Remembers When

Juan Torres was found to be vegetative as he did not respond.
This changed.

I was later thought to have Locked-In Syndrome, but I was first diagnosed as Persistent Vegetative State (vegetative). That was the one written down. That is still what I have even though I write this. I also speak, but not as well as I type. It's not exactly PVS anymore. The "Vegetative" was kept, and "Semi" was added. Currently, I am Semi-vegetative. I'm still in a vegetative state.

"What's really remarkable about him, is that he can report information about the time when we all thought he was in a vegetative state," Adrian Owen at 3:37 of the video.

I can do that. That's what this is. I am giving you information about the time in which you all think I am vegetative. Hmm...I'm not really vegetative am I. Then, why am I labeled that way?

I'd like to have parallel bars in my house.

Slow, Glacial-paced Growth: Neurosculpting

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Use "biological" instead of "genetic".

It doesn't seem like genetic engineering with my case. It was neurosculpting. The neurosurgeon is an artist. I was the medium.

The slow, glacial growth is obvious. I have it documented on one site. The others have folded. It's on Flickr and  Facebook has a photo album called photo progression.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/angelar70/sets/72157625839268830/

Progression is seen in pictures taken over years.

Progression is more equivalent  to growth and is taking years.

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I didn't set out to receive genetic engineering. It was more like a biological correction, but I guess it was a bioengineering process.

A couple years before a second brain surgery, I had an AVM stroke, where a large AVM (arteriovenous malformation), blood balloon, leaked out blood, but never popped. You see, these things usually burst. So I had a giant blood balloon in my head, only getting bigger. It could pop at any moment and kill me.

I wanted to take it out. Nobody would touch it, though, because it was too deep in my brain. 

So I lived every day as my last day for nearly 2 years. The initial leaking out of blood was a severe brain bleed that should have killed me. So those 2 years were mainly spent just trying to breathe. (My first year was on a ventilator. My second year was on a ventilator tube weaned to room air. My third year was just an open hole in my neck.) 

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A doctor at Stanford University thought he might be able to get the AVM out. There were a series of treatments ending with a craniostomy.

All of this was successful. Stanford could have that blasted thing that wreaked havoc in my life!

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Those treatments had a bit of radiation in them. It was low level, but it could still change DNA.

My hair got curly. This sounds like no big deal, but I remembered back to a biology teacher saying that hair getting curly could mean there was a DNA change.

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it will be a slow process, because one will have to wait about 18 years to see the effect of changes

Slowly getting  better the last 15 years  is what I  have been doing. I've started thinking that getting better is a superpower.

we will be able to increase the complexity of our DNA, and improve the human race

I don't know about my DNA (just a hunch), but my intelligence and longevity have improved .

You ended up with a piece of art. You have a neuro-sculpture.

This is Dumb and Stupid

My diagnosis is "semi-vegetative". That's only part vegetative. 

So dear govt, which part of me is still in a coma? Is it my top half or my bottom? 

Am I in a coma when I am sleeping?

This is "Dumb and Dumber". The video clip is the movie. My situation just is.

Oops, I don't swallow barium (for an x-ray). That doesn't mean that I am in a coma (vegetative). Other medical conditions don't swallow. I'm singled out.

Why? What's your problem? Are you dumb, or just stupid?

Can't You Tell?

"Is your gauze wet?"

"I don't know.  Let me look."

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This is one of those splinter skills and hard for people to understand. I've gotten better and can tell somewhat, but I still need to visually confirm up, down, left or right, etc. I didn't know where my body was in space. This is proprioception, or one of the main senses that isn't taught.

It was common for me to tell physical therapy that I needed to see my hands. I knew bearing weight on them when they were  in the wrong position could cause damage or pain.

PAIN 

I could feel deep pain. I couldn't really feel it on my skin. This was great for IVs, blood draws, and shots. I now feel this on my left side as it should be. I'm starting to feel this on my right, but it is very dull. I can be a human pincushion!

I felt cold first and not with my hands. I feel it in my stomach. Whether stored in the refrigerator or fresh from a new box, I can tell that my formula is cold. Refrigerated is closer to having a milkshake.

I can tell a bit if something is soft/hard by seeing squishiness. Again, appearance can give clue as to texture. A few years ago, I became fascinated with roughness of a towel. Only recently have I felt "soft."

Wet/Dry is just now coming. People are surprised that I can't always tell if something is wet.

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The sense of touch is peripheral and is coming much later.


I'm trying not to get a sensory processing  disorder. 

I under react. This means socially inappropriate behavior won't be noticed. Sitting quietly is very appropriate. What people may not know, though,  is that I shut down. I seem to respond again once the stimuli are removed, but I got to thinking of my coma. Was this over-stimulation? Had I shut down completely? The shut-down was so severe that biological functions shut down. This will have to be investigated.

To researchers, maybe I already HAD a sensory processing disorder and the high neuroplasticity I have brought me out sooner. I would still be fighting this processing disorder and slowly improving. To the public, this is just speculation.