Over time

“You will feel better over time.”  So I was told when I was hurting from a pretty bad car accident a few years back. But that was after I went to see a doctor. When I was involved in the accident, I thought I was okay except for a couple of bruises. I did notice my rib cage hurt each time I moved a certain direction, especially when I lie down or stand up. It felt like a sharp pain that left me breathless sometimes.

At first, I was thinking it was muscle aches due to the impact of the accident. But after three weeks, it didn’t get any better. My family told me to go see a doctor but I was quite stubborn thinking I was okay. When it was the third week and I still felt like shit, that was when I decided that I should see a doctor.  It was time.

“Did you know that you have three cracks at three separate bones of your rib cage?” It was the first thing the doctor asked with a clearly shocked face after he saw the report of the MRI scan. When I heard that, I could feel shivers down my spine.

Almost instantly I was glad I listened to my family to see a doctor. My rib bones at that time was like a time bomb and my condition could have gotten worse without me realizing what had happened. There I was, thinking it was a muscle ache the whole time. What a doosh.

I was given prescriptions to bring down the inflammation and calcium supplements to assist in reconstruction of the bone. I was told to wear a rib brace belt at all times for at least a hundred days because the bones need that amount of time to heal and they needed to be immobilized. I was also asked to go back to the hospital for follow-up visits every two weeks to scan and monitor the progress of the bones.

When I experienced my first death of a loved one more than ten years ago, I was hurting too and the heart ached terribly. The feeling was indescribable and the heart just squeezes each time. I read somewhere that time would heal and I would feel better over time. True enough, after a few months, the heart didn’t ache as much and over time, I did feel better. Life continued, the mind got distracted with many things and I did not think about the death as much as I did at the beginning.

Then, when I experienced my second death of a loved one, I sort of knew what to expect. Without a doubt, it hurt at first for a few weeks and months but over time, it did feel better as I went on with my life. The memories of my loved ones will always remain in my heart and I remember them ever so often, thinking about when they were alive, when we did things together and appreciated the time we spent together.

Over time, things do get better. But there is also the other side to it, in which things can get worse over time too. For example, if I were to have continued to be stubborn and not see a doctor for the pain around my rib cage area, things would have gotten worse, wouldn’t it? It was a scary thought. If I hadn’t gone to see a doctor, the cracks would have gotten worse, a hairline crack would have become bigger cracks. And by the time it became worse, it may have been too late or the medical fees to treat it may have been more compared to if I were to treat it earlier.

The same goes with the wear and tear of things. Over time, they do not get better. In fact, they would get all worn out and in time, we will no longer be able to use them anymore unless we preserve them at an earlier stage.

In the case of, for example a house, over time, paint on the walls would chip and the electrical wiring would deteriorate, the metal parts would rust, the wooden pieces would rot, unless of course, we do something about them, to preserve the house. We would need to repaint, rewire, rebuild. How about that for a thought?

Not everything becomes better over time. It depends on the context, what it is and what the situation is. If it is things that will deteriorate over time due to nature, it may not get better. If it is feelings and emotions, it might. If it is sickness, and illnesses, it depends.

I guess for things that can potentially to get better over time, the catch is, we will need to do something about it. If we remain in the same state and in the same conditions without doing anything to improve or change it, things may not get better. In fact, it may get worse.