Most of my medical challenges occurred when I was young. Years later, I can’t really remember my feelings after those experiences.
But as I contemplate my recent health scare—a piece of steak lodged in my throat, resulting in a tear in my esophagus—I know that it’s definitely taken an emotional toll on me.
My friends say that I don’t sound like myself now. I’m normally an upbeat, energetic, gregarious person.
Today, I would describe myself as anxious, subdued and fatigued. While I know intellectually that one’s time does not go on forever, now I really feel mortal.
I had been chalking my feelings up to a bit of post-traumatic stress disorder from eight hours of not being able to swallow and ultimately undergoing emergency surgery.