“If the occasion arises, I will write a thousand and one experiences again”
- What did you think when you had your first contact with the RELAT-Hos project? How did you get to know it?
- Anna Belén Torondell.- It was the first day I could leave my hospital room, only 45 days later. Anything I could do outside those four walls felt experimental and rewarding to me. That’s when I saw the RELAT-Hos information sheet on one of the walls of the unit and it really caught my attention. Then I asked myself “what does it mean?”
- Did you immediately feel like joining the project?
- A.B.T.- Yes, it was really like a goal for me. I wondered if I would be capable of really expressing my feelings. So I said to myself “let's give it a try, there’s nothing to lose.”
- What were your feelings when you saw your story printed in the book?
- A.B.T.- The truth is that I never thought that the story would eventually be included in RELATO-Hos book. Thus, it was a bit of a shock to see it published. With the benefit of hindsight, I know now that I did success in writing what I felt at the time, and I will be happy, if this helps other people to feel accompanied in difficult times.
- Do you think writing is a powerful therapeutic tool?
- A.B.T.- Reading is very important in my life. I like reading very much; it is both important and rewarding. Moreover, if you succeed to convey your feelings, it is even more so.
- Do you remember how you came to write your story, in one go, little by little on different days...?
- A.B.T.- I think I had it written in about 5 days. When the treatment would give me a break, I would took the opportunity to convey what I was really thinking at the time (and I still think today).
- Do you write regularly? In case this was your first short story, have you carried on writing?
I had never done any writing or storytelling before. In fact, I had never really thought about it, I had always liked reading more than writing. The truth is that I haven't done it again, I haven't had the chance. However, if the occasion arises, I will write a thousand and one experiences again.
- Finally, can you recommend us a book?
I love reading, but I don’t have a favourite book or subject. However, I really value this book, which was a gift from a Bellvitge Hospital nurse and is called Sabias, la cara oculta de la ciencia (Wise women. Science’s hidden face.) The day I left the unit 7.2, three months after my admission in the hospital 200 km away from home, some of the healthcare personnel wrote me some dedications in the book and signed it for me. In all this four years since then, I have read the book twice and those dedications many more times, as I felt very good with all the healthcare staff, who was like the family that could not be by me at that time.