Me Before You (Neuro Note 3)

I recently got the chance to watch a movie titled Me Before You, which is focused around a guy named Will that has sustained a Spinal Cord Injury two years prior. He now lives very well off with his parents in a fully adapted downstairs suite. He has a nurse named Nathan that spends most of the day with him and helps with all of his daily tasks, only leaving to check on the other patients he works with in the community. A young women named Louisa (Lou), had recently been fired from her restaurant job and needed another job desperately to help her family pay the bills. While she was searching, she found an add that was posted by Will's mom for a caregiver and companionship for a disabled man. She applied right away, got the job, and then spent 8 AM-5 PM Monday thru Saturday with Will. At first, Will was extremely rude and did not want anything to do with Lou because of his severe depression about no longer being able to live his old, amazing life he loved so much. However, their relationships starts to grow and they begin to get closer. However, one day Lou found out that Will had given his parents 6 months and then he was going to check in to a place called Dignitas in Switzerland for assisted suicide. Lou is so upset and his determined to show Will that his life is worth living. They got to a horse race, a Mozart concert, Will's ex-girlfriend's wedding and an all inclusive beach vacation. But in the end, Will still decides that assisted suicide is the best decision for him. He had fallen in love with Lou but he did not want her to miss out on life, regret her decision, or miss out on things in her life that someone else could give her. In the end, Will loved his old life too much, and did not want to live the new one he had.

Throughout the movie we learned more and more about all of the challenges that affect people who have a SCI. Will is a quadraplegic and sustained his injury about chest level, from what Nathan says, which I would say he has a C7-C8 injury. He has no use of his legs and limited movement of his arms and movement in only one index finger and thumb. He uses those fingers to steer his powered wheelchair which also has a screen attached with multiple options and commands. He is completely dependent on someone else for most all other ADL's including eating, going to the bathroom and his personal hygene. Will experiences autonomic dysreflexia and fights with pneumonia twice within the movie, and Nathan has to explain to Lou that Will does not sweat like us and it is important to monitor his temperature and vital signs regularly. The topic of SCI and this movie were interesting to me because there is so much I didn't know about SCI before our class and I think it is so interesting to learn about. I also think OT's can be a vital part of someone's life after the experience of a SCI. We could help them love their new normal and give them purpose in their new yet different life. I fully recommend this movie to everyone but especially my fellow classmates. It is extremely informative about SCI and the struggles that come with that physically, emotionally and mentally which is what OT is all about!

Rosenfelt, K. (Producer), Owen, A. (Producer), & Sharrock T. (Director). (2016). Me Before You [Motion Picture]. United Kingdom: Warner Bros. Picture 

Finding Joy in the Life You Do Have (Neuro Note 2)

A stroke, also known as Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA), is when blood flow to the brain is blocked or stopped so oxygen can't get to the brain tissue and injury or death occurs in the tissue. Strokes can be classified as ischemic, meaning a clot, or hemorrhagic, meaning bleeding out. Majority of strokes occur in people older than 65 years old and they are also the leading cause of long term disability in the United States. And even though we have all this information and knowledge about strokes, strokes will always be different for everyone and they refuse to discriminate. I watched a video titled Having a Stroke as a New Mom Changed Everything, But I am Treating it Like a Gift,  that interviewed a woman named Katherine Wolf and her husband, who know first hand about how scary and unpredictable strokes really are.  Katherine was only 26 years old when she experienced a stroke in her brain stem because of a rare congenital defect she didn't wasn't even aware that she had. The brain stem is responsible for breathing, heart rate, and motor functions and damage to it can impair any or all of these functions. Katherine was a new mom and woke up one morning feeling a little out of it, but nothing out of the ordinary when she collapsed and became unconscious. She was rushed to the hospital and underwent a 16 hour surgery and survived, but is now a little different than before. Katherine does not have use of one of her hands, she cannot walk without a walker or wheelchair, half of her face is paralyzed, her eyes have difficulty tracking which causes double vision and she is deaf in one ear. However, she did not let this define her. She has learned to love her new life and does everything she did before but just a little differently. Her and her husband had another child and started a faith based non profit camp to help connect and support families with disabilities! 

This video interested me because of our recent focus on strokes and how they can affect each individual so differently. Strokes will cause different symptoms and disabilities based on type, location and duration. I really was interested in Katherine's story because of how young she was and the type of stroke being in the brain stem was one that I was not familiar with and both of these factors were unique and interesting to me! Katherine's perspective and attitude is something we all can learn something  from, especially as OT's.  At one point she mentioned that she is finding joy in the life she has and not the life she wishes she has and the really spoke to me! As OT's we are not just there to improve occupational performance, we are there to help our patients mentally and emotionally with a new normal they may be faced with and I think this story is an awesome reminder of that! I would definitely recommend this video to anyone because it is so uplifting and inspiring and really puts life as we know it into perspective! 

Kelly Bryant July 25, & Bryant, K. (2019, July 25). 'Having a Stroke as a New Mom Changed Everything, but I'm Treating It Like a Gift'. https://www.parents.com/parenting/dynamics/having-a-stroke-as-a-new-mom-changed-everything-but-im-treating-it-like-a-gift/?utm_source=facebook.com. 

https://www.parents.com/parenting/dynamics/having-a-stroke-as-a-new-mom-changed-everything-but-im-treating-it-like-a-gift/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=health_health&utm_content=video_internalcrosspromotion9

Brain Protection (Neuro Note 1)

     While studying neurobiology, we are taught about how the brain grows throughout the lifespan, the job of each specific part of the brain, potential injuries or illnesses that can happen to our brains and how all of these things affect our occupational performance. One of the injuries that our brains can sustain is an acquired brain injury (ABI), which is damage that the brain has acquired, meaning it was not present at birth. ABI's can be further divided into traumatic brain injuries (TBI) like car crashes and falls and non-traumatic brain injuries (NTBI) like tumors and strokes. TBI's, especially concussions, have always interested me because of my passion for sports and the risk that playing these sports brings. For 4 years, I was a Division 1 collegiate soccer player and for 4 years I had a ball hit my head every single day. During those years, I didn't think much of what that impact could be doing to my brain because that sport was paying for my education and I simply was not aware of the risks and the questions to ask. However, as I look back on those years with my broadened education I realize how much harm and permeant damage I was possibly bringing to myself. With this in mind, I found a TedTalk by Kim Gorgens titled "Protecting the Brain Against Concussion". Once I saw this, I knew I would have to watch and get more information about an injury that affects so many people like me.

     Kim Gorgens begins her talk by telling us that she is a mother. A mother that is a worrier, sometimes neurotic, a little crazy and really really loves her son. She is such a worrier because she is a neurobiologist and her son wants to play football. She goes on to explain her reasoning for worrying is because of the force of which a football hit can cause. A football hit can cause 103 G's compared to a punch in the face by a professional boxer, only 58 G's! Gorgen's also mentions that a concussion isn't just a loss of conciseness but a change in it, which can include headache, irritability, dizziness, confusion, slurred speech and nausea and vomiting. I also found it important that she mentioned that our brains are strong and want to repair themselves and that our brains are designed to recover from one injury. However, there is a key word in that previous sentence and it is the word "one", so in sports when the head has the potential to be repeatedly hit and damaged, is when long term issues start to arise. Once you sustain one brain injury, the likelihood of you sustaining a second increases exponentially! The last thing that she mentioned that I think is extremely important for anyone are 3 things that we should do as parents, athletes, coaches or really anyone. First, study the issues. Be informed on the risks you are putting your body in and make informed decisions. Second, speak up. Speak up to coaches and trainers about safety equipment and precautions in sports or how serious they are about concussions. And third, suit up. When participating in a sport or an activity, like riding a bike or football, and you are able to wear a helmet, do it!

     After watching this TedTalk, I wish I would have taken my brain's health more seriously when I was playing sports. This video showed me statistics regarding concussions and sports and also showed me possible risks and multiple ways that I can decrease or eliminate risks in order to keep my brain as safe as possible. I highly recommend this TedTalk for anyone interested in concussions related to sports and anyone interested in protecting their, or their kids or athletes, brain against concussions especially when playing sports! I attached the ink below in case this topic is of interest to you!

https://www.ted.com/talks/kim_gorgens_protecting_the_brain_against_concussion?language=en#t-535585

Kim Gorgens. (2010, May). Protecting the Brain Against Concussion [Video]. Ted Conferences.https://www.ted.com/talks/kim_gorgens_protecting_the_brain_against_concussion?language=en#t-535585