Healing is a very difficult thing. When it comes to physical healing there are a few things that need to happen. Usually the main item in healing physically is rest. Depending on the injury or illness involved there might be an icing regiment or heat. There may be pain medication, or physical therapy. Each item is different and each person experiencing the injury/illness will handle it differently.
Last December I had a minor surgery on my back. The doctor dug out some "pre-melanoma" and put eight stitches in me to close it on up. I was limited for two weeks to walking only. That just about killed me mentally and emotionally (endorphines weren't flowing as much without running). So this past July when I needed the surgery again, I wasn't too worried. Sure, I wouldn't be allowed to run, but I figured all would be fine. I was wrong. The second surgery was on my foot. It was smaller and I was given only five stitches this time. However, since it's my right foot, I was worried about driving and some other things. Doctor assured me I was allowed to drive. And she let on that the stitches might pop because it's a highly active spot, and if they did it would be okay. The healing process would still move smoothly, if only delayed by a week or two. She was wrong. The stitches didn't pop on day 4 or 5. It was more like hour 4 or 5. The next morning I had to go back to the office for them to remove the two stitches that decided it was too much. The process was still the same. Keep the wound covered. Try to take it easy. And I was told the wound would take an extra week to heal. Two weeks after the surgery I went back to have the remaining stitches taken out. Of the five, only one had done its job. I was told I needed about two more weeks. Well, this blog will be posted at the 15 week mark. I still have scabbing from the wound. My foot still has numbness from the wound down through my big toe. What was supposed to be a small line of a scar will be a round, dime-sized scar. It took over five weeks for me to begin running, and that was more for my mental health than anything else. In other words, the healing process on my foot was not as simple as the one on my back. It didn't follow the doctors plan. Over the past eight or so weeks, I have had the opportunity to think about this idea of healing. So often we think of our mental and emotional healing as going through the prescribed stages. But the truth is that each one of us will heal differently. And each person will heal from each wound differently. It can bother us sometimes when a person doesn't grieve the same way that we do. Sometimes people dismiss us or our hurt because we didn't take as long to move on as they would have. Maybe we think someone should give up their anger already, but really they skipped being angry before and they are just now finding it. There are so many ways for people to heal. And what's good for one may not be good for another. What's good for one wound, may not work with another. Sometimes we need to step back and look at the process. We must accept ourselves in our healing, even if it doesn't match what someone else thinks it should. And on the flip side, we must accept how others heal (unless of course it is causing harm to others or self). The healing process can be ugly at times, but the outcome will be worth it.
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May 2023
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