Author Topic: Swiss welcome? (Read 8911 times)

Being Swiss · « **on:** February 15, 2009, 03:52:58 pm »

Hi!

I've actually found a username which both tells you where I live and serves as an excuse for my English, which is far from perfect. And this main forum might be ideal to give you some basic information about me (the Swiss are supposed to be greedy, but polite

).

My real name is Bruno, and I seem to have caught the virus in 1981. From 1983-1993 I was suffering from a writer's block (rather hard for a student). Further highlights in my career:1993 encephalitis (caused by Herpes simplex). 2003 lymphatic tumor (Morbus Hodgkin), since 2006 type 2 diabetes mellitus. - A list with all my drugs would be too long, so I restrict myself to my present HIV-cocktail: Reyataz (with Norvir as booster) and Kivexa (many resistancies, I hope Isentress or so will also be helpful one day).

I was member of a cosy German AIDS-forum (the small brother of "POZ"), which suddenly disappeared last December and reappeared with a suspicious webmaster who preferred NOT to answer some simple questions about his aims and identity. Now there are few satisfying alternatives in the German-speaking area, and since I need a community and my French is absolutely hopeless I thought an English or American forum might be perfect for me. That's how I found you! - But are Swiss welcome or do you prefer not to be tortured by my so-called English? If you think I'd better clear off: tell me!

Anyway, I'll keep my mouth shut for the next days or weeks. I'd like to read some of your many, many threads, thus improving my English which I studied some 500 years ago.

Bruno

BT65 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 15, 2009, 04:05:01 pm »

Bruno,

Welcome to the forums! I found your English to be perfect. I also have type II diabetes, but mine is Insulin dependent (and maybe you are also).

It sounds like you've been through a lot, and you don't say a lot about your life now. Hopefully you're doing well. I hope to hear more from you, you don't have to be silent.
Luv,
Betty

Being Swiss · « **Reply #2 on:** February 15, 2009, 04:30:02 pm »

Hi Betty!

I needn't Insulin yet - thank God. My meds are Glucophape and Actos (don't know whether you have the same names - I'm already happy there are no different names for HIV-meds). But I know that Insulin will be unavoidable sooner or later, including Hypoclycemia, which is even a problem now. - Apart from this my life is surprisingly fine. I suffered from epileptic fits after my encephalitis; this problem seems to be under control. And, as we all know, lymphatic tumors of a less "pleasant" sort have to be expected (I prefer not to think about it all the time - might drive you insane).

Bruno

BT65 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 15, 2009, 08:17:26 pm »

Yeah Bruno, I don't think about what "may" happen to me health-wise in the future; it would drive me insane. I just try to handle the problems at hand, and not worry about what may, or may not, be approaching.

I take Glucophage as well as the Insulin. I just talked to a dietician Friday about a correct diabetic diet, 'cause I haven't been doing well lately. I told her I was eating chocolate at bedtime. She told me she hadn't eaten any for 8 months. I asked her how she stopped, and she responded "heart attack." (she's also diabetic). Now, that got my attention.

Anyway, good to hear from you and I'm glad your health is doing well.

OzPaul · « **Reply #4 on:** February 15, 2009, 08:48:26 pm »

Hi Bruno

Welcome to the forums. You've found a perfect forum here amoung the LTS's. I've found your postings extremely well written and informative. It seems your English language writing skills are perhaps better than mine

I'll look forward to hearing more from you !

All the best
Paul

Being Swiss · « **Reply #5 on:** February 15, 2009, 10:24:29 pm »

Well Betty, I don't really trust dietitians any more. They change their theories more often than I change my underpants (which is every day). I remember a time when eggs were the worst thing you could eat; but all of a sudden they turned out to be harmless. The same with liver or some chocolate from time to time (I just need it). That's why I'm not very pleased when a doctor thinks I should see one. - What we should do, of course: Every day a walk for at least half an hour - lovely idea in awfully cold Switzerland right now!

I wonder whether Actos wouldn't do instead of Insulin. It's pretty tough, though. I sometimes find myself sitting on some stairs in Basel central station (what a big city it must be, having a central station

) because I had almost fainted - still difficult to distinguish from an epileptic fit. - But I think your experiences are more or less the same, and you have always glucose and something to eat (they call it "bread units" here) with you.

Hi OzPaul!

Thanks for flattering me. Increases my self-confidence, but I DO have to buy a more informative dictionary as soon as possible. - And call yourself lucky you don't hear me speak! I spent a year in England in 1981, and they only started imitating my pronunciation two days before I left. I'm still grateful...

Bruno

BT65 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 16, 2009, 06:55:47 am »

Hey Bruno,

Yeah, I don't see myself giving up chocolate forever-that's just not realistic. But, I do have to stop for a little while. It's cold here right now also, and snowy. I can't walk for long periods, because neither of my knees have any cartilage in them (due to avascular necrosis, from meds I guess). And the left one's been fractured, so I wear a brace on it. I did apply for a scholarship to the YMCA (like a local work-out facility in the U.S.), and got one, so I only have to pay a portion of the regular membership dues. I'm supposed to start developing a routine; we'll see. I'm so worried I'm going to look ancient among all the younger people who go.

I'm not familiar with Actos. I've been on insulin since being diagnosed (which happened when I was in a coma). And yeah, I always carry a protein bar with me. Low blood sugar sucks.

It's nice chatting with you. I hope we continue to do so.
Luv,
Betty

J.R.E. · « **Reply #7 on:** February 16, 2009, 07:50:53 am »

Hello Bruno,

Just want to say hello, and welcome you !!

Ray

pozniceguy · « **Reply #8 on:** February 16, 2009, 12:42:15 pm »

Welcome Bruno... dont worry about the english yours is just fine.... many of us on here have been and still are dealing with the same or similar issues.... look through the threads including the "others" at the bottom of the frame...this is an open to anything discussion...very friendly..

welcome..

Nick

bear60 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 16, 2009, 01:04:17 pm »

Hi Bruno
My name is Joel and I am one of the "Long Term Non Progressors" here. It's coming up on my 20th anniversary of being tested for HIV.
I hope you find what you need here and dont be afraisd to ask.

Joel

aztecan · « **Reply #10 on:** February 16, 2009, 04:04:11 pm »

Hey Bruno,

Welcome to the forums!

I am very glad you found us and look foward to reading more from you. I found your English to be very good, far better than my German or Spanish.

Is Actos the same thing as Metformin? Just wondering.

I am glad you're here.

HUGS,

Mark

Being Swiss · « **Reply #11 on:** February 16, 2009, 07:49:28 pm »

Hi everybody!

Thanks for welcoming me.

No, Mark. Metformin it the thing you find in Glucophage (it's got plenty of names, which I always find confusing). Actos (consisting of Pioglitazon) must be rather new. It's awfully expensive at least. Which proves: We still do have one of the best health-systems in the world (may change any day), but we're not up to date. That's why we send our young doctors to the United States for a year or two. They usually come back with much information about meds we don't have yet - and a perfect English

! - One of my former docs (they change every two years or so) complained because he had been sent to Dallas. It really annoyed me; I would have gone anywhere in the USA after having finished my studies - except Laramie, Wyoming, perhaps. But noone had heard of that yet. - By the way: I bet your German is so good that we could start a thread (or ("threat") for German-speaking users.

Hi Betty!

Never worry about other people's problems with your age or whatever, they may be more ancient in mind than many of us are. I was a vane young fellow (as many gays are

); then I woke up after a stroke (had been in a coma, too), and said to myself: So what! - Docs often ask whether I don't feel "inhibited" with my lipo. Why should I? There's nothing to hide. I had to go to Basel three times a week when under a chemotherapy, and my face was pale or even yellowish - and I simply discovered pride, which means: I'm alive folks; how about you? - All this is easy because nobody can identify you as positive (and if so: Switzerland has a considerable number of people with HIV) . - Just be as young as you feel!

Your knee-problem sounds serious, however. Endoprothesis (I hope it's the correct word) might be necessary sooner or later. But many people with those artificial things complain because they feel worse than before (not all, of course!). I bet the meds are not innocent. Doctors often try to deny it as long as they can (as with diabetes), but in the end...

Coma is a weired experience, by the way. It may change everything you took for real. When I woke up after about two weeks in the 90's (my encephalitis, that is an inflammation of the brain, had been ignored for a long time) I just thought it was unfair someone or something wanted me to "go on". I felt depressed for a month or two because "they" didn't want me yet. - No tunnel, no light; just a feeling. Might be worth a thread of its own.

Bruno

AlanBama · « **Reply #12 on:** February 17, 2009, 11:42:18 am »

Hi Bruno, and welcome!

Glad to have you joining us.

Hugs,

Alan

rondrond · « **Reply #13 on:** February 17, 2009, 12:54:18 pm »

Welcome Bruno.

Your English is very good. Thank goodness for the internet. You can't hear my Texas drawl....

AndyArrow · « **Reply #14 on:** February 17, 2009, 05:26:31 pm »

Hello & Welcome Bruno,

Thanks for sharing your story with us and I hope you stick around to share many more.

Just curious but do you by chance look like "Loic" from Garcon Stupide ?

Sorry, just my warped since of humor and you probably haven't even seen the movie.

AA

Being Swiss · « **Reply #15 on:** February 17, 2009, 07:57:59 pm »

Hi AndyArrow!

Switzerland doesn't produce so many good movies (I'm still waiting for an Oscar-nominated "Heidi Eating Cheese On the Top Of the Matterhorn"); so "Garçon Stupide" was a must - quite a good story about an internet-sex-generation which isn't mine (helped me to understand it). But I must disappoint you: I rather look like a skinhead-version of Frankenstein's monster (prefer that hair cut because of skin problems). And that's why my picture shows a dancing couple: Didn't know whether you've got enough sleeping pills at home!

By the way: I'm a film fan. And I still don't know why Elizabeth Taylor was supposed not to feel at home in Texas right from the start in "Giants". I find that "Texas drawl" difficult to understand, but I just love it, rondrond.

Bruno

AndyArrow · « **Reply #16 on:** February 18, 2009, 04:07:36 am »

Bruno --

Bit of a film fan myself although I have to admit that Garçon stupide is the only Swiss film I have seen. Winter Sleepers (Winterschläfer) made me think of Switzerland but I am pretty sure it was filmed in Germany.

Loic isn't really my type and I know you can't be Frankenstein, at least not Shelley's version, since he spoke fluent french and I read your first post.

And don't feel bad about not understanding ... most people find Texans hard to understand.

I mean these are the people who vote for George Bush for Governor over the lovely Ann Richards. I'm going to go hide know before all the Texans on here gang up on me.

AA

BT65 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 18, 2009, 06:21:53 am »

Hey Bruno,

Yeah, I don't want a knee replacement anymore until I absolutely have to have one. I'm going to get one of those electric scooters first. I've heard from people who say they've never been in so much pain in their lives.

And I agree about comas being weird experiences. It's like I can remember a couple parts of it, even though it's not 100% clear. And it took me awhile to gain back my speaking skills etc. when I first came out of it. Strange indeed.

Glad to hear more from you. Keep it coming.
Luv,
Betty

Ithaca_Nights · « **Reply #18 on:** February 18, 2009, 02:17:44 pm »

Bruno,
just wanted to welcome you. Your english is very good!
Dan

AndyArrow · « **Reply #19 on:** February 19, 2009, 01:46:57 am »

Bruno --

That's a great picture! Frankenstein?!?! ... I think you're a doll.

AA

Being Swiss · « **Reply #20 on:** February 19, 2009, 02:36:46 am »

Well then! My picture may serve as a proof that not all ghouls must be good at French.

- But you're right, AndyArrow, everybody in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is surprisingly well-educated. The creature even reads Milton. And mind you, it's not a "he", it's always called "the creature". I once took part in a seminar about Gothic romances in the Romantic Age; and we were informed by a hard boiled feminist critic that "the creature" might as well be female. What would poor James Whale have done being thus informed? I think Bette Davies was a bit too young to replace Boris Karloff in 1930...

"Winter Sleepers" is a German production. The DVD is still waiting on my shelf, like many other movies. But since you started with "season"-titles: Ever heard of that German production "Summer Storm"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Storm

The film made many old fags, including myself, think that their youth had really been so wonderful, full of opportunities. A heart-warming thing. - As for Swiss movies: We had Alain Tanner in the 60ies, the rest may as well be forgotten (okay, "Journey of Hope" won an Oscar because it was about time to talk about the dark side of Switzerland during the Nazi-aera, but the movie as such is rather boring).

Finally: Who is George Bush? I know I've heard the name before, but I couldn't say where or when, or in what context. Wasn't she that Italian actress who had a love affair with Cary Grant, but eventuallly preferred someone else? - God gave us the ability to forget names; we should be grateful, shouldn't we?

***
Hi Betty!

I live in a tiny little village about 15 miles from Basel. Many elderly women have such replacements, and most of them complain. Nowadays, our doctors wait as long as they can. they prefer medicine (Olfen etc.). My mum suffers from arthrosis, but since she's got her pills, we can easily go on a walk for two hours - that is, once that bl***y winter turns into lovely spring.

Gee! I would have been able to write such a post in ten minutes in the old German forums. But it's worth the while, and sooner or later my English writing skills will come back.

Bruno

And while I'm busy writing something in more or less readable English I must see that AndyArrow posted something that makes my picture blush...

rondrond · « **Reply #21 on:** February 19, 2009, 03:31:52 am »

Hey Bruno,

George Bush? I voted for Ann Richards.

MY Texas drawl, according to my relatives, has been bastardized by moving around in my youth to different states. When I left Alabama, I sounded just like a Southern Belle.

Then I worked in a call center for American Airlines and developed a 'phone voice' (no accent)

I take it you are in the winter season now?

Ron~

AndyArrow · « **Reply #22 on:** February 19, 2009, 08:00:40 am »

Bruno --

Thanks for pointing that about it being just "the creature" and not a "he". I suppose if I had to do the casting back in the 30's for a femaile creature I pick Helen Westley. I know her best from 1934's Anne of Green Gables (she played Marilla Cuthbert) but she was also in Heidi

(she played Blind Anna).

I haven't seen Summer Storm (don't remember hearing about it either) and I just watched the trailer. It looks like a fun movie so I'll put it on my list.

Ron --

I had that same call center voice when I worked TWA International Reservation. We had to use fake names there. They had a list of everyones fake & real names.

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Author Topic: Swiss welcome? (Read 8911 times)