Thursday, May 5, 2011

It's a Long Way Back (Season 2, Episode 19)

After a trauma, your body is at it's most vulnerable.  Response time is critical, so you're suddenly surrounded by people - doctors, nurses, specialists, technicians.  Surgery is a team sport - everyone pushing for the finish line, putting you back together again.  But surgery is a trauma in and of itself and once it's over, the real healing begins.  We call it recovery.  Recovery is not a team sport.  It's a solitary distance run.  It's long, it's exhausting, and it's lonely as hell.

The length of your recovery is determined by the extent of your injuries.  And it's not always successful.  No matter how hard we work at it, some wounds might never fully heal.  You might have to adjust to a whole new way of living.  Things may have changed too rapidly to ever go back to what they were.  You might not even recognize yourself.  It's like you haven't recovered anything at all.  You're a whole new person, with a whole new life.

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