Jo Jewell on body parts
My Constitution's Rights
by Jo Jewell
Having recently had knee surgery it has come to my attention that a discussion on body parts and their thoughts is somewhat past due.
Let's discuss this thing know as Meniscus. The Meniscus sits at the point where the upper and lower leg bones meet, and along with a bunch of other parts join to form the knee.The pillowy meniscus is a pad that sits between the bones, behind the kneecap delegating power, maintaining balance and a general feeling of well being.
We all have two of them, just like we have two eyes and two ears, and still only one mouth. As in the song I hear Olivia sing from time to time, "we have two ears and only one mouth, we should use our ears twice as much."
Perhaps we should insert the use of our meniscus as an option as well.
In non-violent communication protocol we could edit it to include the following steps before responding to an upset person! :• Stop,• Count to ten,• Think of the other persons point of view,• Breath through your meniscus,• Walk around and see where that takes you.
The meniscus can be fragile; my doctor said mine was frayed. At first I thought he meant afraid, and I felt so deeply for this little, never considered little body part of mine. My meniscus was afraid? Then I thought about all the stress it is under just to do its job. Especially after I put on those last ten pounds, my God! No wonder it was afraid! Then my Doctor corrected me; "No, it is frayed, not afraid." I thought, "Well that sounds much better, I bet it has kind of a nice look, sort of scalloped around the edges, much more feminine than just a plan old round edged meniscus. Why that just sounds lovely! "My meniscus is frayed." I could drop that into almost any conversation I found myself in, whether in Marin, San Francisco or Berkeley. Maybe I could even use it in a grant!
But upon the last inspection, the Doctor had decided it was a flap - a piece that gone out on its own and now was getting in the way. I had very little sympathy for this latest image. I could worry and sing songs to an afraid meniscus, and a frayed meniscus almost seemed like a new fashion accessory for spring.
But I have plenty of flaps already. So, where do I sign? Let's get this operation scheduled maybe he could get rid of some of the other flaps as well. It was very handy to fix this problem as was it was done in a "Specialty Clinic," right next to the mall. They washed my knee, each nurse asking which knee it was, which made me laugh and hope for lots of post surgery drugs, to be prepared for the screw up that might be coming. I had to smile when the last protocol prior to surgery (before you walk into the surgery room) was to put the Doctors' initials on the correct knee with a smiley face with an ink pen.
So I walked into the surgical room and was covered with a sheet connected to warm air blower, which I think made us all feel better. The anesthesiologist said "Nighty night," and off I went to dream land, thinking it would be so nice if they would knock you out like this for a haircut w/full highlights. I woke up and it was done. I batted my eyes and started crying BECAUSE IT HURT LIKE HELL! "IT HURTS EVERYBODY, IT REALLY HURTS!"
Fortunately the nurse was standing by with Demerol, of which it took two doses to ease the PAIN.Then comes the Doctor, this lovely man who had fixed my daughter's broken arm without hurting her more. And he told me that my meniscus was not afraid, not frayed, not even a flap. My meniscus had been torn.
"Oh my, no wonder it hurt!" he said. Awe, I thought, it was torn; torn about what? Is it kind of like me these days, thinking and wondering what life is all about? I wonder if it is ready to do something new, something more with itself. It could be torn over the all the hardship in the world, the political strife, the war in Iraq. It was torn. My meniscus was not some vain, frilly thing to mention at a whim at dinner parties- it was torn, it had issues!
But not any more, my Doctor sewed it back together. Now it and the whole land around it is fully enclosed in a brace: a large black strappy thing, imposing, impenetrable, and unopenable. Beneath the contraption lies the sewn meniscus whose job is now to become one with itself over the next 4 weeks. It cannot bend, at times it can bear some weight, but it is under close supervision, or dare I say surveillance. I wonder what took place while I was off snoozing in ecstasy and the arthroscopies were in there. Did they do any counseling, talk through the issues? Or was it a "You must comply! Now pull yourself together." ! I guess the only way I will know is if this meniscus becomes torn again.
But you better believe I am going to be much more in tune with my cartilages and such in the future. If I hear so much as a part of me is afraid, frayed, or even a little flappy. I am going right over to Spirit Rock for some immediate dialogue, some sweathousing, cranial therapy, hot rock massage, whatever it takes. We are not going to have an Animal Farm come about within this body, this is 2006, not 1984 and every bone, ligament, synapse and muscle fiber shall have its day and its say!
by Jo Jewell
Having recently had knee surgery it has come to my attention that a discussion on body parts and their thoughts is somewhat past due.
Let's discuss this thing know as Meniscus. The Meniscus sits at the point where the upper and lower leg bones meet, and along with a bunch of other parts join to form the knee.The pillowy meniscus is a pad that sits between the bones, behind the kneecap delegating power, maintaining balance and a general feeling of well being.
We all have two of them, just like we have two eyes and two ears, and still only one mouth. As in the song I hear Olivia sing from time to time, "we have two ears and only one mouth, we should use our ears twice as much."
Perhaps we should insert the use of our meniscus as an option as well.
In non-violent communication protocol we could edit it to include the following steps before responding to an upset person! :• Stop,• Count to ten,• Think of the other persons point of view,• Breath through your meniscus,• Walk around and see where that takes you.
The meniscus can be fragile; my doctor said mine was frayed. At first I thought he meant afraid, and I felt so deeply for this little, never considered little body part of mine. My meniscus was afraid? Then I thought about all the stress it is under just to do its job. Especially after I put on those last ten pounds, my God! No wonder it was afraid! Then my Doctor corrected me; "No, it is frayed, not afraid." I thought, "Well that sounds much better, I bet it has kind of a nice look, sort of scalloped around the edges, much more feminine than just a plan old round edged meniscus. Why that just sounds lovely! "My meniscus is frayed." I could drop that into almost any conversation I found myself in, whether in Marin, San Francisco or Berkeley. Maybe I could even use it in a grant!
But upon the last inspection, the Doctor had decided it was a flap - a piece that gone out on its own and now was getting in the way. I had very little sympathy for this latest image. I could worry and sing songs to an afraid meniscus, and a frayed meniscus almost seemed like a new fashion accessory for spring.
But I have plenty of flaps already. So, where do I sign? Let's get this operation scheduled maybe he could get rid of some of the other flaps as well. It was very handy to fix this problem as was it was done in a "Specialty Clinic," right next to the mall. They washed my knee, each nurse asking which knee it was, which made me laugh and hope for lots of post surgery drugs, to be prepared for the screw up that might be coming. I had to smile when the last protocol prior to surgery (before you walk into the surgery room) was to put the Doctors' initials on the correct knee with a smiley face with an ink pen.
So I walked into the surgical room and was covered with a sheet connected to warm air blower, which I think made us all feel better. The anesthesiologist said "Nighty night," and off I went to dream land, thinking it would be so nice if they would knock you out like this for a haircut w/full highlights. I woke up and it was done. I batted my eyes and started crying BECAUSE IT HURT LIKE HELL! "IT HURTS EVERYBODY, IT REALLY HURTS!"
Fortunately the nurse was standing by with Demerol, of which it took two doses to ease the PAIN.Then comes the Doctor, this lovely man who had fixed my daughter's broken arm without hurting her more. And he told me that my meniscus was not afraid, not frayed, not even a flap. My meniscus had been torn.
"Oh my, no wonder it hurt!" he said. Awe, I thought, it was torn; torn about what? Is it kind of like me these days, thinking and wondering what life is all about? I wonder if it is ready to do something new, something more with itself. It could be torn over the all the hardship in the world, the political strife, the war in Iraq. It was torn. My meniscus was not some vain, frilly thing to mention at a whim at dinner parties- it was torn, it had issues!
But not any more, my Doctor sewed it back together. Now it and the whole land around it is fully enclosed in a brace: a large black strappy thing, imposing, impenetrable, and unopenable. Beneath the contraption lies the sewn meniscus whose job is now to become one with itself over the next 4 weeks. It cannot bend, at times it can bear some weight, but it is under close supervision, or dare I say surveillance. I wonder what took place while I was off snoozing in ecstasy and the arthroscopies were in there. Did they do any counseling, talk through the issues? Or was it a "You must comply! Now pull yourself together." ! I guess the only way I will know is if this meniscus becomes torn again.
But you better believe I am going to be much more in tune with my cartilages and such in the future. If I hear so much as a part of me is afraid, frayed, or even a little flappy. I am going right over to Spirit Rock for some immediate dialogue, some sweathousing, cranial therapy, hot rock massage, whatever it takes. We are not going to have an Animal Farm come about within this body, this is 2006, not 1984 and every bone, ligament, synapse and muscle fiber shall have its day and its say!
posted by Paul Salinger at 12:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home