Memory and the brain are funny things, especially when it comes to the memory of physical pain or trauma. 

A very strange thing happened a few hours after I woke up from my bilateral mastectomy surgery. The tech had come into my room to see if I needed help getting out of bed. I gathered up all the things attached to me, there were several, and I sat on the side of the bed.

And I sat there….

And I sat there…

I was frozen. After a few minutes I looked at my left knee and said out loud, you work, I can stand up.

Then I did.

You see, a bilateral mastectomy feels a bit like seat belt trauma from a car accident. Ten years prior to my bilateral mastectomy surgery, I had a car accident where I punctured my knee joint. I couldn’t stand up without support.

As I sat up in bed and moved to the edge, my brain said, this feels familiar, oh that’s right we have been here before, you cannot stand up right now without help. This was not true, since my legs were both just fine. When I realized what was happening I was able to override the messages that my brain was sending me and give it a different experience.

Do you have any areas where you need to provide your brain with a different experience?

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