The
period from Sept. 21 to Dec. 21 in the Northern Hemisphere has been known as harvest,
autumn, and fall. We no longer call the season harvest and now associate it
only with the activity that our farmers go through at this time of year. We
call it fall, in association with the falling of the leaves and the falling of
the seasons. Fall is the common term used in the U.S. The British use the term autumn,
from the Etruscan term autu-, which connotes the passing of the time during the
year, later translated into Latin and then Medieval English. Chaucer,
Shakespeare, and many others have looked at autumn and fall very poetically as
the passage of time in our lives as well.
Dan was
in a high-velocity, rear-end motor vehicle accident. He came to me on referral
from his lawyer and his physiotherapist due to orofacial and temporomandibular joint
pain that he was suffering from after the accident. I worked with his health
care team in a collaborative, multi-disciplinary measure in an effort to get
his upper body, neck, head, and orofacial region to heal and return to a
pre-accident state of comfort and function. The treatment, from my perspective,
involved an intraoral orthotic (commonly, but incorrectly called a splint,
since we are not splinting anything, but rather, orthopedically repositioning
the lower jaw to a different physiologic position). At first he found the
orthopedic position unusual for him, but he trusted me and the health care team
we were working with. Wearing the orthotic most of the time, day and night, was
a challenge for him. After his first week he wrote: “Commitment to success is
not really an option, it’s the way I have approached the entire ordeal. While I
am very hesitant to apply the terminology of ‘lucky’ and ‘unlucky’ to the
extent of the injuries I have sustained in an avoidable accident caused by
someone else’s negligence, accountability still lies with me for recovery.
Things in general could be significantly worse.”
Dan then
went on to say, “The executive assistant on my team was just diagnosed for the
second time with breast cancer. If she can vow to beat it again, then I think I
definitely can handle this.”
October,
the heart of the fall season, is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Canada.
We have the Terry Fox run in late September (Terry, losing one leg to cancer,
tried to run across Canada with only one leg, making it almost half way before
his cancer returned and he succumbed to this terrible disease) and recently the
Run for the Cure, a fundraiser for breast cancer sponsored by one of Canada’s
national banks. We see lots of men and women wearing pink to show solidarity
and support for those suffering from “women’s” cancers and it is a time for us
to pause and reflect on the gift of life and health we enjoy.
Dan
wrote the passages above in February 2015. I am happy to report that by the end
of April, Dan’s headaches and orofacial pain were gone and we had weaned him off
the orthotic wear to nighttime use only. He was a happy man, and so were we.
As for
Dan’s executive assistant… she is still with us, battling strongly and looking
surprisingly well. Those who know her are praying for continued strength and
recovery.
So enjoy
autumn. Get out and smell the air as the season is changing, see the swirling
leaves as they are moved with the passing breeze, hear the sounds of the birds
heading south en masse. It is a time to pause and reflect, a time to reconsider
our health and our place in this world, and a time to prepare for the coming
winter.
And
don’t forget to get a flu shot!
Warm
regards,
It's good to see that there's a month dedicated to spreading awareness of breast cancer. It's important for people to know when and how to look for signs of cancers. Thanks for sharing this!
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