dreams and nightmares
I sleep strangely well. I close my eyes and happy images immediately fill my head. It’s like a dream machine that snaps into action. Like a fairy godmother sprinkling pixie dust in my eyes. Eventually the images settle on a story-line, and I’m off in a dream. It’s waking up that’s the difficult part. That’s […]
going bananas
I always thought I was scared of dying. But I’m not. Perhaps my reaction is simply delayed, but somehow I don’t think so. What terrifies you is not to know where the danger is coming from. But once you’ve actually honed in on the bastard, there is no fear, only determination. I’m Action Man in […]
primary site or metastasis?
One of the big questions is whether the lymph node tumor is a primary cancer or a metastasis. If it’s primary, this is where it’s originated. Taking it away would also remove my cancer. If it’s a metastasis it comes from somewhere else. Even if this cancer is removed, there is more cancer that needs […]
Hualien
We’ve spent the weekend in Hualien on the eastern coast of Taiwan. It’s a trip we’ve been planning for a long time. At first I didn’t want to go but then I realized it is the best thing imaginable under the circumstances. We are staying in a very nice large hotel with a pool. We […]
Paradise on earth
The US isn’t, it turns out, the best country in the world. It’s only at 12th place (and 42nd in terms of life expectancy). This according to a “human development index” devised by Nobel prize winning economist Amartya Sen. And what country is number 1? Well, Sweden of course. Where else? In one of the […]
deadline
Today is the deadline for Diane’s dissertation. She’s been at it for 10 years. Almost as long as we’ve known each other. And the kids have never had a mother who isn’t typing away at what in our house is known as the blahonga (from the expression “blahonga, blahonga, blahonga,” frequently used during sermons by […]
the diagnosis
The first thing was the weather: a typhoon hit Taiwan today and our town was flooded. We put Rima and Yrsa in the car and drove off through the deluge. Diane let me off at the hospital. I was hoping the clinic would be cancelled because of the rain. I was going to run away […]
back to the doctor
I’m going back to the doctor again. I have a strange lump on my neck, a swollen lymph node. I look like a snake with a half-digested mouse half-way down the gullet. The symptoms appeared right after my pneumonia in the spring and it’s most likely the result of an over-worked immune system. Friday last […]
Robert Reich, great guy
Big buddha
