70 Things You Can Do While Being Hospitalized is an entertaining and humorous book that is sure to help others navigating prolonged hospital stays keep their spirits up. Why was it important for you to write this book?

As I had never been hospitalized before I got this lifethreathening injury, I thought being hospitalized was something about being in great pain. I was also in great pain but the hardest thing to cope with, was the fear. Fear of not getting well again, fear of not getting back to your old life, fear of not getting back to wife and kids, fear of not being a good husband again, fear of not being a good father again. That fear was overwhelming and really hard to cope with. Allmost impossible. My only weapon was to make as much fun with the staff as I could, crack bad jokes and make a fool of myself. Humor really is the best medicine! That is why my book begins and ends with the words “Fear can be a prison – Hope and humor is your key out”. I know that there are many other people in hospitals in similar or much worser situations than mine, and if I can make them laugh, they might forget their pain and misery for a while. If my book can do that then it must be the best book in the world.

I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?

That must be chapter 28 “Rescue Team 101” about how to have some fun at the hospital ICU. My injury was a brain hemorrhage (the size of an egg and deep inside the brain). My blood pressure was sky high so the brain hemorrhage got bigger and bigger and was life threathening. Doctors decided that they had to do surgery to save my life but it would be very dangerous and the chances for me ending up as a vegetable was quite big. Just before the operation my wife took a chance and lay beside me on the operation bed (she’s a nurse and knew some of the staff). At that moment my blood pressure began to fall and the doctors cancelled the operation. Its quite a beautifull story and here 10 years after, it still gets me in tears when writing about it. What a wife!

What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?

I dont really think my ideas were the most important. They are just silly ideas. I think the footnotes where I could explain how hard it was to get back home was more important. Also I hope that my footnotes explains, that no matter how injured and miserable you are, you can allways be kind and helpfull to those people around you. You will also discover that this will make you feel better.

What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your book?

You can turn around even the worst time in you life if you have some hope and humor.

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