Karmic kick in the butt

[Hoyu]

Re: Karmic kick in the butt

Hi Chris,

Thank you for taking the time to keep us all up to date.
The work you are doing at the cancer center is truly inspirational! Life has handed you lemons and you have definitely made lemonade. Not only that but it seems that you are sharing that lemonade to quench the thirst of others in their time of need! What you are doing is very touching. _/_

Gassho,
John

[will]

Re: Karmic kick in the butt

Thanks for keeping us updated Chris.

Gassho

[jonhinkson]

Re: Karmic kick in the butt

Chris, I don't know what it feels like to be diagnosed with cancer per se, but I do when it comes to life altering accidents. About eleven years ago, while driving home from church, I somehow left the road and struck a wooden board fence. A fence post and a couple boards came through the windshield and drove thier way into my shoulder injuring the brachial plexus, leaving two ribs and a collar bone broken, and my arm totally paralized. A month later, a reconstructive surgical procedure was undertaken to repair the nerve damage to the shoulder by taking nerves from the back of my legs and grafting them onto the severed ones. I was naive about the procedure; I thought it would be like plugging a lamp into the wall. Nerves take sooooo long to grow back, if they do at all. Learning to wait, and to simply accept the situation is an adventure. I'm learning that this life. It's not easy. There were times I wanted to simply cut the useless flesh from body, thinking that somehow it would help. With therapy the sensation has returned all the way down to the tips of my fingers. I still have a limited range of motion, but it's more the nothing at all. We care about you. Metta, my brother.

Gassho

Jonathan

[Kaishin]

Re: Karmic kick in the butt

Chris,

Thank you for keeping us updated. It's so wonderful how you have transformed your own personal suffering into serving others. Reminds me of the old Taoist farmer tale ("who knows what's good or bad")

I'd like to think I could be that strong and motivated in your situation!

Gassho,
Matt

[Hoyu]

Re: Karmic kick in the butt

Jonathan wrote:
Chris, I don't know what it feels like to be diagnosed with cancer per se, but I do when it comes to life altering accidents. About eleven years ago, while driving home from church, I somehow left the road and struck a wooden board fence. A fence post and a couple boards came through the windshield and drove thier way into my shoulder injuring the brachial plexus, leaving two ribs and a collar bone broken, and my arm totally paralized. A month later, a reconstructive surgical procedure was undertaken to repair the nerve damage to the shoulder by taking nerves from the back of my legs and grafting them onto the severed ones. I was naive about the procedure; I thought it would be like plugging a lamp into the wall. Nerves take sooooo long to grow back, if they do at all. Learning to wait, and to simply accept the situation is an adventure. I'm learning that this life. It's not easy. There were times I wanted to simply cut the useless flesh from body, thinking that somehow it would help. With therapy the sensation has returned all the way down to the tips of my fingers. I still have a limited range of motion, but it's more the nothing at all. We care about you. Metta, my brother.

Wow man that's rough! Metta to you too Jonathan for what you have gone through! In what ways have you adapted your limitations to your practice?

Gassho,
John

[Kyonin]

Re: Karmic kick in the butt

Hey Chris

First of all, thank you for sharing all this with us.

I can't even imagine the things you are going through, but I can say that this is your finest hour, where you will show yourself how well trained and mature you are to go through the sickness and harshness of life.

And if you ask me, I think you'll make it through. Just hang in there and keep on handling things the way you are. Learn and learn a lot from you and your body.

Like all the great guys up there, I am here too. If you ever need to talk and have a laugh, send me a message!

My sitting will be for you.

Metta

[jonhinkson]

Re: Karmic kick in the butt

Wow man that's rough! Metta to you too Jonathan for what you have gone through! In what ways have you adapted your limitations to your practice?

After giving it some thought, I would say that it is both adapting my limitations to the practice and using the practice to adapt my limitations (or at least my perceptions of my limitations). I am flexible when it comes to posture due to complications with the incisions on the back of my legs; there was a lot of scar tissue that inhibits, to a degree, my legs' flexibility. Also, the length of holding a certain posture is varied. Since I don't have "normal" sensation in my left arm the postion of the hands/thumbs/arms is varied. Sometimes I use a pillow on my lap to rest my hands on so that I can compensate; and alleviate pain that creeps between my shoulder blades. As for the practice adapting my limitations, there are several ways. First, this happened while I was still a practicing Christian and in the back of my mind I had carried blame and resentment that this had happened., or was let to happen, to me. When I first started practicing this became apparent. And so I just changed my thinking, there were causes and conditions (I blacked out or something, but I don't know what happened that made me leave the road) that arose to create this situation; and that's it. No one directing events to punish or let things happen. The situation is what it is. But, here is where accepting/non-accepting comes it. My arm/body is what is it is, just perfect the way it is. Nothing to add or subtract. But I still do range of motion exercises, and I am very careful the way I lift the cases of soda and gatorade with one arm, so as not to create more injury to my body. Practice is life and vice-versa.

Gassho

Jonathan