I was admitted to the hospital with a bilateral deep vein thrombosis (DVT) affecting my inferior vena cava (after having been misdiagnosed and sent home with what was thought to be sciatica). The reality was far more serious: my vena cava was blocked, preventing blood from reaching my legs and from flowing back to my heart. As a result, my legs became completely paralyzed up to my diaphragm, and the risk of a pulmonary embolism was increasing by the hour.
My admission was immediate and urgent. From the very first moment, a team of haematologists and vascular surgeons worked tirelessly to find a solution. They were extraordinary professionals who devoted themselves fully to saving my life. The first challenge was survival. The second was regaining mobility. Initial medical examinations indicated that, even if I survived, there was no guarantee I would ever walk again. And this is where the social dimension became essential.
During those days, weeks, and months, I was surrounded by an incredible network of love and support. Close friends and family stood by me constantly, helping me hold on to strength and hope. I received endless messages, hospital visits, thoughtful gestures, Easter treats, hazelnuts from my hometown, poems, beautiful words, and dreams for the future. All of this gave me the strength to keep imagining a life beyond that hospital bed, and to fight for it with everything I had.
This collective energy aligned perfectly with a medical team that never gave up. Despite the harshness of the situation, hope never disappeared. Step by step, with immense effort and support, one movement followed another, and eventually, my legs began to respond.
At the same time, we were actively engaging with science. We read research papers, searched for the latest evidence, learned, questioned, and discussed continuously with the medical team. It became a true dialogue, between patient, loved ones, and healthcare professionals, guided by two fundamental forces: love and science.
Three years later, we continue to reflect on the elements that made life prevail in the face of one of the most severe diagnoses. Increasingly, medicine recognizes the importance of listening to patients and incorporating their experiences into research and treatment. At the same time, access to scientific knowledge is expanding, allowing people to engage more actively in their own health journeys.
What we learned is simple but powerful: integrating the social dimension into healthcare improves outcomes.
On this International Day of Health, I want to highlight the importance of dialogue in medical practice, and the need to include the social dimension in research on overcoming illness. Beyond medicine itself, there are human elements that make the difference: the relationships, the encouragement, the hope that keep someone fighting for life.
We need science and medicine. But we also need strong, caring relationships that bring out the very best in us, and help protect our health.
Serra Húnter Fellow of Sociology at Universitat Rovira i Virgili.
Former DAAD-Gastprofessorin at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg