Author Archives: Topherwelch

I attended a workshop in Brussels, a few years ago, on the topic of making the energy sector in Europe free from greenhouse gas emissions. As I arrived early, I was invited to join a lunch meeting with some of the head research officers from a number of major car manufacturers from Europe and Asia.Continue reading “Get on with it!”

A number of years ago. Actually, quite a long time ago, Sing along sound of music had just become popular, and we had to go and see it. We got together a large part of the Folkeson clan and met at the cinema in Stockholm for an evening of song and laughter. At the singContinue reading “Climb every mountain”

Today is the first day of treatment to see off what might remain of the tumour that had so rudely intruded into the back of my head. The first stage was radiation therapy with high energy X-rays (6 MeV). Yes, I had lots of questions about the technique being used, the energy and wavelength ofContinue reading “At last”

WARNING! This post may be distressing. Having gone through all of the tests, with blood samples, electrocardiography, CT, MRI and PET, and an operation to remove the suspected tumour, there was a long wait. As the wait got longer the more, I suspected that the final diagnosis was not going to be good. It allContinue reading “Make it work”

I spent a few hours at the hospital last week in preparation for my upcoming radiation therapy. The first task was to make a mask to hold my head firmly in the right place for irradiation. This involved being positioned correctly and having a warm/almost hot sheet of plastic placed over my face and having itContinue reading “The machine that goes ping”

After years of dreaming, months of planning and weeks of hard work by our craftsmen, Niklas and Josh, helped by electrician Kalle, it was finally time to inaugurate our jacuzzi. Bubble in the bath and bubble in the glass (Moët & Chandon) made it double bubble. Cheers for many hours of relaxation.

Operation day was a bit weird in more ways than one! I have already mentioned about being high in the recovery ward, but another memory puts into question what the hospital staff get up to when patients are under the influence of anaesthetic. The day started with a very abrupt awakening at 4.45 ish toContinue reading “What happened to my underpants?”

Six weeks after discovering that I had an unwelcome intruder in the back of my head and three weeks after its’ removal I am feeling fine. However, the results on the nature of the tumour have not come back from the pathology lab, so we are still waiting for decisions on the treatment strategy. IContinue reading “Screw the tumour”

We moved into our current home almost 20 years ago. Before signing the purchase agreement, we had the house checked over by a building engineer to make sure that we were getting value for money. The recommendations included improving the drainage around the house, which was considered to be high priority, and re-tiling the roof,Continue reading “Total home makeover”

Over the past couple of weeks, I have had time to think back and reflect over events from years gone by. Most of the time they are events that leave me with a smile on my face as my fond memories far outweigh the bad ones. While I share some of these memories, I wouldContinue reading “Up through the floor”