...sometimes we fix their fractures, but something else breaks.
...sometimes the things that break, can't be fixed.
...then hearts break and tears fall.
today tears fell at my hospital. the family cried. i cried with them.
i told them what a privilege it was to be part of their journey.
it was a journey they would never have chosen, but we walked the path for just a few days together.
their perspective included gratitude, strong family bonds and pain.
3 of the most powerful themes of life...
Friday, April 13, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
human touch
the patient was in the trauma bay.
shaking.
i said, "are you scared?"
the reply, "no, it's in the good Lord's hands."
may i be part of His work.
shaking.
i said, "are you scared?"
the reply, "no, it's in the good Lord's hands."
may i be part of His work.
when fixed is not healed
In surgery, it is common to think "the cut is the cure." Shouldn't something we fixed be better? Our patients certainly expect surgery to be the solution to the problem.
I commonly hear remarks like, "if you guys fixed my (insert name of broken bone here) then why does it still hurt?" or "if the bone is better, why do I still have pain?". Some patients go so far as to wake up from surgery upset that there is postoperative pain.
Sadly, it doesn't work that way ~ because something that is fixed is not necessarily healed. The x-ray may look perfect, but that doesn't mean the bone is healed. From an anatomical perspective things may seem fine, but it may not be healed physiologically.
Life is like that. We have fixed the circumstances in life that have hurt us, but have we healed? Do we look fine on the outside, but are we weeping on the inside? It is possible to create a facade that looks great ~ clothes, cars, houses ~ all the externals. Yet, we can be so broken in our souls.
We can fix a bone in two hours in an operating room, but it can takes months of waiting, physical therapy, medication and follow-up to heal. Once healed, the bone is different...things are never quite the same.
People can be that way, too. Healed, but different than before the hurt, disappointment or loss.
Healed, but different...
more compassionate, grateful, generous, wiser, deeper, visionary, loving, patient, understanding, the list goes on...
or...
... bitter, angry, resentful, demanding, grief laden, lonely, hurt, sad, depressed, paralyzed, empty...
or
somewhere in between on a journey to wholeness
naybe fixed but not healed...
yet.
I commonly hear remarks like, "if you guys fixed my (insert name of broken bone here) then why does it still hurt?" or "if the bone is better, why do I still have pain?". Some patients go so far as to wake up from surgery upset that there is postoperative pain.
Sadly, it doesn't work that way ~ because something that is fixed is not necessarily healed. The x-ray may look perfect, but that doesn't mean the bone is healed. From an anatomical perspective things may seem fine, but it may not be healed physiologically.
Life is like that. We have fixed the circumstances in life that have hurt us, but have we healed? Do we look fine on the outside, but are we weeping on the inside? It is possible to create a facade that looks great ~ clothes, cars, houses ~ all the externals. Yet, we can be so broken in our souls.
We can fix a bone in two hours in an operating room, but it can takes months of waiting, physical therapy, medication and follow-up to heal. Once healed, the bone is different...things are never quite the same.
People can be that way, too. Healed, but different than before the hurt, disappointment or loss.
Healed, but different...
more compassionate, grateful, generous, wiser, deeper, visionary, loving, patient, understanding, the list goes on...
or...
... bitter, angry, resentful, demanding, grief laden, lonely, hurt, sad, depressed, paralyzed, empty...
or
somewhere in between on a journey to wholeness
naybe fixed but not healed...
yet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)