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| Journalist Jean-Dominque Bauby describes what life is like after suffering a massive stroke in the book, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The film version will be screened聽on Monday, followed by a panel discussion featuring Shawn Jennings, who also suffered a brainstem stroke. |
After graduating from AV俱乐部 Medical School, Shawn Jennings spent an active 20 years as a successful family doctor.聽Then suddenly, one spring day in 1999, Dr. Jennings was suddenly unable to eat, speak to his family, or move anything but his eyes.
鈥淚 had a brainstem stroke,鈥� says Dr. Jennings. 鈥淚 was left 鈥榣ocked-in.鈥� That means everything in your body is paralyzed. You can鈥檛 talk. You can鈥檛 eat. You can鈥檛 move鈥� (but) your brain knows everything.鈥�
Dr. Jennings was 45. Since then he has been in slow, continuous recovery. 鈥淚鈥檓 able to eat now, I鈥檓 able to talk,鈥� he says in a phone conversation. 鈥淚鈥檓 in a power wheelchair. I can move my left arm to eat鈥� this happened 10 years ago. I may have stayed (totally) locked-in for about four months.鈥� It was, however, two years before he could speak clearly enough to be understood.
While he fought to reclaim his body, Dr. Jennings also exercised his mind. 鈥淚 started writing about a year after my stroke鈥� I had read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly鈥︹�� (Jean-Dominique Bauby鈥檚 memoir of locked-in syndrome, dictated one eyelash-flutter at a time.) 鈥淭he nurse mentioned to me 鈥榶ou should write a memoir鈥� because she thought that my experience of being a doctor would be unique.鈥�
The writing process was physically therapeutic, helping Dr. Jennings regain the use of his hand. However, his past in the medical field proved a challenge to more personal writing. 鈥淚 had to stop writing like a doctor. That was a challenge, not to slip into medical lingo. I wanted to keep it in layman鈥檚 terms鈥� writing a memoir, you write from your own experiences, in your own name.鈥�
Dr. Jennings鈥� book, Locked In Locked Out, was published in 2002. Twice reprinted, it is now a textbook at the University of New Brunswick and at Queen鈥檚 University.
Shawn Jennings continues to write鈥攚hen he can find the time. 鈥淚鈥檝e been so busy with committees and my community; I don鈥檛 have a lot of time to write.鈥�
Highly involved in volunteer activities, including the Stroke Network, Dr. Jennings also serves as president at the Canadian Association of Physicians with Disabilities and on New Brunswick鈥檚 Premier鈥檚 Council on the Status of Disabled Persons.
鈥淒uring the mornings, that鈥檚 mostly dedicated to exercise鈥� the afternoon, that鈥檚 mostly devoted to lots of work with committees. If I have a moment or two, I鈥檒l write. And in the evenings, that鈥檚 my leisure time.鈥�
Dr. Jennings regained a measure of mobility. But locked-in syndrome can be a life sentence. Not all patients can undergo even a limited recovery, and some will remain locked-in for the rest of their lives 鈥� especially traumatic given the lack of public awareness of the syndrome.
On Monday, March 16, Novel Tech Ethics will give a public screening of the recent film version of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, with a panel discussion to follow.
Shawn Jennings has been asked to sit on the panel. 鈥淭his is put on by (Novel Tech Ethics),鈥� he explains, 鈥淎nd they want to reach the public鈥� you know, I talk to many people, and I usually tell them my main message鈥攖alking about my turn to acceptance and finding happiness after a life-changing event. But this will be the first time, I imagine, they鈥檒l be talking about the ethical questions surrounding the state of being locked-in. And so this is completely new for me.鈥�
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly will be shown at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 16, at the Halifax Infirmary, QEII Royal Bank Theatre at 1796 Summer Street. Seating is limited.