Good morning, Sue (@sueinmn)

My first encounter with the body’s miraculous way of mending itself if left almost on its own, aided by proper nutrition, exercise (insofar as that’s possible), a good night’s sleep, and (most essential!) a positive outlook on life, occurred a dozen years ago when I fractured my humerus. I recall sitting in the ER doc’s cubicle, my busted arm in a temporary sling, and being shown some X-rays. The first to be shown made me wince: an upper arm, the big bone broken, contorted, the humerus’s two ends seemingly so far apart they’d never meet without some serious surgery. My first thought: ‘I feel sorry for whomever that arm belongs to!’ What I saw on the X-ray looked so bad I couldn’t believe I was looking at my own arm. When the doc told I was looking at my arm, my thinking shifted to ‘How soon can you operate?’ His reply: ‘An operation won’t be necessary. Your busted humerus will mend on its own. It’ll take time, but it will happen. You’ll be amazed.’ And amazed I was. With every follow-up X-ray, I saw my busted humerus slowly, gradually, painstakingly doing what it had to do to make my arm whole again.

I was equally amazed to watch my sepsis wound heal, slowly drawing together, shrinking, and growing shallower at every dressing change. Between these two experiences––my snapped humerus, my wounded foot––I’ve come to respect the magic of the body’s ability to mend itself if we only feed it properly, rest it as much as we can, exercise it (within bounds), and believe it will one day be whole again.

Cheers!
Ray (@ray666)

P.S. How we deal with chronic conditions like PN is a matter for another post, another day.