Dear readers,
I’m still recovering from my diagnosis of type 1 diabetes forty years ago. The recovery involves daily injections of insulin, a continuous glucose monitor affixed to my upper arm and a hovering awareness of where my blood sugar is at any moment and which way it’s headed.
Recovering isn’t just about getting over an operation or a brief illness, although life does offer us some quick recoveries: At age five I got over my tonsillectomy in a week or two; and, luckily for me, my bout of COVID last winter left no lasting effects.
A lot of life isn’t like that. One could say that many of us–perhaps most of us–are still recovering from our childhood.
Illness and physical trauma can permanently diminish body and spirit. And emotional trauma often scars the soul.
As a physician, I didn’t want patients to leave the exam room having to recover from something I’d missed or something I’d said. I certainly heard about other doctors’ comments–thoughtless criticisms or frightening possibilities–that patients were still recovering from.
This month’s More Voices photo, by Sara Kohrt, shows two goblets on a bar counter and a winged creature struggling, it appears, to break free–a reminder of other forms of recovery.
As I write this, it occurs to me that many of us will spend a good part of this month recovering from Tuesday’s presidential election. For some, that recovery may go on for years.
What about you? Is there something you’re in the process of recovering from–or something you’ve successfully pulled through and put behind you? Or have you helped someone else’s recovery–or been unable to help them navigate that process?
November’s More Voices theme is Recovering. Share your story using the More Voices Submission Form. For more details, visit More Voices FAQs. And have a look at last month’s theme: Getting Motivated.
Remember, your story should be 40-400 words. And no poetry, please.
We look forward to hearing from you!
With warm regards,
Paul Gross
Editor