Enter.

The other day, my patient who had a stroke was sitting on the leg press machine pushing at it, when he suddenly said to me, “I hope you never have to go through this.” I believe him. It was a while ago but I had a dream. Not sure what my diagnosis was, the point was, I was stuck in a body that didn’t respond as I asked it to. I felt weak and wobbly walking, but was very self-conscious and was trying so hard to “walk normal”. The frustration and anxiety built up within me like an erupting volcano. I wanted no attention, no glance of suspicion from anyone thinking that something was wrong. That’s probably only a fraction of what my patient is feeling on a day-to-day basis. But that’s enough to make me appreciate the sense of normalcy. I think about my other patient, who had a spinal cord injury in his neck resulting in pretty severe weakness in both his arms and legs. He depends on someone else to scratch his face, to shift positions, to dress, to eat, all those things we take for granted. Can you imagine how that feels like? We work on scooting on a board, using whatever strength we can squeeze out of his arms and lots of strategy. You should’ve seen the smile on his face when he saw how far he scooted with on the mat. Every inch counts in this world. Every patient I see teaches me something. Human beings are so incredibly strong. We’re hardwired to survive, to be better, and to live with a dash of hope.

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