Surgery Day
Anchor Phrase: I will move through this day one moment at a time.
Dear Caregiver,
I’m so sorry that your person is having surgery today.
As a caregiver who has lived through more surgery days for my husband than I can count, I know firsthand that days like this can be full of emotions of all kinds. Even when the scheduled procedure is designed to make something better, to remove or replace or repair something, it can still feel so hard to have this huge thing happen to our loved one.
This chapter of The Storyline is designed to support you as you move through this day one moment at a time. These tools are here to help ground you when you feel unanchored, focused when you feel scattered, understood when you feel alone.
Caregiver, together we will make it through this day, one moment at a time.
reflection questions
- Surgery days can bring up a wide range of emotions, every one of which makes perfect sense. What emotions have you experienced so far today?
- Which emotion are you feeling the most acutely in this moment? Remind yourself that it makes perfect sense that you are feeling that way and that you will get through this day, one moment at a time.
- Your mind may be swirling with unknowns, such as how long surgery will last, what they will find, what recovery will look like, etc. In this moment, what are three things you know for sure? These don’t have to be related to surgery, just think of truths that can help anchor you in this moment.
- When we send our loved one off into surgery, it can feel like we have no control of the situation. What are two things you do have control over right now?
- What is the best case scenario outcome for today’s surgery? Let that scenario play like a movie in your mind, imagining it in technicolor detail.
Guided Meditation
Essays and Poetry
Master Piece
Procedure after procedure, they chisel away at him. It makes me think of a sculptor who starts with a piece of rock and then, bit
I Feel It All
My previously thick skin has been worn down by the traumas we’ve endured.
As if each trip to the doctor brought with it a round of exfoliation
via steel wool.
Only a thin membrane covers me now,
one that is fully permeable to everything in my radius.