tlc confessional

[fearlesstemp]

I am so mopey and cranky and just not my best self today. I blame television.

Comments

[lemniskate]

you know, I saw that same show last night, and I didn't really *connect* to the kid as a kid either, not til the guy they described as his benefactor came to visit him in the hospital after his second or third surgery. and watching *his* reaction, and how he was so sincere and happy, telling Novemthree (I think that was his name?) how handsome he was -- then I kind of got it -- that he really was a real little boy in there. And I cried when he got his eyesight back in his right eye, after the operation. And when they showed his mom -- how hard it must have been for her, not to go with her little boy to this. But man--I don't know why I even turned the channel to the show, either.

[fearlesstemp]

Oh, man, Novemthree's mother! By the end of the show I thought they had ripped all the tears and emotion from me that they possibly could, and then Novemthree got off the plane, his mother saw him and just dropped to her knees - I was a wreck. But yes, I don't know why I didn't change the channel immediately after seeing the title of the program.

[lawgeekgurl]

I saw that when it aired awhile back. Disturbing. Very disturbing.

When I was a wee young-un, new to the employment field post-college, I worked for a time at a children's hospital in the craniofacial unit. That was the multidisciplinary clinic where kids with birth defects such as the one pictured and others such as hemangiomas, cleft lips & palates, etc., came for treatment and follow up. So, it wasn't all that disturbing in that respect, but it was the worst deformity I'd ever seen.

(When I transferred from the children's hospital to the plastic surgery unit, the head doctor as a "getting to know us" gesture made all of the new employees watch films of some of his work. I mean, if you've never seen someone's face entirely removed, repositioned and replaced, you should be quite glad. I still have the wig.)

[fearlesstemp]

I can't imagine what it must have been like to work in such a clinic like the one you did. I give you such credit - I don't know if I would have been able to do it. I'm not good at hiding my emotions and I'd have such fear that my initial reactions upon seeing some of the children would show up on my face and, you know, destroy their spirit.

Also: Aaah! Removal of face footage! You totally have me beat when it comes to disturbing footage.

[ithoughtsheknew]

We watched it too. All we could do was look from the tv to our perfectly healthy, beautiful 2 year old daughter running around the room and thank God over and over again throughout the entire show.

[fearlesstemp]

It made me realize how lucky I and my family has been, too. I hope he's doing okay now.