Fallen: A Trauma, a Marriage, and the Transformative Power of Music by Kara Stanley

reversed. Eat something. Get some sleep.
    AT FOUR O’CLOCK my mother, Marc and Lorna, Emily, Mike the day nurse, and I meet with Dr. Griesdale in the ICU conference room. Dr. Griesdale’s synopsis of this meeting includes the following statement:
    They [the family] understand that Mr. Paradis may not survive & that if he does, his functional neurologic outcome remains uncertain. They asked many questions pertaining to progression of neurologic recovery which I am unable to answer. They appear to understand how very ill he is. I also explained the rationale for early fixation of his spine, but they understand the window for this may be closing. This will be answered tomorrow.
    “Appear to understand” is the key phrase. Dr. Griesdale’s explanation for the spinal surgery is essentially that there is, neurologically, a lull before the storm. It will be in Simon’s best interest to stabilize him now. I remain uncertain, but the combined expertise of the Neurosurgical, Spinal, and Intensive Care teams is enough to convince me to agree to the surgery. Dr. Griesdale reiterates that the central issue is still whether Simon will survive. They want to proceed with the spine surgery although he might not survive it; even without the surgery, he might not survive the next hour, the next night, the next week. The outcome of his injury is still to be determined, Dr. Griesdale says. Yes, we collectively agree, and then ask a barrage of questions based on the premise that of course he will survive.
    “How long might he be in hospital?” I ask.
    “If he survives,” Dr. Griesdale says, “a rough time frame might be three months in critical care, three months in the hospital, six months in rehab. Or, possibly, an indefinite amount of time in a long-term care facility.”
    “How long might he be in a coma?” Emily asks.
    “If he survives... it is hard to say. Depending on how stable he is, we will begin to lighten the sedation in anywhere from seven to fourteen days. It is important he wakes up slowly, but you need to understand he might not wake up on his own.”
    “Will he,” Lorna asks, a barely contained desperation straining her voice, “will he be able to play music?”
    “Again,” Dr. Griesdale says, “right now it is still a question of whether he will survive—”
    I can’t listen to any more. Emily, who has worked as a medical transcriptionist to support her PhD studies, is taking notes. I can trust she won’t miss anything important. I have to get out of the confined space of the conference room. I stand up abruptly, apologize, and leave. Sassafras is quiet after a busy day of visitors. Sully, alone, sits in one of the cafeteria’s central tables. I crawl onto a chair and lean into his flannel shoulder as a howling storm catches up to me. I shake and sob and he holds on until the tidal wave of grief recedes enough for me to catch my breath.

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ANIMAL SPIRITS
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    A NERVE CELL, or neuron, is composed of three distinct parts: the cell body, the dendrites, and the axon. Neurons respond to a stimulus with a nerve impulse, an electrical signal that travels rapidly throughout the body. Dendrites receive nerve impulses from other neurons and are usually short and highly branched, like little trees extending from the cell body. The axon is a single, taillike nerve fiber that carries impulses to the dendrites of other neurons and can vary in length from less than a millimeter to over a meter long. The dendrites and cell bodies of neurons constitute the so-called gray matter of the brain and spinal cord, while the axons, insulated in a milky white lipid and protein covering called the myelin sheath, constitute the white matter.
    The brain has four main structural components: the brain stem, the cerebellum, the diencephalon, and the cerebrum. The brain stem is continuous with the spinal cord, and it enters (and exits) the cranial cavity through the foramen magnum (Latin for “great hole”), the large opening at