Heal Yourself By Writing Your Memoir
What happens when you have to turn in your white coat for a johnny?
It's not easy to go from being the doctor to being the patient. But, sooner or later, everyone faces illness. In my specialty, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R), we have a saying that "good health is a temporary condition."
I met Kim Allison, MD when she came to the Harvard Publishing course. Kim had just finished going through treatment for Stage 3 breast cancer. Ostensibly, she came to the course to hone her writing skills and to figure out how to publish her memoir. However, I suspect that she really came to the course to heal. Healer, heal thyself.
Kim is the director of breast pathology at the University of Washington Medical Center--a difficult job for a breast cancer survivor to return to. In her new memoir Red Sunshine, she describes what it was like to go from being a doctor to a patient and back to a doctor again.
Kim writes, "...our stories connect us to a common core and can give us comfort that at least we are not alone in the experience. Everyone has a story to tell. This is mine."
Bravo, Kim, for writing your story and encourage others to heal! What is your story?