Hello all. I want to let you know about a new piece that I have written that was just published in Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine.
It's called "Restoration," and I have to say, even with as much as I write, I'm more proud of this piece of writing than I have been of anything I have written in a long time.
I won't spoil it for you, but I can tell you that the "restoration" in the title refers to two things. The first is furniture restoration. It's a hobby of mine -- finding old wooden furniture that someone is throwing away, and fixing it up, either to keep or to donate to someone else who might need it. "Restoration" of furniture is about trying to bring the furniture back to what it once was, before age and use made it something different.
"Restoration" also refers to our attempts to restore ourselves. As cancer patients and survivors, sometimes we wish that things could go back to the way they were, before diagnosis, before treatment, before everything else that comes with cancer. But furniture can never really be "restored." You can never bring it back to the way it was when it was created, as much as it might look like it used to be. And it's the same for us -- we can never really be the person we once were. And that's OK. Sometimes "renovation" is good enough for an old chair or side table -- making it something new, not making it was it was. And maybe we're the same way ourselves.
As I said, I was really happy with the way it turned out, because it was an idea that I had been turning over in my head for a long time, trying to make sense of it. I was finally able to say what I wanted to say, in the way I wanted to say it. I hope some folks find it valuable. Writing is good that way.
So if you'd like to read it, you can find it here. Thanks for clicking.
More Follicular Lymphoma stuff coming very soon.
Take care.
