I guarantee you will see yourself in this article.
I guarantee you will recognize yourself at some point while reading this.
It happens to every injured patient.
Let's start by asking you the question...
"Which injured patient are you?"
Are you the angry patient?
Are you the understanding patient?
Are you the sympathetic patient?
Are you the accepting patient?
Are you the vengeful patient?
The remarkable thing about my question is that there's not one single choice here.
In all likelihood, you may find yourself affiliated with each type of patient.
At different points in your recuperation timeline, you may experience each character trait.
That's neither a good thing or a bad thing.
Rather, it's a fact.
It's a fact that when you learn or feel as if something was done wrong, you will be upset.
You may be confused as to how your doctor could be careless.
You may not understand how he could have violated the basic standards of medical care.
You might not believe he could have caused you such harm.
Then, as you're trying to recuperate, you begin to rationalize why you're incapacitated and unable to return to work.
You begin to understand how you got injured.
You begin to recognize that doctors are human and humans make mistakes.
You begin to justify how and why you're sitting in a rehab facility for the past three weeks eating crappy food and wondering how you're going to support your family. You now turn into the accepting patient.
You've accepted your fate.
This must be what God intended for you.
It must have happened because you didn't pray hard enough when you were younger.
This is what happens when you don't believe that there is a God, you think.
Again, you rationalize and justify why you're unable to do your daily activities as you did before your doctor screwed up.
Then, you subconsciously turn into the sympathetic patient.
"My doctor is such a good person. He didn't mean for this to happen. I understand that there are risks and I don't want to fault him..."
These conversations will go on in your head for many months.
Then there will come a time when you begin to feel bitter.
You will feel angry.
Angry that you have a short fuse.
Angry that you can't work.
Angry that you're sitting home during the day watching daytime TV instead of being a productive member of society.
Angry that your doctor messed up your life, permanently.
Angry that your doctor refuses to acknowledge he did anything wrong.
That anger may turn into resentment.
It may turn into a desire to exact revenge against your doctor.
You want your doctor's license revoked. Immediately!
You don't want this to happen to anyone else.
You couldn't bear the knowledge that your doctor did this to another human being.
You'd like for him to be in jail.
The fact is that you're likely to experience all these character traits.
Any one of which may force you into a depression and require mental health treatment.
Some of these traits may prompt you to reach out to an experienced attorney to see if you have a valid case against your doctor.
If you identify with any of these emotional states, then you're not alone.
Plus, there are many more emotional and character traits you're likely to experience as you begin the legal roller coaster seeking compensation for all the harms, losses and injuries you suffered because your doctor was careless.