Mindfulness Mondays 19: Bob Woodruff’s Phoenix Process
October 5, 2009 by dr. lam
I just returned from San Diego for my annual meeting of the American Academy of Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. Surprisingly, I learned more from two moving speeches that had little direct relevance to facial plastic surgery per se than I did for all the combined lectures dedicated to scientific curricula. This week and the next, I shall cover these two lectures I attended.
Bob Woodruff, the ABC reporter, who was severely injured on January 29, 2006, in Iraq after an IED bomb (improvised explosive device) exploded near him, recounted his harrowing experience. Giving up a lucrative law practice, he went from a salary of 130k to 12k over night back in the mid 1990s when he decided to become a neophyte news reporter. He explained to his wife that he had to follow his passion and so he did. That passion also led him to Iraq to report on the war close up.
Unfortunately, that passion also led him into harm’s way. He was in an armored tank but was standing upright above the sheltered protection that his lower body was afforded within the vehicle. In a sudden moment, he felt a gush of the blast that exploded from his left side, and in an instant his life was irrevocably altered. He was rendered unconscious and was filled with rocks and pebbles in his face that was torn asunder.
He was brought on an airlift with the word “Expected” tacked to his chest, meaning in abbreviated speak that he was expected to die. However, he made it to the hospital and had his skull opened up to decompress the pressure that his kind of traumatic brain injury required to improve his odds for survival. Upon awakening weeks later from a medically-induced coma, he had very little recollection of his family members’ names except his wife, Lee, and he failed to recall even basic words.
He underwent multiple reconstructive procedures by a colleague of mine, Peter Costantino, in New York, who painstakingly removed numerous pebbles from his face, some of which required exquisite creativity not to engender further nerve or facial damage. He underwent flap reconstructions for his face that has left him fortunately now only mildly disfigured given the incredible skills of this surgeon.
Woodruff described how his little daughter said, “Dad now has scars on his face.” His wife assented. His daughter continued, “Dad has a different shaped face.” Yes, his wife replied. His daughter then commented, “Dad has pebbles in his face.” Again, his wife acknowledged that fact. His daughter finally observed, “But dad loves me even more now.” And his wife smiled. I was happy to approach Mr. Woodruff, shake his hand, and feel his indented skull at the end of his talk. I thanked him for a moving speech that left an indelible mark on my soul and told him that I would be publishing a blog on his experiences.
When we go through terrible, terrible experiences in our life, we can emerge from them embittered or transformed. The Phoenix process that I talked about a few weeks ago is about being broken open to a new, more enlightened, and more grateful person. If we do not have the misfortune to go through something as profound as what Mr. Woodruff has experienced, we all can still live each day with profound gratitude. And, if we have been torn asunder, we can be transformed rather than embittered by our experience to become a new creature.
This week, think about how fortunate you are, and offer thanks for everything you have. For those who have suffered through difficult experiences, offer them the insight of Mr. Woodruff’s story. For those who have gone through an experience maybe as difficult as Mr. Woodruff’s (or of any magnitude) allow that experience to transform rather than to destroy you.
Comments
15 Responses to “Mindfulness Mondays 19: Bob Woodruff’s Phoenix Process”
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and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Gosh! The plastic surgeons sure did a great job! Great message!!! This will definitely be on my mind this week. Thanks, Dr. Lam!
thanks heather. nice gravatar. what is it?
Oh, I thought everyone could tell…LOL It’s a raindrop on a leaf. I’ll probably change it. Just got tired of the yoga lady…lol
You crack me up, Dr. Lam!
lol
haha. i may change mine too. may not be able to figure out how.
I like yours!!! Only change it if you are going to put a similar one up…lol
Oh, you’re just playing me.
Mr. Smart!
Hey, where are all the other blog buddies? I MISS ‘em!!!
Have a gravatar of you doing yoga, Dr. Lam! That would be so funny! lol
unfortunately, it would be funny. lol.
Do one of you doing an advanced move.
That would be cool! Dr. Lam, you need to show this kind of stuff off…lol Us blog buddies want to see! 
yeah, ok. haha.
I dare you!
I just put a pumkin up to go with the season. It takes a couple days for these gravatars to show though…lol
ok, GN!
Dr. Sam Lam, If you are going to plagiarize someone elses writings and ideas, it would be nice of you to at least mention them in your article. Elizabeth Lesser wrote the book Broken Open and talks about the Pheonix Process at length! Give props where props are due! Being honest and real also a lesson to be learned in her book! The message is a great message! Just saying!!
hi,
i did not plagiarize her. please look at the fact that i referenced my review of her entire book. here is the blog article that i referenced (it is a multi-part review of her book, which i agree was great): http://lfp-blog.com/broken-open/broken-open-part-4-of-8-the-phoenix-process/