Thursday, July 2, 2015

When Living Becomes Not Normal

Yesterday, July 1, 2015, I was admitted to surgery to repair an injured shoulder.  The procedure required anesthesia and a nerve block of the cervical or brachial plexus to deaden my arm.  Following the procedure, my arm remained limp in a sling, and without feeling, for the remainder of the night and into the next morning.  I had the experience of someone who could only use one arm.  Of course with my family providing support, I was not expected to do very much.  However, the morning after, I ventured to brush my teeth, use the bathroom, make a smoothie, and do normal things people do – grab, hold, move, scratch an itch.  It occurred to me how normal is taken for granted.
During the evening after returning home, I unconsciously attempted to clasp my hands and recognized that my hands didn’t know where each other was.  In fact, my left arm could not find where my right arm was. When they touched, only one responded. The left arm and hand did not respond and lay limply in the sling.  Have you ever tried to open a bottle or button a shirt with one hand? How do you open a tube of toothpaste without making a mess of it?  I had to think carefully and discover ingenious ways to accomplish simple tasks.  I placed a bottle of vitamins between my legs and used my right hand, the functional one, to open it and retrieve a tablet. I pressed the tube of toothpaste against the edge of the bathroom sink to stabilize it before twisting the cap to obtain toothpaste. Since the tube is soft, the tube twisted while the cap remained tightly attached.  My left arm was an appendage without motion and feeling.  Awaking in the middle of the night, I was almost startled by this warm, heavy appendage across my chest and wondered for a second who owned it.
My 18-hour encumbrance provided great respect for those born with, or those who have developed physical and mental challenges, deformities or deficiencies.  It provided me with a new appreciation for the difficult life and major adjustments required by many in our community – quadriplegics, paraplegics, and stroke patients; children born with deficiencies such as, cerebral palsy; trisomics, like those with Down syndrome, who live their entire lives with their physical deficits. 
My experience provided me with the following insights:
1.       We owe a great tribute to the dedicated occupational therapists who spend their professional lives devising ingenious ways, and developing tools and protocols, that enable people who live with physical and mental deficiencies to perform daily tasks more efficiently.
2.       We who are more physically gifted must exhibit far more patience, love, and care for those who struggle day by day to accomplish those tasks we often take for granted.

3.       We should never take for granted the many gifts of our physical abilities, which can be quickly snatched away by unfortunate accidents and ill health.

Love and Blessings!

Len