Rescue Journal

percy

Carol  ·  Apr. 22, 2012

people don't realize that there is a whole spiritual and psychological aspect to extreme pain, illness or trauma.
i go thru this with my human patients all of the time...why do i feel so upset, afraid, angry and not right when my surgery, illnesss, injury.... is over and i should be feeling better by now?

it is because following any kind of major physical assault..the mind and spirit also need time to heal. when anyone suddenly feels broken, vulnerable, unsafe, helpless and powerless, it strips away all of the things inside us that once made us feel safe.

surgeries especially are major assaults on our entire systems...we are not just blood, bone and flesh...we are also thinking and feeling beings. assaults on one aspect of who we are do become assaults on the whole of us.

percy is no different...he is self aware...he knows that he has suffered a major assault and he doesn't have the luxury of knowing all of the whys and in and outs of what happened to him so at least he could try to rationalize it all like we do.
so...right now percy is a little bit angry and a little bit anxious and afraid.

for 5 years he has trusted us to never hurt him, to never scare him, to always keep him happy and safe. and suddenly one day...that of all changed. we were at the forefront, we were right at his side from the moment his pain first struck thru all of the horrible things that happened to him for the next few weeks following that very first horrible pain.

percy is a 2000 pound cow going thru the same things that 200 pound post surgical humans sometimes go thru. and like them..he needs time to heal....not just his body but also his spirit.

so everyone, please be careful..percy is a giant among us. pay attention to how he is feeling, and try not to put yourself in danger of getting hurt....read his body language, listen to how he is feeling...pay attention to his needs for space or privacy, or companionship and reassurence.

And as we unfortunately suddenly learned ...best not to walk into his field with a full box of tim bit donuts...you may not be able to easily get out again...and that is freaking scary.

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