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I Am Not A Tree!

Written by: Rosemary McKenzie-Ferguson


As with this tree that was shaped by the wind that was tunneled down the side of a house the tree grew as best it could, sending its roots deep into the earth to hold itself in place; we are shaped by the environment we are in, the shaping in so many instances is so passive that none of us are truly aware of the process that is happening in and around us. This tree had no choice but to grow and be the best tree it could possibly be. 
This morning I sat with a small collection from the injured worker community, each doing what is needed for them to step into the next chapter of their own lives, and yet each still held fast by the workers compensation process that has no idea just how to allow the required growth to happen.
One in the group just wants his own life back, free to explore the other side of the workers compensation boundaries, however the system itself is holding him back from finding just what he can do. 

Another one was saying that each time she tries to have a meaningful conversation she finds that there is another case manager in place so the starting point of the conversation always feels off balance.

And as always one of them said that they a tired of the never ending “debate” as to the validity of the workplace injury and all the ensuing complications from medications that caused a whole new raft of issues.


Today though the conversation annoyed me more than it normally would for a raft of reasons, the largest is that my annual medical check is just over a week away. Once more the medical specialists will poke and prod my being, and once more the conversation will turn to a discussion of wheelchairs and other such ability aids.  I know I am not a tree; I know that I have options and I know what ever the medical team say I will be able to make my own choices and decisions as to what the future holds for me as a person and as a member of the injured worker community. 
Then this afternoon came the one single question from the workers compensation industry by a person who should know better: “what are my qualifications to be doing the work required by Craig’s Table?”

As yet I have not responded to the question because in all honesty, I am the wrong side of angry to be polite.

I acknowledge I have no university qualifications in injury management. I have a body of injuries that I live in and manage each and every day, sometimes on a minute to minute basis.

I have no reason to pretend I am anything or anyone other than who I am.
I cannot and will not stop doing the work I have done to widen the path for as many of the injured worker community simply because there is no university qualification available at any university that teaches what I know and what I do.

I will calm down over the coming days before I answer the question so the answer will be dignified as well as respectful to the questioner.
For now though I contemplate the times that the tree has lived through, times when the wind was cold and relentless, times when the rain would have also lashed down the side of the house and pushed against the tree, times when if the tree could have moved it would have stepped just a few feet to one side in order to take itself out of harms way, in essence I will fall in-empathy with the tree simply because I do understand that the person who asked the question did so because it is part of their job to ask inane questions.
As for the wheelchair, regardless of anything else it is going to take a lot of effort from the medical specialists to get me to sit down and ride in a wheelchair: there are still a lot more choices for me to make.

Yours in service
Rosemary

18th April 2019

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