Recipe for Recovery

"I love my job!" Rather I should say, "I love my jobs."

I am a social worker at Memorial Hermann Hospital, working with families in the Neuro Trauma Intensive Care Unit (NTICU). I also work as a motivational speaker and lecturer, and write inspirational stories for publication in books and on the internet. I enjoy and love everything I do.

If someone had told me 25 years ago that I would make that statement, I would have laughed. I thought, and knew, that I was going to be an orthopedic surgeon. I was making high grades in college at the University of Texas. However, in February 1981, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

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I was studying with my girlfriend, Sharon, for an organic chemistry exam that I was supposed to take the following evening. However, Sharon stated that it was getting quite late and she had to go back to her dormitory. Being a gentleman, I offered to take her home and we headed for her dormitory in my car. However, being a "college male," I had no gas in my tank nor any money in my pocket, so I borrowed two dollars from Sharon and pulled into a nearby convenience store.

"I'll be back in a second," I yelled at Sharon as I entered the convenience store to pay for the gas. Unfortunately, the store was in the midst of a robbery. One of the three thieves forced me into the cooler, where he followed me, pushed me down, and shot me in the back of the head – execution-style. He thought I was dead; otherwise, he would have shot me again and again. However, I was not dead. I was barely hanging onto life.

I was rushed to the hospital by ambulance where very few of the medical staff thought I would be alive in the morning.

Obviously, I survived, but it was not easy. It's true that I still have some disabilities and limitations, but I am alive. After a lengthy rehabilitation, I returned to college where, four years later, I graduated at the top of my class. Following that, I enrolled in graduate school at the University of Houston, where I received a Master's degree in Social Work.

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One night at the Memorial Hermann Hospital where I was working, I was leading a support group for families who had loved ones in the NTICU. Their loved ones had suffered brain or spinal injuries such as strokes, aneurysms, brain tumors or injuries, or broken necks.

That night I was telling the group "my story" and a "recipe for recovery." I shared my formula for recovery with those in attendance and told them that it consisted of four ingredients:

1. Positive attitude,
2. Good support system,
3. Belief in yourself, and (like an umbrella over the other 3)
4. Belief in a higher being.

Throughout my talk, I related an anecdote with each of my "ingredients."

After my lecture, I asked for comments or questions. I'll never forget one of the comments that was made by the husband of a patient suffering from a brain aneurysm.

He stated that his wife had suffered an aneurysm and, "Thank God, was doing much better after surgery by Dr. Kim." (Dr. Kim is an eminent neurosurgeon who specializes in aneurysms.)

The husband went on to say that he too had a recipe for recovery that consisted of four ingredients. He stated that his ingredients were slightly different from mine. His four ingredients were:

1. The Father,
2. The Son,
3. The Holy Ghost, and …
4. Dr. Kim.

People laughed; however, I believe that the man was very sincere. He was obviously Christian, but I believe that no matter what one's religious preference, a belief in a higher being is vital. In times of crises or stress no matter whether one is Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, or any other religion, a belief in a higher being is crucial. We are all God's children. I believe that God created all people, (including Dr. Kim). In so doing, I feel that God "uses" human beings to do his work.

For that family, and many, many more, "thank God for Dr. Kim" (who always has plenty of divine help from "above").

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