The Lettuce Moment
- by L.A. Law
- Posted on December 6, 2016
You may have noticed from my last post that I have been “under the weather” with a herniated disk. After suffering with excruciating pain that hardly lets up and has confined me in bed for almost 3 weeks, I finally had my “lettuce moment” today. Let me explain what the lettuce moment is to me.
Some years back, my daughter was diagnosed with cancer and those first few weeks in the hospital were the worst. Of course there was a lot of pain and physical things for her to endure and it was completely awful as a parent to watch, not being able to alleviate any of it. But the worst part was not knowing what we could ultimately expect the outcome to be. It was difficult to have faith that she could get through it when she was visibly suffering day in and day out with no relief in sight. As we had never personally fought cancer before, we had no personal knowledge of that point when you know you are going to get through something. And outcomes are different for each individual so doctors are limited in their advisement on outcomes. I find it difficult to believe in a positive outcome when you feel the direct opposite of positive, when negative is smacking you in the face in the worst way.
But after a few weeks of hell, there was this moment, when the negative subsided ever so slightly and a moment of relief came. My daughter took that moment of relief to be silly and take a piece of lettuce from her hospital sandwich and place it on her head. We cracked up and I knew in that moment that we would get through it. It is a turning point that you can visualize recovery because your body has responded in a way to signal a response to treatment. A moment of hope. The Lettuce Moment.
I had my lettuce moment today. Maybe it was the right amount of sleep last night. Maybe it was the start of physical therapy yesterday. Maybe doing those exercises in my bed actually works. But after my initial morning pain and coffee, I was able to stand on 2 feet almost completely. A major hurdle. In that moment I could see the path of recovery laid out before me. Just yesterday that path was cloudy. I didn’t know where it was headed. I still don’t know how long the path is but I can see a spot down that road that signifies the end! I am a visual person and I need to be able to see the end for myself. So this was a major accomplishment for my mental recovery. I feel that my mind needs to see the path of recovery so my body can follow. Maybe today when people ask me how I am feeling, I can honestly say something positive and believe it! Now if I only had a piece of lettuce.
Related
You may have noticed from my last post that I have been “under the weather” with a herniated disk. After suffering with excruciating pain that hardly lets up and has confined me in bed for almost 3 weeks, I finally had my “lettuce moment” today. Let me explain what the lettuce moment is to me.…