an outpouring of stories

If you want to hear an outpouring of stories about medicine, start a conversation about childbirth with a gathering of women, or ask about sports injuries among men. Ask a group of doctors about their most difficult cases. Listen to any cancer survivor describe her diagnosis and treatment. Ask a child about the band aid on his knee. You’ll find a story there.

Photo by Dmitri Maruta on DepositPhotos

These stories serve us in several ways:

•  By narrating our experience, we organize our thoughts about it. No longer are we plagued with a vague sense of fear, or dread, or uncertainty. We come to understand what our fear is based upon. The pregnant woman confesses, “I thought I did something wrong to cause the bleeding.” The basketball player says, “I thought I’d never play again.” The doctor admits, “I had no idea what to do next." 

• Storytelling is an attempt to understand the cause and timing of an illness. Why me? Why this? Why now? What did I do, or fail to do, to bring this on?

• It enables us to understand the role illness plays in our lives. How it affects our family and friends, our team, our job, our finances. Our future. It all comes out.

•  It forces us to ask some difficult questions. What could I have done differently? How much pain can I bear? Who will take care of me? How long do I have to live? 

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This is a big deal. Illness disrupts our lives at the same time it grounds us. It forces us take a good hard look at what we value. Shared stories of recovery and healing dispel fear, and give us hope. Stories of loss deepen empathy, and help us confront denial. Stories of courage and faith strengthen us for our own battles.

"Telling our story

does not merely document who we are.

It helps make us who we are."

~Rita Charon~

The importance of storytelling in medicine cannot be overestimated. Most of us are bursting with stories, about to explode with the untold narratives we stuff inside because no one invites us to tell them. Or we don't know where to start. Or we trivialize their importance.
 

"One of the most valuable

things we can do to heal

one another is to listen to

each other's stories."

~Rebecca Falls~

How, then, will we heal?

 jan