Friday, July 27, 2007
Long-ago medical news
I remember very distinctly one of my doctors telling me, a few months after my accident, that "speech is a very complex phenomenon ... and in your case, just about everything that CAN go wrong HAS gone wrong." I remember thinking, wryly, "Gee, thanks, Doc!" But surely he was right.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Allen, one of my closest friends from work was a brilliant and funny engineer. He fought hard for two years or so before he died from an aggressive brain tumor, about ten years ago now. One of its initial impacts on him was on his speech. In his case, he could still speak, but it became almost impossible for him to translate the ideas in his head into the words he wanted to come out of his mouth. In fact, when he was first diagnosed, we didn't hear from him for a long time, and I remember being (wrongly) frustrated with his lack of response to our attempts to contact him. When we finally made contact, I learned that he had wanted to communicate with us, but he couldn't.
I know that Jeff's circumstance was really much different than the one you have been given to bear. But I often think of him while you and I are conversing with the help of your Mac. I can't begin to imagine the difficulties you deal with daily. But as your friend I am so grateful that your intelligence, your insights and your humor can be shared with so many of us through your written words.
Post a Comment