A note from the other side

Hoping for a bit of patience as I recover

On Monday I had a day of surgery and now I am resting and recovering.

I will be healing for several months, and have a bit of a road to being myself again, but I will be completely healthy and fine.

I usually write in times of upheaval to sort out the swirling inside my head. Right now I cannot do that, and I apologize.

Like many people navigating illness and healing, I have a tendency to hide away when things are medically difficult, and to insulate away. The result of this surgery means my physical appearance looks quite ghastly in the (hopefully, hopefully, hopefully) short term, and I hope to eventually be able to put finger to keyboard about it for my next book.

I am trying to put one foot in front of the other. I am trying to believe the people who tell me I will heal. I am trying to reimagine my identity as not necessarily being tied to a permanent physical appearance (a true mindfuck for a woman), and to hope that while I am hiding out in bed for a bit, I won’t be totally forgotten while the world carries on.

I am focusing on being as capable as possible for my children and accepting help and matzoh ball soup from my family and friends. Please be patient with me as I navigate the next few weeks and months.

I hope to find my way back to writing about anything soon.

In the meantime, please suggest anything you think I might be interested in watching or reading to get through it all.

Again, if you think there might be something wrong, please do whatever you can to get it checked by a doctor you trust.

I am ultimately glad I did.

Thank you for being here. I know I am very lucky.

X

Bess