Saturday, November 22, 2014
Notice of Copyright
This blog is now under copyright protection. All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission -- except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles and reviews.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Healing
So my gall bladder is gone and my body is recovering from the surgery and adjusting to my new gall-bladderless life.
I'm healing.
As reported earlier, I felt considerably worse after I got home from the surgery than I did in the hospital. A quick, downward slide on the "How-are-you-feeling?" graph. Then a day or two at the bottom of that graph and then a remarkably swift return to health. Almost every day recently, there have been things I could do easily in the afternoon that I could not do at all that morning. And there was pain in the morning that was greatly lessened or completly gone in the afternoon. It's been a wonderful chance to witness and experience the miraculous healing power inherent in the human body.
And it's given me a chance to think about healing. I'm healing now from a surgery, but when I think about it, it seems like I'm always healing from something. And, by extension, maybe all of us are always healing from something:
-- you smash your finger in a car door or catch it in a rapidly closing drawer.
-- you twist an ankle while turning too fast.
-- you strain your back picking up something that's heavier than you thought it would be.
-- you get a paper cut while paying bills.
-- you stayed up too late last night or drank more than you should have.
-- you get angry at something you read in the newspaper.
-- you feel neglected when your Significant Other forgets an important occasion.
-- your golf game falls apart. Again.
-- you get a bad haircut.
You get the idea. And one of the things that these healing experiences all (or at least most) have in common is that they don't require conscious intervention on your part. Even your golf game is likely to come back on its own, if you just don't fret about it. (Trust me on this one!)
One of the things that most (if not all) religious disciplines share is the notion that you are taken care of by a force or entity that exists 'way beyond your understanding. And for me, this morning, the whole idea of constantly being in a state of healing resonates happily with this idea.
And it feels like there are times when it is -- in an expanded sense of awareness -- a Good Thing to get dinged up a bit, just so you can experience the wonders of healing.
And be reminded of the miracle this healing business truly is.
I'm healing.
As reported earlier, I felt considerably worse after I got home from the surgery than I did in the hospital. A quick, downward slide on the "How-are-you-feeling?" graph. Then a day or two at the bottom of that graph and then a remarkably swift return to health. Almost every day recently, there have been things I could do easily in the afternoon that I could not do at all that morning. And there was pain in the morning that was greatly lessened or completly gone in the afternoon. It's been a wonderful chance to witness and experience the miraculous healing power inherent in the human body.
And it's given me a chance to think about healing. I'm healing now from a surgery, but when I think about it, it seems like I'm always healing from something. And, by extension, maybe all of us are always healing from something:
-- you smash your finger in a car door or catch it in a rapidly closing drawer.
-- you twist an ankle while turning too fast.
-- you strain your back picking up something that's heavier than you thought it would be.
-- you get a paper cut while paying bills.
-- you stayed up too late last night or drank more than you should have.
-- you get angry at something you read in the newspaper.
-- you feel neglected when your Significant Other forgets an important occasion.
-- your golf game falls apart. Again.
-- you get a bad haircut.
You get the idea. And one of the things that these healing experiences all (or at least most) have in common is that they don't require conscious intervention on your part. Even your golf game is likely to come back on its own, if you just don't fret about it. (Trust me on this one!)
One of the things that most (if not all) religious disciplines share is the notion that you are taken care of by a force or entity that exists 'way beyond your understanding. And for me, this morning, the whole idea of constantly being in a state of healing resonates happily with this idea.
And it feels like there are times when it is -- in an expanded sense of awareness -- a Good Thing to get dinged up a bit, just so you can experience the wonders of healing.
And be reminded of the miracle this healing business truly is.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
A Longer Leash -- and the "C" Word
Deb and I just got back from a check-up visit to our E/N/T doc, the guy who initially diagnosed my cancer and did the major surgery on my neck. Great guy, and we feel extremely fortunate to have him on the "team."
And what he did today was exactly what the radiation doc and the chemo doc have done in the last month. Which is to set our next appointment for six months instead of three. I don't think you can get a clearer signal that these guys are feeling better and better about my prognosis.
What I noticed during the visit is what seems to be a reluctance to use the word "cancer" on the part of my docs. This is something I understand a little, as I avoid the word myself. (I find myself using terms like "my illness" and "my treatments" to avoid the "c" word.) What triggered this thought was that the E/N/T doc today said something along the lines of: "Well, that experience is fairly common among folks like you who've had... had a malignancy."
And thinking back over the last several years of doc visits, I think I recognize the pattern: we simply don't want to use the "c" word unless it's absolutely necessary. In addition to "malignancy," they also seem to prefer using the word "tumor." So I understand that we do this avoiding thing, I just don't understand why.
On the other side of the equation, I don't think I've ever heard any of my docs use the other "c" word -- that is "cured" unless it's carefully couched in tentative terms.
Maybe if I start hearing my docs use the word "cured" when describing me, I will be able to start using the word "cancer" without flinching.
And what he did today was exactly what the radiation doc and the chemo doc have done in the last month. Which is to set our next appointment for six months instead of three. I don't think you can get a clearer signal that these guys are feeling better and better about my prognosis.
What I noticed during the visit is what seems to be a reluctance to use the word "cancer" on the part of my docs. This is something I understand a little, as I avoid the word myself. (I find myself using terms like "my illness" and "my treatments" to avoid the "c" word.) What triggered this thought was that the E/N/T doc today said something along the lines of: "Well, that experience is fairly common among folks like you who've had... had a malignancy."
And thinking back over the last several years of doc visits, I think I recognize the pattern: we simply don't want to use the "c" word unless it's absolutely necessary. In addition to "malignancy," they also seem to prefer using the word "tumor." So I understand that we do this avoiding thing, I just don't understand why.
On the other side of the equation, I don't think I've ever heard any of my docs use the other "c" word -- that is "cured" unless it's carefully couched in tentative terms.
Maybe if I start hearing my docs use the word "cured" when describing me, I will be able to start using the word "cancer" without flinching.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
