@upstatephil Phil, that's a wonderful idea. I did something like that too and you will benefit by writing and finding the connections. With my journey through spine surgery and all the twists and turns it took before I found surgeon who really would help me, I struggled with the fear and how to overcome it. So I also wrote about how I figured out where this fear had come from, how I coped with it, how I felt being dismissed by surgeons, and I deprogrammed it.

None of us are born with fear. I decided that if fear was learned, then I could unlearn it and break the grip it had on me. It is something we learn in our lives and our brain holds onto that very tightly because of our survival instincts, and it can run away with you very easily. This is why it is so amazing to me to have unraveled it and unlearned the fear pathways in my memory. I have been tested since my spine surgery with surgeries for a fractured ankle and oral surgery, and I flew through that fearlessly. I didn't ever think I could be that fearless person, but here I am.

Jennifer