Trauma is a funny thing…. when we say that it scars us, it means that we physically store it in our bodies. That’s not a unique idea. We store stress in our bodies and end up with tight shoulders and neck pain, etc. Trauma seems to get packed way more deeply.
Trauma that we have not fully come to terms with can then resurface after surgery, even relatively minor surgery.
I should note here that recovery from surgery has it’s own grieving of the loss of whatever what cut out of you or off of you. The trauma of the surgery itself is something you must feel and have compassion for yourself in dealing with it. On top of that, you may also awaken past trauma that you have not fully dealt with.
For example, several years after an assault, a LEAP procedure to avert cervical cancer brought me back sharply to the feelings that I had post-assault; feelings that I had packed away and not dealt with. And it’s not just assault trauma that comes back to haunt us. I have heard stories of Vietnam war vets now in their 70s and 80s who, decades later, are triggered into full blown PTSD style flashbacks post-surgery.
What is it about our bodies healing that takes them take the opportunity to try and purge this past trauma as well? Trauma, hate, anger, stored inside is poison. Some claim that are the cause of the very disease that ultimately lead us to the surgery that triggers them (google it).
Regardless, surgical procedures certainly seem to bring past issues to the surface as the body tries to heal. Maybe healing is about the whole body and the mind as well.
What have you not dealt with? What have you packed away that will be released years from now?
