… And Now The Sun Has Finally Set On The Arctic
Ten weeks ago, we had a visitor.
My nephew, 15-going-on-16, came flying up to the high Arctic all the way from southern Norway to spend 8 weeks with me and my wife in Svalbard, at 78 degrees north.
I fixed him a summer job up here and we were going to have the best of times. We would work, hike, watch scary movies, work out together and just have an unbelievable summer. It was going to be an adventure.
The day after he arrived, my wife woke up at 4 in the morning, in unbelievable agony. She couldn’t get out of bed, and I mean couldn’t. She couldn’t get up, she couldn’t walk. She had shooting pains down the whole back of her left leg and she had no idea why. I literally had to carry her out of bed and help her to the toilet. We had no idea what was going on.
We’re both shy of 40 (still), we’re fit, active and physically healthy, and there were no warning signs. Worst part was, the doctor’s couldn’t figure out what was going on. Our hospital is very small here in Svalbard and they tried their best, but ideally they wanted to send her to mainland Norway to a university hospital. Problem was she couldn’t sit upright so she couldn’t fly.
So, my nephew and I made the best of it. We hiked, worked out, watched football… while my wife lay on the sofa, trying her best to out-sleep the pain.
Safe to say it’s been a strange summer…
I’ve tried to chip away at things, but I haven’t had much time to get any writing done. I haven’t really done much of anything, between being the coolest uncle in the world and a ruggedly handsome caretaker. Not that I’m complaining – we did manage to have an amazing summer adventure, all things considered, but I hate feeling like I’m being in efficient.
My nephew’s gone now, and things started looking up for my wife. We went to Tromsø for an MRI, which resulted in the conclusion that she didn’t need to operate and she eventually found herself up and walking unsupported enough of the time that we took a weekend trip to Copenhagen.
It was the best time we had in ages. We even randomly met my dad and my sister, who were both on separate trips, without any of us planning any of this.
We’re back North again now and the sun has officially set over Svalbard (August 25 saw the first sunset since the midnight sun rose in April), and also over me and my wife. She suffered a pretty hefty relapse after our trip. It’s worse than it’s ever been, she’s chained to the sofa again. Now we’re heading into autumn, winter and the polar night which much darker minds than usual.
I doubt I’ll get much writing done in the near future either, but if it would get my wife back on her feet again, I’d give it all up in a heart beat.
Take care of each other out there. You never know how fast your life gets turned upside down.
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