War of the Worlds - Our welcome to Sweden (warning: some medical descriptions and lots of whining)

"From the moment the invaders arrived, breathed our air, ate and drank, they were doomed. They were undone, destroyed, after all of man's weapons and devices had failed, by the tiniest creatures that God in his wisdom put upon this earth." - War of the Worlds

This was the thought that went through my head in the first week we arrived in Sweden. I was sick, Kris was exhausted and it seemed that Sweden was doing it's best to get rid of us...

Ok maybe I should start at the start...

About 5 weeks before we left to go to Sweden I played a rugby grand final (and won), but in the process I managed to break my eye socket - including the fine bone that sits between the eye socket and the sinus tubes.  This meant that I was unable to blow my nose, sneeze or equalise the pressure in my ears or risk breaking it again.

The first surgeon said it was unlikely we were going to be able to fly as the pressure changes on the plane could blow it out again.  Fortunately the head surgeon checked and said it was close but I should be ok.  Of course there was a chance that, as soon as we took off, the pressure changes would blow out the bone and fill my eye socket with air.  While my eye wouldnt fall out, it could strain the optic nerve and I could end up going blind in that eye.

Nothing like a little bit of worry to start an overseas trip...  Couple that with the way our last few weeks went - we only got the final Visa approval from Sweden on the thursday (we were due to fly Monday) Kris had to organise getting all our gear packed into storage and the house clean and I was going crazy trying to get all my work done before we left.  I even ended up working until 4pm on the last day we were in Australia, and we were due to fly out at 10pm.

By the time we finally got on the plane we were tired and run down.  Kris and the kids got a little sleep and enjoyed the movie but I didnt have a very good flight.  To start with I could feel the pressure in my ears but couldnt pop them due to the risk of my eye, so for most of the flight I had pressure changes in my head.  I've flown lots of times before and never had any issues, but this time I ended up getting really bad motion sickness and had to dash to the toilets at least 4 or 5 times to throw up.  By the time we hit Copenhagen airport I was feeling awful, but we still had a hour long taxi ride and an hour dragging our stuff back to our apartment.

The next day I woke with a burning throat and a feeling like I'd been hit by a bus.  I ran a temperature around 39degrees and was pouring with sweat.  It got to the point where I could hardly swallow.  We couldnt easily see a doctor as we didnt have our Swedish residency so Kris bought me some painkillers and throaties and I tried to sleep.  For the first five days in Sweden I was sick as a dog.  I think it may have been tonsillitus, but it could have just been a really nasty strain of man-flu.  Either way Kris was forced to do most of the week solo while I sweated and struggled to even drink water.

Finally by the end of the week I started to get over it and began to feel better.  Then Kristine came down feeling sick. Sweden was definately trying to kill us.  Fortunately Kristine was only sick for a couple of days and soon we were both up and about.

Then the legacy of my father (and a week of being seriousy dehydrated) hit.  I came down with gout.  For anyone who doesnt know what gout is, lucky you...  To start with it feels like I've dislocated my big toe.  It starts to swell and becomes sensitive to the touch, including walking.  If I'd rate the pain from tearing my calf muscle as a 7, the pain from gout is about a 10.

Kristine had some joy in reminding me that I'd thrown out my gout medication before we travelled.  "I've only ever had issues with it twice before," she remembered me saying.  "I won't need it."

I was determined not to let it slow me down, so we went to copenhagen for Kristine's birthday and I managed to limp and somehow keep up (but you'll notice most of the walking photos from the day have me behind everyone else).

I coudnt see the doctors for gout medication (see above) so it was anti-inflamatories.  The swelling got so bad that it bruised and I managed to hit my toe on everything - a shopping trolley, the side of the bath, Alana's shoes, a particle of dust.. and each time it was like an explosion.

This is about a week and a half in - the swelling had gone down a little by then but the bruising was still to come.  Even now, two weeks later, its still sensitive and a little swollen.

So in addition to this, Kris has hurt her hip (thanks to sleeping awkwardy on the super soft bed) and the kids have been sniffly.

It seems like Sweden has done its best to get rid of us, but slowly things are returning to normal, so hopefully we're through the worst of it.  Figures crossed.