Op-Ed: The pandemic, Hurricane Ian and me — a doctor whose friends say I have PTSD
I’m writing this in the middle of a crisis. But that crisis is exactly what has been holding me back from writing this column for many months.
I really miss writing.
I missed writing because I couldn’t figure out how to write.
I couldn’t figure out how to think.
And most important, I couldn’t figure out what to write about.
I didn’t know what the hell to say.
Here’s a list of things I’ve been thinking about writing since the pandemic began. None of these thoughts have been written. None of them have been thought.
1. You had me at “I have PTSD.”
2. My dad.
3. Why I’m in a position to ask a question I’m afraid to ask.
4. How I’m not in a position to be self-prescribing.
5. The world in general, and how it’s changed.
6. The things I haven’t missed about writing in 10 years.
7. People I thought I knew.
8. The stories that never get told because the stories are too painful.
9. My dad and what he means to my family.
10. The people I have not thanked for what they have done for me.
11. My mom.
12. How I’m not ready to be an over-the-hill, bed-bound, wheelchair-bound, and life-long-dependent-on-a-wheelchair-person.
13. This is not a joke.
14. How the world has made me a better person.
What I’ve learned over the past 10 years:
– In the world, as in life, there are winners and there are losers. I know, because I’ve been here, and I know.
– You should not have to choose which of the