Category: Family

The Importance of Apology in Medicine

~ Linda Wright

In my lifetime I have needed medical treatment on a much more frequent basis than most people. Several friends have suggested to me that if I write a second book it should be about all the times doctors have said or done something that was hurtful, thoughtless, or inconsiderate. It seems that most of my friends have had at least one or two experiences with doctors that left them feeling angry or ashamed.  It should not be surprising, after all doctors are humans. What is surprising to me is that the doctors I trusted to get things right, never apologized when they got things wrong. Instead, even the most compassionate and skilled physicians default seems to be to blame the patient when the result is not successful. “You didn’t contact me early enough,” or “I don’t believe it is anything to be concerned about,” are the most frequent excuses I have heard. The fact is that these occasions are etched more vividly in my memory than the physical injury or pain I suffered at the time. Recently I learned that the latest data shows that if a doctor admits to making a mistake, even if it caused the patient some additional harm, there is a reduction on medical malpractice suits. That makes sense to me. Healing isn’t just about medicinal science it is built upon trust and the doctor/patient relationship.

Day 18 (of 31 days of free writing)

Coping with Ovarian Cancer: A Personal Journey

~ Linda Wright

Yesterday I had a conversation with a woman who has ovarian cancer. She has gone through surgery, radiation, and at least two rounds of chemotherapy. She had just had another PET scan and she was eager to get the results. “I know my last blood work showed I have cancer markers,” she said without emotion, “but I don’t know whether the cancer will show on the scan yet.” One way or another we will die, it’s just a matter of time. The dying isn’t the hard part, it’s the staying alive that takes some endurance.

Day 17 (of 31 days of free writing)

Social Media Shapes Our News Realities

Parallel Universes
~ Linda Wright

Once upon a time, a very long time ago, there were only three broadcast networks on television and those three networks reported mostly the same news, altering only the order of the stories on any day. I know this because when I was in high school a friend and I decided to do a social studies project. One of us listened to the news each evening on ABC and the other listened to NBC or CBS. Each of us made notes on the items reported and when the news programs ended we talked on the phone and compared our lists. There were occasionally minor differences in the slant given to each piece, but mostly it was the same news given in a different order.


Now we seem to have a multiverse of choices for news, not just on television and radio, but via streaming on the Internet and social media. Most of my friends listen to the same sources for their news. Their social media sends them only the news they want to hear. They all have similar views on politics and believe they know what is true. Today as I was driving and listening to music on the radio I heard news that turned my sense of reality upside down. Perhaps there really is an alternate reality right here on this planet.

Day 16 (of 31 days of free writing)

The Meaning of Life Through Stories and Caregiving

To be continued
~ Linda Wright

In my lifetime I’ve had several identities. Born with a rare blood disorder I had a clear difference from all the other children I knew. It gained me a lot of attention and I took pride in educating others about my disorder. I had a role to play at a very young age and rules I needed to follow. I knew things other people, even adults, did not. I was also a student and a pretty good storyteller. What set me apart from other children was that I knew how to successfully live with blood that did not clot.
It wasn’t until I got my first job that I felt I had another persona. I was a librarian as well as a person with a rare bleeding disorder. I could now help others in both of these roles. Later in my life I was a care-giver for my parents. I didn’t think about my purpose in life until I was no longer employed, no longer a care-giver, and most amazingly no longer a person with a rare bleeding disorder. Even though most would consider that all great news, I felt some perplexity about who I was now.

It was then that I began to consider what makes life worth living. I believe most of us construct meaning with what we do, how we help others, and what stories we tell. Luckily there are still lots of things I can do, others to help, and stories to tell.

Day 15 (of 31 days of free writing)

A Lifetime of Change

~ Linda Wright

Looking back on my lifetime, I see vast differences from what I was like at age seven, seventeen, twenty-seven, and seventy. If you could see inside my clothes closet in 1959, 1979, 1999 and then 2019 you would notice that, not only did the styles differ, but the sizes as I gained then lost both height and weight. My concerns, my priorities, my self-confidence, my beliefs have modified as I have been influenced by other people. Literature, media, conversations have all transformed how I perceive the world and myself.

Sure there are some similarities between the me as a child and the me as a young adult and the me as an elder, but there are some notable differences and I expect there will be more to come before my life ends. Although some try to control the direction their life will take, change is both inevitable and unpredictable. So I do the best I can to stay flexible and adapt to change as it comes.

Day 14 (of 31 days of free writing)