More Than You Can See by Barbara Rubin

Author:Barbara Rubin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: She Writes Press

IN THE YEARS ahead, we would be able to look back and note an unusual pattern: Jenn experienced a medical event almost every autumn. September of 1991 brought the first talking experience she had. In the fall of 1992, over a year after her accident, she needed surgery to remove a section of her skull that became infected at the site of the initial brain surgery. A year later in 1993, she had the seizure and prolonged talking episode. In the fall of 1994, the missing piece of skull was replaced with a composite material, and the following year, in 1995, there was surgery on Jenn’s right elbow to release the atrophied muscles and tendons with the goal of giving her more range of motion. Other fall events included gallbladder surgery and later three more grand mal seizures requiring hospitalization in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Her intermittent talking also only made appearances in the fall, especially after a seizure or anesthesia from a surgery. We came to view this time of year with a lot of anticipation. What was it about the fall that triggered those events? Staff questioned if that was the season when she had her accident, but no—that had happened in the summer. The first autumn after her accident was when she emerged from the fog of her coma, but how would that have had an impact on future fall happenings? Professionals, friends, and family all theorized about these strange occurrences, but they remained a mystery.

Over the years, we were to see a repeat of Jenn’s fragmented talking, but it was never for as long or as profound as in the fall of 1993. We can only guess that the damage in Jenn’s brain left her with a very fragile connection to the language center, and the seizures might have increased brain activity in that region for a very limited time span, allowing her some access to language function. Perhaps anesthesia given during surgery stimulated the neurons in her brain in the same way her seizures did, because she would often talk shortly after a medical procedure.

Did this frustrate Jenn? To have the ability to talk and then have it gone would seem to be a devastating blow to anyone, but we didn’t notice that reaction. Her lack of awareness was probably a good thing as she had no control over her speech skills, and it would not have served her well to know that she couldn’t perform the same tasks as she had the previous day or even a few minutes before.

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