My very first ever video on You Tube was when I had my ankle surgery last year. The doctor that operated on me was moving to New York and on my last visit with him, he was calling me a wimp. He wasn’t saying it with anger, just point blank: ” You are acting like a wimp.”
He was saying that because I was complaining about the intense pain on my ankle. I answered him: “Have you ever had this apparatus attached to your ankle?” And remember, I reminded him, “It was 2 surgeries at the same time!” (To remove most my pins and plates from my surgery 7 years ago besides the treatment for my cartilage.) He agreed. It was different and a double whammy.
So after he moved to New York, I figured out a way of working out on my Pilate’s machine without putting direct pressure with the shish kabobs that ran across my feet. I created the first video to prove to him that I wasn’t a wimp. I called it: “A Message to Dr. Fox”.
After he saw it, he emailed me in great surprise. Then the other Doctor who took over my care here in Miami, Dr. Wagner, sent it to all his staff and other doctors and nurses in Miami. They called me the “crazy patient.” They had never seen anyone with a fixator do something like that. So I went from being called a wimp to being an amazing patient. They wanted to use me as a case study to inspire other patients. It really was not a big deal for me. Exercise has been my forte all my life.
Being a mom has been the most wonderful experience in my life. I am blessed to have such a great son who is amazingly peaceful, kind, funny and considerate. I called my ex-husband a wimp because he wasn’t willing to change a schedule. Yep, this whole drama was because of a darn schedule. But instead of stepping up to the plate, he chose to lash at me in a very extreme way.
I could have chosen to feel bad about my doctor calling me a wimp. But I chose to do something about it. I took a negative(being afraid to put pressure on my feet) into a positive. I am so amazed at how the smallest of things tick people off. But is it really that one small thing? Or an accumulation of pent up anger ready to pop built up from years of holding it in? I know my ex-husband is not a terrible man. He really loves my son. He was mad at me. But what a waste of energy and a drain for such a small thing.
I have been able to manage all my stress pretty well because I have dreams. I don’t know how long it will take me to get there. My countdown clock is ticking away and I haven’t been able to get much done lately. But I have gotten much accomplished in my life with new opportunities. I will not let anything get me down. If anything, this incident, which in the scheme of things is minor, propels me even more to fuel my passion with what I want to do. It is about inspiring children. Life is really too precious to waste on trivial things.
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