What happens when the body doesn’t heal itself?
This is my third ride on the merry go-round of chronic pain/illness (I could argue more here but I can’t imagine how that would serve me). In this go-around, I waited months to see a surgeon to make a treatment plan. During our discussion, she mentioned that some bodies do heal themselves from my particular ailment. Being a doctor, I’d read about what she was saying and this wasn’t a surprise to hear. Yet hearing it from a specialist felt really different.
Because in that moment, I wasn’t doctor-me, I was vulnerable, frightened patient-me.
I wondered, why isn’t my body healing itself?
I’m a naturopathic doctor, and part of the core philosophy/strategy of naturopathic medicine is to support the body’s innate ability to heal itself. But what happens if it can’t?
I honestly struggle with this concept. And I wonder if other people out there are like me, where you wonder why your body isn’t healing itself, where you put pressure on yourself to be able to bounce back?
We can create the conditions for optimal healing, but we also have to remember that being human is an imperfect pursuit.
If you know me even a little, you know that I love birds. Specifically rosy-faced lovebirds (back in my day, we called them peach-faced lovebirds so that’s what I’ll mostly call them). I was ten years old when we rescued Fflewdur and Gurgi, my pet peach-faced lovebirds. Fflewdur had a permanently broken wing when he came to live in my room. He couldn’t fly, but he and Gurgi were so happy to be in good conditions, they had babies. Sooo many bird-babies.* They were happy in my room and I gave them a good life. But was there something more to their lives they could have enjoyed? Maybe I’m writing this little story about my birds because my own wings are feeling a little broken. I’m lucky enough to have found a surgeon who is planning on fixing my little wing. But for those of you without answers, I’m hoping that the story of Fflewdur and Gurgi tells you that you can find joy and meaning and little birdie eggs even when things seem dire. There is healing in hope.
And maybe that’s the thing that I’m forgetting right now: There is healing in hope. And there is meaning beyond what we can see and research in our laboratories. So, like Fflewdur and Gurgi, just keep going and hoping and creating conditions for healing. And hopefully our bodies and hearts and spirit will do the rest.
*Important: I do not support or condone the pet parrot industry and if you are going to get a pet bird, it should be a rescue and don’t clip their wings (let them fly and you will have to clean a lot–and if you can’t, don’t get a bird)*
