free rommy New York → Kansas City → San Francisco → Stockholm → Berlin

Updates: A holiday in France followed by the swine flu (or not)

It's been quite a while and the month I've spent away from this blog has been, needless to say, eventful. Some stuff I'll talk about, others I'll leave for a later time.

In early August, I was perusing the Ryanair site for cheap plane tickets to Hyères, France where my family has a summer home. It's in the south just along the water, and I was in desperate need of sun in the final week of the summer before buckling down for what was sure to be (barring some cataclysmic shift of Earth's axis) a cold and dark winter in Stockholm. Ryanair happens to have flights that go from Skavsta (about 90 minutes outside of Stockholm) directly to Hyères which is perfect. Furthermore, the roundtrip ticket was 50 EUR! Which is insanely cheap. I couldn't pass up a bargain. Better yet, I was able to convince a buddy to join me for half the trip!

I wouldn't be lying if I told you we did nothing but laid on the beach almost the entire time we were there after which we'd go out trying to meet French women and were totally unsuccessful. But that's ok, because the trip was about clearing our minds, relaxing, rejuvenating, reenergizing, and coming back to Sthlm with a renewed sense of purpose. Needless to say, we accomplished just about all that. And it's been a great autumn thus far.

That was until about Tuesday of this week when I woke up with a sore neck. I thought nothing of it at the time other than I probably just slept on it wrong. When I woke up on Wednesday, it was a bit more sore and my throat started to ache. By 3pm on Wednesday I could barely move and I went home. I fell asleep on my couch and woke up in a state of horrifying pain and disillusionment. Okay maybe it wasn't that bad, but I was not in a happy place. Let's just say the last time I felt this weak and ill was when I got the flu seven years ago when I first moved to Kansas City, so I was pretty sure that's what it was.

After deciding not to head to the hospital for medication on Wednesday night, I decided to go to the doctor's office on Thursday. Thursday morning I was a total wreck. My strength was at about 20% and it took me about 30 minutes to walk three blocks.

To be honest, I know there's nothing you can really do about the flu other than wait for it to pass, but I went for two reasons. The first was to see if they would actually give me medication, Tamiflu or the Swedish equivalent. The second was actually due to a nationalist desire to help my countrymen out in documenting the spread of swine flu. My expectation was that I would be helping the Swedish scientists and government by getting them more information about the disease.

Both reasons were completely misguided. My doctor essentially told me that they wouldn't be testing me for swine flu. They were reserving all tests for pregnant women and the elderly since they were "at risk". She also asked me if I knew the details (versus the rumors) about swine flu. I was proud that I had. I knew that swine flu was really not all that different from the regular flu. The survival rate is as high as that of the regular flu. The worldwide medical concern of the swine flu pandemic surrounded how susceptible younger and healthier people were. Since there are so many young people in the world, there could potentially be far more cases. And if far more people got the flu, then far more pregnant and elderly people would be exposed to it, thus causing the medical field to worry a bit more about this one than they would about the regular, annual flu epidemic.

So I wouldn't be getting tested. She said that because of my demographic, it was likelier that it was swine flu, but that we would never know. She told me it was definitely a flu. She also told me to go home, rest up, drink lots of fluids, and to not go out or spend time with anyone. She also said she couldn't spare any medication since they were saving it for high risk cases. She said I didn't need it and that if I'm healthy, I'll be just fine.

I agreed.

One thing I appreciate about the Swedish healthcare system is that it puts its faith in its doctors and that its doctors truly know best. Doctors don't give in to angry patients, and they don't hand out prescriptions to subsidize their pay. They are prudent and smart in their behavior, acting in the best interest of the country and not of the individual. Following my third interaction with the Swedish healthcare system, I am proud of what this country has been able to accomplish and can only hope that the US can emulate it someday.

In the meantime, my immune system has been getting its ass kicked by this virus, so I hope to be at 100% by Monday or Tuesday.

Wish me luck!