Lund and suggests them to Debbie and I as possible excursions for the 3 of us. Concerts are too expensive most of the time, and require way too much work and honestly, I’ve seen most of the musical artists I like or am content to listen to their music via Spotify. Most of...

23
Jun
2025

SHOPPING, SUSHI, AND SCHEDULES

Do you like shopping? Or just window shopping? Do you have to have a list or a plan or do you like to just wander and look and see what you find? I’ve never been all that much of a shopper, and since I’ve gained weight, clothes shopping is no fun at all. I have a couple of stores, one here and two in the US and that’s basically where I do all my shopping, though I order bras online, and there is one catalog from the States that I’ve ordered jeans/leggings from many times. I wear my clothes until...

21
Jun
2025

SOLSTICE RUMINATIONS

Happy summer solstice! Glad midsommar! What a difference a couple of weeks, good medical care, a definite diagnosis, and wonder drugs makes. I’m still easily tired, which isn’t surprising considering I’ve been so housebound and sedentary. I hope to start walking again soon. We’ve had a full week of the most beautiful weather: sunny, blue skies, a little breeze, perfect temperatures, cool evenings. If the whole summer was like this, I’d be perfectly happy. Yesterday was midsummer in Sweden, a day off, and one of the biggest holidays of the year. I was up early as has been the case...

18
Jun
2025

DIAGNOSIS

I don’t know if you have ever had a medical procedure in which a camera is inserted into your body when you are awake and aware, but it is a VERY weird thing to see. I had another colonoscopy today. The last one was in October, and even though there was a screen where I could see the camera movement then as well, it was awkwardly placed and would have required me twisting my neck weirdly and because a colonoscopy is both uncomfortable and slightly painful, I mostly didn’t try to look last time, but kept my eyes closed and...

16
Jun
2025

HOME SWEET HOME

I was discharged from the hospital yesterday at lunch time. Since I’ve been responding very well to the cortisone treatment, they felt I could continue with tablets now from home. Anders picked me up at lunchtime and we went to Espresso House so I could get a toastie before we headed home. They sent me with a medicine list, info on the colonoscopy, a different easier laxative for the colonoscopy prep, and assurances about my sick leave and the followup in 2 weeks. All of the doctors and nurses I had dealings with were awesome, though my first doctor was...

13
Jun
2025

WAY WAY TMI

Well, I guess it’s time to write the story of what’s been happening to me (for posterity) and make some explanation for the long radio silence. WORD OF WARNING: grossness and ugly bodily functions ahead. Read at your own risk. I was sick on April 30th with stomach issues (not throwing up), gassy/bubbly pains and loose bowels. It basically continued from there for weeks, getting worse and worse until I was basically only shitting blood, and terrible diarrhea. No warning, multiple times day and night. Got more and more tired over the weeks and more and more dehydrated. On May...

25
May
2025

THE SOUNDTRACK OF (AT LEAST PART OF) MY LIFE

During the 90s, in Chicago, I went to concerts and plays, and dance recitals, and festivals, and musicals ALL THE TIME. I have the ticket stubs to prove it. I went to a lot of sporting events as well, which surprised me as I don’t have any real interest in sports, but I have the ticket stubs from numerous baseball, football, and hockey games as well. I’ve been doing a major clean out in the millions of photo albums I have, most of which sit and gather dust over the years, as no one ever looks at them. I figured...

18
May
2025

SHOWING OFF SWEDEN

So much for my good intentions of posting more in May. I managed 3 posts, then real life intervened. But in a mostly good way! My best friend from college, Julie, and her family: husband Todd (Benny), daughter Erin and son Drew, finally made it to Sweden to visit! I picked them up at the airport on Saturday, May 10, at 4:30 and we crammed all their bags into the Tesla and came over to Sweden. We managed to keep them up and got them on schedule right away, which I think was helpful for them. Anders cooked a delicious...

October 2025
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