Neuro Note 3

Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking

"The Theory of Everything"
Bevan, T. (2014). The Theory of Everything. Retrieved from https://www.netflix.com/title/80000644

 I have always heard of Stephen Hawking and his battle with ALS, but did not know much about his story. This movie was recommended to me by a friend and will now be added to my list of recommendations for others. It brings major insight to what persons dealing with this terminal, progressive, neurodegenerative disease go through.

"The Theory of Everything" is a  story of the life of Steven Hawking and his journey with ALS. Stephen Hawking was an astrophysics student at the University of Cambridge. While pursuing his degree and research, his muscles began to fail him. There were several signs leading up to his fall that were alarming - hyper-reflexia, fasciculations, and muscle weakness - but it wasn't until he fell and hit his head that he was diagnosed with ALS, a motor neuron disease. This came as very shocking news to Hawking. He did not know how to cope with having two years to live and what this meant his next few years would look like. His biggest concern he proposed to the doctor was his brain and how ALS would affect it. To his surprise, the doctor assured him his thoughts would not be affected, but soon no one would know what they were because he wouldn't have the muscle strength to express them. He eventually lost all voluntary movement in his upper and lower body as well as muscle power and control.

Despite being given two years to live, Hawking lived with ALS for 55 years. He was diagnosed in 1963 and passed away in 2018. He led an otherwise normal life with 3 kids and a wife. As we discussed in class, he made modifications and adapted to using a power wheelchair, a trach, a letter board to communicate, and a computer with a built-in voice synthesizer. He went on to write an international best-selling book, A Brief History of Time and presented his thesis arguing that a black hole created the universe in a "Big Bang" and will end in a "Big Crunch". He received his Order of the Companions of Honour from Queen Elizabeth II. While attending a lecture in America, he gave an inspiring speech expressing "There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different, however, bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there is life, there is hope". Regardless of Hawking's diagnosis, he was among the small percentage that defeated the odds and lived a good life while facing many obstacles.