I Think There's Something Wrong With Me, By Nigel Smith
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Comedy swells up from the most painful of places, discovers Nigel Smith, quite literally. One day, he is whisked to hospital with a brain lesion so severe that the radiologist assumes he must be dead. Something is wrong deep inside his medulla, the signal junction in the brain which is the vital link between thought and action and controls everything from temperature to erections, from heartbeat to breathing, from eyes to feet.
But he lives to tell the tale. The real battle in hospital, he writes, is for dignity. He warmly and wittily chronicles the daily torments of hospital life, from the physical discomforts of thirst and of an erection while being cathetered, to the mental tortures of jealousy, frustration and boredom. The experience is healing, but also alters his perspective, for he learns to appreciate what is right in his life.
This traumatic tale is told with such a winning lightness of touch that it is a lesson to all to keep the chin up in the face of adversity, and that humour is indeed the best medicine.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments