Author’s note, or perhaps warning, this article may be a bit more wordy and introspective than usual, but I think there are some lessons held within that may be helpful to anyone going through a recovery from surgery or serious injury.
Two weeks ago I had abdominal surgery to repair an inguinal hernia. As surgeries go, I don’t think this is considered major surgery. I have visited friends that have had their repair, and thought to myself- “I must plan a hernia for the Spring-Time at Shouldice Hospital. It is beautiful there!” Well, it seems I missed spring time, but I got my wish.
I am lucky to live just 10 km away from Shouldice- a private hospital that is world renown in hernia surgery. That is all they do. They specialize in it, have a good technique and a great record. The first time I visited a recovering patient there, besides being struck by the beautiful grounds and gardens (I believe people actually have wedding photos done there), I was impressed that my friend’s room-mate had travelled there from Egypt for the surgery. I won’t get into the technical jargon, but if you are lucky enough to get a hernia, I strongly recommend you booking at Shouldice “Spa”.
How did I end up with a hernia? I wish I could report a great story- I was lifting up the end of a car to rescue a trapped child- but unfortunately there isn’t an obvious reason. There are genetics involved, and a number of factors that led me to diagnose my own hernia in January this year. I have diagnosed them in patients over the years and it was a great surprise to be on the other end, so to speak.
Our attitude about injury is an important factor in our healing. “Symptoms are not enemies to be destroyed, but sacred messengers who encourage us to take better care of ourselves!” When we have the attitude that our illness, injury or symptom is the bad guy that must be eliminated (or worse, covered up), then we miss important lessons our body may be sending us. We may slow our healing if we vilify our condition. In a strange way, I looked at my surgery as an opportunity to heal. I was excited about the week off (my last “vacation” was taking 50 kids to preteen camp, so this promised to be somewhat more restful). I wasn’t anxious the morning of the surgery, and I felt confident that I was in good hands and grateful that I live in a country where this surgery was being (mostly) covered.
I felt ready to learn all kinds of lessons from the surgery. The first thing I learned reminded me of a statement Paul made in the Bible, when he compared the church to a physical body. He said, “when one part suffers, every part suffers with it.” Though it was my abdominal muscles that were cut, I was distinctly aware of it affecting so many other areas of my body. Wow, I felt it all over.
I then found how important TIME is in healing. I had prepared for my time off. I had collected DVDs of movies I wanted to watch and made a list of things I wanted to accomplish. Well, I didn’t do any of the things on the list (like write articles) but I did appreciate having the movies handy. Healing takes time and there is no substitute for it- we can’t rush it or apologize for it. I was grateful I had set myself up for a relaxed time. I had even had my hair cut before-hand, so that I wouldn’t look too disheveled without having to do much work to look half-human. How we look, at different points in our recovery, can influence how we feel. Sometimes it is worth putting on a clean shirt, or shaving/applying make-up if this helps us to feel better. However, we have to really listen to our bodies. I had to say “no” to some of the things I thought I could get done, and be content.
It is great if you can share your healing journey with a friend. If you are dealing with significant illness such as cancer, it is so helpful to find a mentor that has been through it- that can hear your fears and give perspective to your experiences from first hand. At Shouldice, I was with a lot of men going through exactly the same surgery. We ate our meals together and talked about what was going on. I met a new friend, Matt, and exchanged email addresses. I was able to compare the new symptoms and challenges of recovery with him- the witty banter of our emails being a high point in my day and keeping me focused outward through a time that can easily become extremely inward focused.
I was told that after 2 weeks that I could start to return gently to exercise. I am in the habit of running “intervals” on a treadmill, so at 15 days I thought I would be able to start this again in some form. I had returned to work after a week and was getting around quite well, I thought. What amazed me, when I got on the treadmill, was how out of balance my body was. I thought I was moving well. I teach about posture and gait and yet I was oblivious as to how contorted my own body was as it continues to compensate for the incision. Being on a treadmill, where I could focus on my own symmetry and not be distracted by my external environment, I felt how “off” my body still is.
We have a dog that had some problems with her knee on one of her back legs. She learned to walk quite quickly using only three legs. When we got her evaluated by a specialist, they encouraged us to walk her slowly on a leash, so that she would be forced to use her fourth leg and re-establish normal movement of her gait. She was happy to run and chase squirrels and ignore her problem- she needed us to walk her slowly so that she could use her limbs properly and restore her walking patterns.
I’m a lot like my dog. The busy-ness of life allows me to ignore that I am “running on 3 legs”. If I don’t work to correct this, I will keep subtle patterns in my gait which will become problems in the future- I see the evidence of this all the time in my practice. People’s health challenges frequently relate back to a problem they had years ago which was never fully resolved and they just learned to live with it- favouring a side unconsciously, until certain areas succumbed to the increased wear and tear. I need to spend regular time on the treadmill (I’m still at walking slowly- running won’t be happening for quite some time!) to develop a regular gait pattern. If you are recovering from an injury or surgery and you have access to a treadmill, I encourage you to evaluate the symmetry of your walking (and running?) without external distractions. This includes movement of every part of your body- neck, shoulders, arms, hips, legs, feet. If things feel “out of balance”, get evaluated at our office. Find out how to work on the imbalance and don’t just leave it. You can learn to live with it and ignore it, but it will catch up to you!
You can ignore your car wheels being out of alignment, but eventually your tires are going to wear unevenly and you will get a flat. You don’t want to “get a flat” in your health!