The Theory of Everything

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I have chosen to do another neuro note on ALS because the disease is just so sad, but bizarre and complex. I feel like for every question there is answered, another one pops up.  The fact that the muscle groups and body systems slowly start to malfunction and play out, but the mind and processing skills remain unshaken completely baffles researchers and health care providers. This disease traps people in their own body and that is a concept that is hard to understand unless you are forced to endure it. In the movie, The Theory of Everything, famous physicist, cosmologist, and author Steven Hawking, suffers from the handle of the progressive disorder. 

Hawking was diagnosed at age 21 and in the movie there are several precursors of the disease before his diagnosis. He knocked over a coffee cup, shows several "clumsy" signs with his feet and awkward placements of his hands, and he has a serious fall resulting in a scan of his brain and the confirmation of his diagnosis. His progression was very rapid and he quickly deteriorated over the course of the next several years. His wife was very supportive and for many years cared for him and their children alone. Eventually, things got to be too much for her to handle by herself and Hawking grew closer to another caregiver that worked for them. This situation led to the separation of Hawking and his wife, however, they did still remain friends and both shared experiences with their children. 

He showed the same symptoms that we discussed in class at a very rapid rate. He under went surgery to put in a permanent trach tube and lost his ability to speak. He eventually gained access to a piece of assistive technology that spoke for him through the use of a communication board. Although his onset experience of the disease was very quick, he lived with the condition for 55 years. As we discussed in class, many times the client is expected to live for 2-5 years post diagnosis. Through all of his struggles, Hawking continued to work and even wrote a book about his research and findings. 

Retrieved from: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/jane-hawking-marriage-can-end-still-success/ 

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