Suzanne Crowe: Going easy on ourselves and taking time to rest is key part of recovery from illness

Recovery is usually seen as the period immediately after surgery, but, in reality, after that relatively short time, a lot more happens. Stock image

Suzanne Crowe

Life is so busy that pausing and resting after illness or surgery doesn’t come easy to lots of us. I’ve been guilty of seeing a day of illness at home as a day to bag up clothes my children have grown out of. What happened to sitting and doing nothing, snoozing under a blanket? Resting seems to have disappeared as a worthy way to spend time after illness.

When working as an anaesthesiologist, I often meet people before their surgeries, their laptop on their bed, asking if they can work later that day or board a plane tomorrow morning. This is especially true of self-employed people, who have incredible drive. Somehow, we all seem to have bought into the same message that resting is a waste of time.