Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction. – C.S. Lewis
After being released from the hospital, my doctors recommended a series of physical therapy appointments.
I was scheduled for three sessions per week, lasting two hours or more.
After missing six weeks of therapy due to the flu, I was eager to return, especially after progressing so well.
When Gary saw me coming through the door with my walker, his expression changed from someone who had lost his best friend, to someone who had discovered that his worst enemy had returned from the dead. After reevaluating me, he shook his head and said, “We’ll have to start from scratch.” – Excerpt from “I’m Afraid”
I not only hoped to continue where we had left off, I expected it to happen.
My initial reaction to his statement was a combination of disappointment, frustration, and anger.
My desperate need to get well overshadowed these feeling; I was determined to carry on.
Two days later, I was sitting in the waiting room talking to an older man who I had met at my first appointment. Noticing that I had not improved very much since then, he asked if I had gotten a second opinion. Although I was annoyed by the question, I replied that I did not think that it was necessary.
A week later, two of my colleagues phoned and asked if there was anything they could do to help Laura or me.
Both of them encouraged me to seek a second opinion and recommended physicians they heard were “good.” I thanked them for their advice and made an excuse to end the conversations.
“Everybody’s an expert,” I thought to myself. “Every Tom, Dick, and Harry has been telling me about someone they know, or think they know, who has what I have or something like it, and has been cured in three days by Dr. So and So.
People who work in a hospital, or have been in a hospital, or have driven by a hospital are diagnosing me over the phone, in hallways, and in waiting rooms.”
For twenty minutes, I hobbled around the room, a cane in each hand, spewing my anger at the four walls. – Excerpt from “I’m Afraid”
It was common practice for me to recommend a second opinion to my patients when I believed it was necessary.
The majority of them trusted my judgment and agreed with little or no hesitation.
Why, then, was I so reluctant and obviously upset about accepting what my patients agreed to without difficulty?
Fear, doubt, and rationalization were counted among the perpetrators.
I offer these thoughts for your consideration.
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The saga continues in my next blog.
Do Not Be Afraid!!!