Neuro Note #2

For this assignment, I chose to research a spinal cord injury (SCI). This can be caused by many different issues whether it be due to a trauma, infection, congenital problems, or compression and can be classified as complete or incomplete. A complete spinal cord injury is more severe than incomplete but every SCI is different depending on where the injury/lesion occurs and the deficits usually occur below this. For example, if someone were to have a lesion on the lower spinal cord, the deficits or paralysis may be limited  to the lower extremities. 

In order to examine a SCI case more closely, I chose to watch the movie, “Me Before You.” This movie is about a wealthy man, Will, who is hit by a motorcycle and is left almost completely paralyzed. A woman, Lou, becomes his caretaker. I chose to watch this movie not only because it is very entertaining (and quite sad), you are also able to learn a lot about his injury while following along a love story. Although a lot of this movie is about their romance, you are able to see a lot about what Will can or can’t do, his personality, what he needs help with, and much more. One of the main take aways from this movie was at the beginning. Will is not very willing in accepting help from Lou or anyone else for that matter and I think that as an occupational therapy student, this is important for me to understand. In our practice, it is important to be empathetic and place ourselves in someone else’s shoes and understand how they may be feeling and help them get to the acceptance point so they are able to reach happiness and independence. It is also important to remain calm and not get frustrated when this may be occurring because it will probably happen more often than not. Additionally, Lou takes Will on many adventures that are meaningful to him to help keep him happy and involved. This was interesting to see what he is still able to do and how she is able to aid him in these experiences. I can definitely relate this movie back to our class and the information we learned about spinal cord injuries. For example, I knew about the typical symptoms and experiences of someone with an SCI and how to perform transfers, the type of care they may need, and much more. Additionally, I was able to see from Lou’s perspective and the need for occupation based activities. If others are interested, you can rent this movie on Amazon Prime!

Sharrock, T. (Director). (2016). Me Before You [Video file]. Retrieved August 13, 2019, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2674426/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1