How to get over the shame of an injury or surprise health diagnosis

I hope you had a Merry Merry Christmas despite all that’s happening in the world. It certainly looked different for the McLean family this year since I was mostly on the couch. However, I’m happy to report healing from surgery is going well :). Kaylee and Sean have been amazing healers and very understanding to my needs. We really had a lovely holiday!

What surprised me this surgery was the continued processing and integrating all kinds of emotions and stories that are connected to my Lynch Syndrome and my rectal cancer diagnosis, even though the initial diagnosis was 3 years ago!

When I was first diagnosed with rectal cancer I felt shame (you can listen to more about this and hear about my Lynch story in my friend’s podcast here).

Maybe you can relate? Through the years I’ve had many patients and clients tell me they are embarrassed about their back problem. Shamed to bring up the fact they have to say “no” to an activity, or have limitations. Or, feel silly they get so stressed out and overwhelmed easily by life’s events.

Like we are supposed to be these perfect beings without any flaws.

These negative emotions and negative self talk regarding the lack of health perfection are very common, just rarely talked about.

Western Medicine over the last few decades has made amazing advances in the prevention of cancers, diabetes, heart disease through the fields of epigenetics, as well as preventative medicine and education. It’s amazing how much can be prevented when we take care of ourselves.

However the downside of all this is, that when something goes wrong or we are given a surprise diagnosis we are left with the self blame. What could have I done better? Where did I mess up? I could have worked out more, ate better? I shouldn’t have lifted that item or done that. We beat ourselves us. This further exacerbates the issue.

Personally I’ve learned yes, we need to take responsibility and action for our health. That is #1 and super important, even life changing. However, without the attachment that this will guarantee a clean bill of health for your lifetime. And, if things don’t turn out as planned (most of the time they never do). Instead approach the situation from curiosity, instead of blame.

With a curious mind you will be able to let go of the emotions and additional stress that can actually delay and slow down your healing. This also opens the door to learning and growth.

Currently, this is where I am as I heal. You can listen to how I made the decision to go through with an elective (but potentially life saving) surgery in the most recent podcast episode here.

I look forward to get back into the swing of things in the next few weeks. Ready to join me? With the New Year it’s the perfect time to start.

If you are ready to take action for your own health make sure to save your spot on my schedule now. Spots in January are already booking up for those who are ready to have 2021 the most amazing year yet.

If you are ready to reduce stress and overwhelm so you can actually be relaxed at home and spend time with your family. Or, you are ready to let go of that shame and guilt and finally heal your back problem for good. Make sure to sign up for your free stress reduction planning call here, or just reply to this email.

If you have a health decision to make and are not sure which direction to take make sure to listen to this week’s podcast to hear about the thought process of how I decided to have my surgery.