Love Tove - Staying Alive

Help me help and love Tove!

After 4,5 years Tove’s cancer is spreading while she is weaker from all cancer treatments. Since Christmas I almost lost her 3 times; the last required an ambulance to wake her up with oxygen and take her to intensive care. Tove is still full of love, joy and gaming. She is determined to see her titles in print. Show Tove love and appreciation. Spoil her with an ice-cream (it is hard for her to eat)! Help me take unpaid leave to assist her to hospital and to be close by if she needs an ambulance. Tell Tove why you appreciate her below. Every donation helps!

-------------------
Long text

My wife, Tove Gillbring, got a terrible blow almost five years ago. A cancer spread beyond the possibility to cure her. Her lungs, skeleton and lymphatic system were affected and her future seemed to be cut short. Tove is a fighter and shared her focus between trying to stay alive, making sure people around her were feeling loved and cared for, and to work on the things she loved focused on making the most of the time she got left and, if possible, to get as much bonus time as she could. She has spent her time since with loved ones, trying to enjoy life in the midst of all the cancer by keeping a focus on her creative fireworks and by caring about the people around her.

 

Tove has been champion for Swedish roleplaying games during the last three decades and she wants to create and share even more gaming titles. She calls this quest her Creative Fireworks and it has been 50+ titles since she got the cancer, from our bimonthly gaming magazine Fenix to Western, Ensamma Vargen (Lone Wolf in Swedish) and Freeway Warrior. Even more will follow, since she has a lot in pipeline still. It would not have been possible without the help, love and support from friends. Yet this campaign is not for the creative fireworks as such (even if we would love for you to check out things we do at www.facebook.com/askfageln or buy in our webstore at www.åskfågeln.se or at www.modiphius.net or http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?keywords=askfageln. This campaign is for me and Tove as people but if you would rather buy the products instead it is of course welcome too.

 

Living with cancer went off to a flying start as her medical team got formed. Tove has been lucky and has a great oncologist in the world on her type of cancer and a palliative team to help her with all medical things that can be attended from home. I was able to stay by her side full time to begin with. Yet no treatment lasted more than a year or two until she needed to replace it. Unfortunately the last year was a setback as the chemo never kept the cancer at bay while all side effects made Tove weaker. I have taken a lot of unpaid leave while working for my employer too. The pandemic was actually good for us, since I got to work from my home. Yet now, as I need to get back to work in the office more, Tove will require even more help to go to the hospital for scans, examinations, treatments and doctor’s appointments. And it can be crucial that she gets immediate attention in case a life threatening saturation crisis occurs. I want to be able to there for her but it will require even more unpaid leave. Can you please help me?

 

Tove has faced some setbacks hard to muster, demanding our constant attention as her life was in immediate danger. We really need your help to make it possible for me to stay close by Tove enough to handle any swift changes that requires an immediate ambulance if need be. Most of the time there are no such problems but when it happens time is of the essence. After our latest ordeal. I need your help to keep Tove alive as long as possible.

 

I always want to be there by the love of my life – now more than ever since she might need swift help in time to survive. I would abhor to find out that she passed away because nobody were there to react to and address changes in saturation in time or to call for medical help quick enough to save her life. She might not be able to make that final call for help herself if she is unconscious. I treasure every minute of every day of the bonus time she has been granted so far. I just want there to be more moments and days left. And to make it happen I have been taking unpaid leave from my day job, while still working too. My employer has been good to me, allowing me to take some unpaid leave on a regular basis and to work more from home – especially during the pandemic. That extra unpaid leave is required to assist her on all medical appointments and just to be there and react if need be. Then I can also be around to help her with all the minor practical things to make it easier for her to work and rest when she wants to or just to get something to drink. Please help me if you can. A little help would help a lot.

 

We have had three life threatening episodes starting at Christmas and the worst one yet only weeks ago when a bacterial pneumonia hit Tove bad and her saturation fell fast and to a scary degree. She fell backwards and did not regain consciousness until the ambulance had filled her with two tubes of oxygen. Tove were rushed into hospital and Tove was immediately put on Intensive Medical Care. The standard ESR rate (called SR or Sänkan in Swedish) showed 300 when we got there. It was crushed down to 30 thanks to their care. Tove’s ability to find joy even in harsh circumstances, her refusal to die, her love and kindness, and all the love she gets hopefully made it easier for the medical staff to help her survive and get better. A special lung care unit helped her get well enough to go home again just a week later where the palliative team take care of the aftermath medical care, such as administrating the special strong brew intravenous penicillin needed to fight off the last of the bacterial pneumonia and other remaining effects of her ordeal.

 

Tove is still the toughest I know, never giving up and always trying to smile and laugh and show her appreciation. We actually found out during the latest week that Tove is gaining saturation when she laughs. It is a good thing that her laughter is one of the things all of us who met her probably recognize, love, and remembers about her. She has a sunny disposition even in the face of cancer. Tove also has a new treatment to try to keep the cancer at bay. I am tremendously relieved and happy she is still among us. No long term side effects are expected due to the saturation crisis but the short time side effects may take up to half a year. Tove will also need to get back to the hospital more often for doctor’s appointments, examinations, and treatments of different kinds.

 

I want to be by Tove’s side to prevent another saturation crisis from ever happening again. I hope you will help me make her feel loved and appreciated.

 

Love Tove,

 

Anders