Defining Bravery as a Teenager and Parent
Differentiating between bravery and logic — 30 years ago, and today
As a teenager, hospitalized with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, paralyzed from the neck down, I waited for the myelin sheaths around my nerves to regrow. I spent four months in the hospital, and a lot of time explaining to people, I wasn’t brave. I had no choice. Sure, instead of going through daily physical therapy, I guess I could have stopped eating. I could have done a lot of yelling, screaming, and crying. There are always choices. However, choosing to eat, choosing to do what my doctors advised, and choosing not to yell or curse at my family, friends, or nurses, I didn’t consider brave. Just logical.
In the hospital, I saw many people worse off than me. I knew if I listened to my doctors, I would get most if not all of my movement back, given time. Many I saw in the hospital were not that fortunate.
One temporary side effect was a heightened reaction to heat. In my initial days in the hospital, as an occupational therapist was molding plaster splints for my arms, I kept telling her the plaster was too hot —it was going to burn me. However, she explained, if she decreased the temperature enough for me not to be in pain, it would be too cold to mold the splints. She ultimately had to tell me to ignore the messages…
