Recovery and recoverer

In the introduction to enableme, people assisting NSF staff are called survivors, when it is clear they would not be much use unless they had moved on towards recovery. A survivor is someone who did not die at a particular event and who should not carry that tag far into the future. Let us look at a reasonable use of the word survivor.

A patient is diagnosed with stroke in emergency care and the stroke team of neurologists and other specialists take over. As the patient’s condition is stabilised over the first few days it becomes clear that he/ she has survived.

The general health of our patient is now being built up over a week or so in a recovery ward – but stuck in a bed and is a stroke affected patient. The next step in hospital one is when two physios drag the patient out of bed and set up a walking exercise. Recovery has commenced!! Welcome to our recoverer! Now this is a clunky word, but recovery itself can also be clunky. Organised recovery starts in a rehabilitation hospital and at home. I doubt if the word survivor is ever used here. Recoverer is appropriate. Just as strokes have their truism that they are all different, so we recoverers have our truism that all recoveries are different.

I rest my case.

We recoverers don’t have to give advice.

We just talk about our experience. Work is the only joining qualification.

Angus