Hello Fellow Travelers!
One of the side effects of a brain tumor is dysarthria, or the inability to speak. I have a clear recollection of everything else that instantly changed after the surgery but losing my voice was a gradual process. You know what? Being forced to shut up (and listen, to others), has been a revelation for me. I have always talked far too much, but now that I rarely speak, I'm amazed at how little really needs saying! Really, you don't have to say much to get along. Not speaking is inconvenient, to be sure, but not the end of the world you might imagine it to be. To not speak actually does make me a much better listener particularly to the people who I tended to cut off the most often - my son and my spouse, I cut off my son because I know better and my husband because I thought he was too slow getting to the point. I was wrong on both counts, and, delighted in finding out my son had all kinds of things to say, given the chance and so did my husband!
A lot of my new listening skill set, as I think of it, comes from a plethora of unnecessary (useless) factoids that are lodged in my cranium that do me no good now. I also see every challenge as an opportunity to gain some better understanding of people that I care about, the people that are by my side, on my side, on this terrible journey. (Did I mention my glass is half-full? Of what, I have not yet decided!)
Thought for the Day: Maybe I watch too much t.v. (I do, there's no maybe about it!) but since I've discovered ID, Investigation Discovery, and decided it was too slow for even myself, I have noticed more and more ads for legal help. The one that is scariest is the law firm that claims you have compensation waiting if you've had something called a mesh sling fail you. Side effects of this failure include: Intestinal fallout, kidney failure, painful intercourse and even death! My thinking is that if your intestines are falling out and your kidneys are failing maybe "painful intercourse" isn't your first priority. Or death. If you happen to be life-challenged, (or dead, as it were) maybe you're not thinking about sex at all. Just sayin'...
One of the side effects of a brain tumor is dysarthria, or the inability to speak. I have a clear recollection of everything else that instantly changed after the surgery but losing my voice was a gradual process. You know what? Being forced to shut up (and listen, to others), has been a revelation for me. I have always talked far too much, but now that I rarely speak, I'm amazed at how little really needs saying! Really, you don't have to say much to get along. Not speaking is inconvenient, to be sure, but not the end of the world you might imagine it to be. To not speak actually does make me a much better listener particularly to the people who I tended to cut off the most often - my son and my spouse, I cut off my son because I know better and my husband because I thought he was too slow getting to the point. I was wrong on both counts, and, delighted in finding out my son had all kinds of things to say, given the chance and so did my husband!
A lot of my new listening skill set, as I think of it, comes from a plethora of unnecessary (useless) factoids that are lodged in my cranium that do me no good now. I also see every challenge as an opportunity to gain some better understanding of people that I care about, the people that are by my side, on my side, on this terrible journey. (Did I mention my glass is half-full? Of what, I have not yet decided!)
Thought for the Day: Maybe I watch too much t.v. (I do, there's no maybe about it!) but since I've discovered ID, Investigation Discovery, and decided it was too slow for even myself, I have noticed more and more ads for legal help. The one that is scariest is the law firm that claims you have compensation waiting if you've had something called a mesh sling fail you. Side effects of this failure include: Intestinal fallout, kidney failure, painful intercourse and even death! My thinking is that if your intestines are falling out and your kidneys are failing maybe "painful intercourse" isn't your first priority. Or death. If you happen to be life-challenged, (or dead, as it were) maybe you're not thinking about sex at all. Just sayin'...
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