The House of Healing

In Tolkien’s “The Return of the King”, Faramir, Eowyn and Merry were all taken to the Houses of Healing in Gondor to be treated. When Aragorn arrived to tend to the wounds affected by the Black Shadows, he mentioned to Eomer and Gandalf that for Faramir and Eowyn while physical wounds could be healed by applying the leaves of athelas on them, it could be their will that eventually take them down. Faramir was tormented by the rejection of his father who would “trade Boromir’s death for his” and for Eowyn, she was “loving a shadow and a thought”. Faramir came around when he woke up but for Eowyn, she did not know whether living would be despair instead of joy as she said, “But to hope? I do not know”.

The gist of this is about the will to live and it mentioned about a total care that was required not to just heal the body but also the soul. Aragorn was hoping that Faramir would come around, and miraculous as manly as these men are, Faramir wants to live because now the king of Gondor has returned and it is his duty to live and serve. As for Eowyn, she went to battle to seek death after Aragorn left her for the Paths of the Dead, but she escaped it despite she was gravely wounded when she killed the Witch-king of Angmar. When she woke up, Aragorn asked Eomer not to leave her, as she needs the love of her brother if she was to recover.

The Houses of Healing always fascinates me whenever I read “The Return of the King” again. I even bought the extended movie DVD simply because they have put the Houses of Healing part back into the movie. What fascinates me was Tolkien’s emphasis on healing both the body and the soul even when the injuries seemed to be physical only.

In the past few months I have been lucky enough to participate in a very meaningful project – Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. It is a new cancer research and treatment institute that focuses on patient oriented total care.  Its vision was to provide cancer treatment and care in a way that patient would not feel helpless and lost. It also has a strong focus on providing emotional support to patients and their carers. It acknowledges the importance of a strong mind and a calm mental state to assist the healing process. For me it is like a House of Healing in the modern times.

I first came across the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse when I did a corporate video for them back at the end of last year. At that time we were shooting a video for the integrated medical system to be deployed at the facility. There I met the Director of Patient Experience, Marketing and Communications. She explained what the project was about and I was fascinated by the idea.

Being a person who had a family member touched by cancer when I was at a very young age I understand the journey very well. Although I did not fully understand what was happening at the beginning, I still remember how cancer suddenly turned from something belonging to soap operas to something happening at home. It suddenly became very real. I still remember mum going into the hospital for her operation and her journey to recovery through numerous chemo sessions. I remember how I sat in the long, beige and heavily sanitised corridors with her waiting for her turn to receive treatment and hoped for the best. I remember how we tried to get home as quickly as possible after treatment before her condition kicked in. I remember how helpless I was when she was dealing with the side effects of treatments day in and night out. I still remember the faces of other patients waiting in the corridors – most of them trying to put on a brave face but when the verdict of more sessions were required was handed down, how they fell apart and broke into tears. These are pictures that had never left me and would never either.

So when I heard about the vision of Lifehouse, I was completely fascinated by it. I kept in touch with this Lifehouse lady when she told us that probably Lifehouse would be recruiting the following year preparing for the opening. At that time I did not expect anything to happen as I had a pretty good full time job already. After all I have never worked in health care unless you consider a guest role on All Saints counts.

Months passed. I left my previous job for personal reasons and started looking for more contract nature kind of work. I sent my updated CV to this lady at Lifehouse informing her that I am now available for work if Lifehouse has use for my skills. A few weeks later I received a call from the HR consultant there informing me about they needed a receptionist for the front desk before the hospital opens later in the year. I thought it would be a good chance to understand the organisation so I accepted the position. Later I agreed to move to a different role because I was touched by the enthusiasm of the staff there trying to make a great vision a reality. I wanted to contribute my skills to make it happen.

It is now less than two weeks before Lifehouse opens. There are still lots of work to be done and sometimes people are stressed out. However, everyone is working hard together to bring this vision to life. I think that is what I appreciate about this organisation. I do not know how long I could stay involved in this vision, as my contract will be finishing in mid December. But I am glad that I am part of it. We might not be able cure cancer with a 100% success rate at the moment, but this modern House of Healing could make the healing process a lot more bearable than what my family and I had gone through all those years ago. That is what I believe in.