Christina Symanski of Freehold, N.J. was a young art teacher who had a full, vivacious life ahead of her. She was contemplating marriage and family with her boyfriend of 6 months. Then, in 2005, her life came to a screeching halt in an accident. She found her quality of life suddenly deteriorated significantly when she broke her neck from diving into a shallow pool. As a direct consequence of the accident, Ms. Symanski suffered from quadriplegia, a form of paralysis that results in the loss of use of all four limbs and torso.…
SUMMARY Macy Mills just suffered a stroke. All that she recalls…
In viewing the Stroke of Insight video I found the introduction of Dr. Bolte Taylor’s speech to be interesting, yet not attention grabbing initially. However, her ability to incorporable the different visual aids, such as the real life human brain and her brain scan, these tools she used helped to spark my interest, and further hold my attention to her topic of brain disorders that were effecting both her and her brother. After watching the video a few times and evaluating the different components that Dr. Bolte Taylor used within her communication, the Linear Model of Communication was used during Dr. Bolte Taylor’s speech. The Linear Model of Communication applies to this speech as the channel is one way communication, the sender sends the…
In 1990, eleven-year-old Brooke Ellison got severely injured by a skidding car. She was informed by the doctors that she was permanently paralyzed from the neck and down. Therefore, she was required to survive on a respirator for the rest of her life. Despite all of her constant battles and the multiple doctor visits, Brooke, along with her supportive mother, Jean Ellison, fought and strived to earn a prestigious degree from Harvard University. Brooke was the first quadriplegic to achieve such a goal.…
Foster, page 212 helps us make this connection between emotional blindness and physical blindness. It reads: “Seeing and blindness are generally at issue in many works, even when there is no hint of blindness on the part of windows, alleys, horses, speculations, or person.” Jean-Dominique is not fully physically blind but, he was definitely emotionally blinded before the stroke. Now, Jean-Dominique is able to properly experience the truly important things in his life like his children, friends and imagination.…
Jill Bolte Taylor’s bestseller, My Stroke of Insight, is a polished literary work that can be easily read by a large audience. You don’t need to have the knowledge of a brain scientist to follow along; in fact, the second and third chapter has a summarized introduction to simple science of our bodies and our brain including hemispheric asymmetries. Readers are able to flow through Taylor’s exploration of new sensations from heavy reliance on her right hemisphere. This amalgamation of all little details of Jill’s life pre-stroke all the way through her eight year in recovery In 1996 and at age 37, Taylor had a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere that had debilitating effects on her perception, movement, coordination, thought processes…
The four theories of personal identity—body theory, soul theory, memory theory, brain theory— are very well discussed in John Perry's book, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality. In an argument between Gretchen Weirob, Sam Miller, and Dave Cohen, all these theories are put into question in a discussion about the possibility of life after death. Overall, throughout the book , in these discussions it seems as if the body theory wins the argument for having more pros and fewer cons than the memory, brain and soul theories. However, this theory is contradicted and deemed not possible because when the body dies the person identity no longer exists.…
Case Study: Nursing Management of a patient with Stroke Introduction This essay will consider the case of John, a stroke patient. Biological as well as psycho-social aspects of his condition will be presented and the impact on his health condition; He is an active smoker and occasionally drinking over the weekend (2 bottles of wine), recently retired and used to work as a lorry driver for Ford. He lives alone, independently.…
Dr. Sacks explained to her how the sense of the body is given by three things: vision, balance organs and proprioception which she had lost. In a ordinary case, if one failed the others could compensate, or substitute to a certain extent. Dr. Sacks told Christina about his experience with Mr. MacGregor who used his eyes instead to balance himself. In short, Christina’s body went blind. Eight years passed and there was still no neurological recovery.…
Stroke: The Sociology Behind It According to John Hopkins Medicine (n.d.), Hippocrates, the father of medicine, discovered stroke about 2400+ years ago, but at the time, the Greek referred to stroke as apoplexy which meant “struck down by violence”. Sometimes referred to as a brain attack, stroke is a cerebrovascular disease that damages portions of the brain because of the tremendous loss of blood vessels individuals experience. Some sources label stroke as a chronic disease and others label it as an acute disease. Conclusively, as implied, this disease has tormented many individuals of many ages for a long period of time, and this paper addresses the sociological rather than the medical aspect of a stroke.…
Life is it a blessing or is it a curse? This has always been an endless question in my opinion that’s often frequently asked. “A Life-or-Death Situation” corresponds with “Choosing to Die After a Struggle with Life”, both articles are written by Robin Marantz Henig. They are focusing on a married couple and a husband who is a quadriplegic. Peggy Battin and husband Brooke Hopkins has had a turmoil of pitfalls.…
Overview Stroke and hemorrhagic stroke A stroke is a brain attack. It is caused when blood flow to an area of brain is cut off. Brain cells are deprived of oxygen and begin to die. After that, abilities for the brain cells in that area to memory and muscle control are lost.…
8 Months into my sophomore year of highschool, I faced the most arduous obstacle I had ever experienced. This imposing setback affected me in more ways that I had thought possible and later on becoming a truly significant turning point in my life. Summer was just around the corner, I was looking forward to making so many plans to fill up those 3 months that felt boundless at the time. Little did I know, late Sunday night my plans would be made for me. A summer full of successive doctors appointments.…
The morning of December 10, 1996 was a day that changed the course of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s life and sent her down a path of healing. This journey brought her to write My Stroke of Insight, sharing her story with students such as myself and providing an indispensable look into the experiences of a stroke victim. Her vivid recount of the day of her stroke as well as her arduous journey to recovery allow for readers to feel for a moment the bizarre effects of a left hemisphere stroke. After reading Dr. Taylor’s recount of the day of her stroke, I was surprised with how little coincided with what I predicted one might experience from a left hemisphere stroke.…
Stroke rehabilitation is provided in several different ways. The most common ways include physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. According to Dr. Jose Vega, stroke rehabilitation is the process by which a stroke survivor works with a team of healthcare providers with the aim of regaining as much of the function lost after a stroke as possible (Vega, 2008). Dr. Cluett states “A physical therapist is a specialist trained to with you to restore your activity, strength and motion following an injury or surgery.’ There are many exercises and training equipment that physical therapist can use without special training as a physical therapist (Cluett, 2008).…