Relapses and Awakenings: Anne returns to the hospital unable to walk, talk, or eat

Relapses and Awakenings: Anne returns to the hospital unable to walk, talk, or eat

Yesterday morning, Anne was unable to get out of bed. She could not walk, talk, or eat. She was also radically incontinent.

After about 30 minutes of my lugging and cajoling, we finally reached the bathroom of our tiny apartment.

Like the character of Leonard Lowe in the film Awakenings, who had been in a catatonic state until he was administered mega doses of the drug L-DOPA, Anne had reached a point where she had no will of her own. She collapsed like a crumbling tower.

I phoned 911.

A pair of highly skilled first responder dudes arrived about 15 minutes later. They managed to get Anne to stand up.

She borrowed the will of the dudes.

One dude said to her, “You’re awfully tall.”

Normally she would not have let that pass.

Like the catatonia and later the manic agitation of the characters in Awakenings, her paralysis, aphasia, and incontinence were triggered by medication, or more specifically a reduction in medication.

With a huge increase in the dosage of powerful steroids, she has come back. At least in part.

But during this past week, she had never left me. She was even more loving, tender, and sensuous than she had been since the first attack of the disease in early May. We embraced for hours and listened to her favourite music: Jacques Brel; Latin American music, especially from the Andes; Pink Martini; Marie-Claire Seguin; Mozart piano and clarinet concertos; Jack White; Lola, covered by Lake Street Dive; The Lady of Shallot sung by Loreena McKennitt;  Blackbird by the Beatles; Cucurrucucu Paloma covered by Caetano Veloso; Marcus Mumford covering Dylan’s Fairwell (We’ll Meet Another Place Another Time); A la claire fontaine from the film a Painted Veil; Ravel’s Trio avec piano from the film Un Coeur en Hiver; and many, many more pieces  besides.

(Patients in Awakenings have similar responses to music, including to music from their youth, especially pieces that have personal or emotional significance.)

So we have embarked on another leg of our journey, whose length and texture will be determined by drugs and music.

Your friend,

Robert

https://robertmcbrydeauthor.com/