Sarah Nickerson was living her life just like any other career-driven woman. She lived a hectic life with her three beautiful children Linus, Lucy, and Charlie, her husband Bob, and their faithful babysitter. Sarah was entirely engulfed in her personal life as much as her work life. Both Sarah and her husband Bob used to work sixty hours a week, although the economic recession emerges throwing so much into disarray. In Berkley Consulting, she used to be the vice president of a human resource where she was tasked with monumental tasks. Also, just like typical mothers, Sarah used to take her kids to soccer, piano lessons, and daycare. She was quite busy trying to convince her son's teacher that her young boy may not be having an APP, and also making it home in time for dinner. Because of Sarah's firm program and desire to achieve more with her life, she couldn’t have any time to relax ( Genova, 2011 ). After her unfortunate accident which completely altered her life; towards the end of the book, Sarah tries to regain her independence and heal. Unfortunately, she must accept the reality of destiny in that: her true and new life may not lie within her regular busy schedule of spreadsheets and conference calls. She had to alter her expectations, timelines, drop most of her hobbies and accept that she was going to do less. Therefore, Sarah had no other option other than recognizing the need of making changes in her life. Sarah agrees and learns to put her focus on that which she can do, rather than what she cannot be able to do. Consequently, Sarah goes ahead to recognize and appreciate other aspects of her life, which she had previously neglected. Sarah’s story applies to me and many multitudes in multidimensional elements; there come points of alterations in our lives that force us to settle for less.
According to the author, the brain is usually responsible for self-awareness. This may be demonstrated when Sarah went to apply makeup on herself, she only applied it on the right side of her face and not the left one. She was not aware that she had no makeup on her left side until Martha told her so. The brain is also responsible for vision ( Igor, 2013 ). Moreover, on the aspect of brain injury, the author writes that brain injury can cause a loss of real estate. This causes the brain to analyze and respond to information given slowly. Hence Sarah suffered from a severe condition known as Left Neglect, where this condition is very much prevalent among individuals who suffer from brain injury in the right-hemisphere. Hence, Sarah's brain does not pay attention to any object or thing on her left side; in other words, left is not existent to her. For Sarah to recover, she has to go to a rehabilitation center where she was taken through series of therapy to restore herself awareness condition. Here, she attempts to learn how to find the missing half, which was responsible for helping her see the world as a whole.
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Before I read the book “Left Neglected," I was not very much aware of the most critical role that the human brain plays in the body. It came to my realization that the brain controls every aspect of our body, and without the mind, we are nothing but dead. From the book, it came to my realization the brain is responsible for self-awareness. This implies that the brain helps us to be aware of who we are, where we are, and most importantly being aware of what we are doing ( Williams, 2017) . So if one part of the brain is damaged, it interferes with this role, and thus we become incomplete. I can relate this to the number of times I periodically failed to get things right in my classroom, and in my internships program owing to long durations of less sleep which made my brain to become less functional. I vividly recall a day that I went to the office for an early morning meeting, putting on a necktie on a polo t-shirt. This event came after a long week of long working hours and unfinished tasks which made my brain less active and alert; the remedy after seeking medical attention was for me to get adequate nighttime sleep to restore my brain to order. Also with regards to brain injury, brain injury can be stabilized in a hospital, but unfortunately its long term effects are not quickly resolved. Lastly, the recovery process from brain damage is not as simple as we usually think. Recovery from a brain condition such as left neglect might take quite a long time since it requires a series of sequential steps for one to heal, through therapy and appropriate medication.
Sarah assumes that she shall quickly recover from the injury within the shortest time possible, and go back to her healthy life. Unfortunately, it was to her disappointment when she realized that she had no control over her body and mind. More drama arises when Sarah's mother offers help during her daughters' rehabilitation period ( Genova, 2011 ). Both Sarah and her mother have never been on good terms ever since the death of Sarah's brother, which created a huge void between Sarah and her mother. In the end, Sarah finally learns to accept her physical constraints, and she also appreciated and accepted her mother's assistance.
References
Genova, L. (2011). Left neglected . Simon and Schuster.
Igor, V. M. (2013). Clients with Left Neglect.
Williams, S. (2017). Your Brain in Sickness and in Health: The Experience of Dementia and Other Brain Disorders . lulu.com.
