Neuro Note 2- ALS

 I chose to watch a fictional movie that follows a woman who is diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) from her beginning symptoms until her death.  I watched You’re Not You on Amazon Prime Video to further my understanding.  The movie starts with the main character, Kate, washing a glass and dropping it on her 35^th birthday.  She looks at her hand as it trembles slightly and then the movie flashes forward a year.  She is now in a shower chair and her husband is assisting her.  She has just now fired her aid but has an interview with a new girl that morning.  Although the new caregiver, Bec, is not qualified and has little experience, Kate decides that she is the one she wants to take care of her.  As the movie progresses, Kate’s disease progresses as well and her friendship with Bec grows.  They both have hardships in their life but they support each other and start to understand one another.  As Kate begins to lose her voice, Bec starts to speak for her and in a moving scene Kate whispers “You’re not you. You’re me” to Bec.  Kate had so many things she wanted to do but at that moment she just wanted to scream so Bec screamed for her.  It was a therapeutic moment in which Bec asked Kate what she wanted and she could give Kate relief by screaming so she did.  Bec stays by Kate’s side and supports and respects her decision to not put her on a ventilator, leading to the final scenes of the movie.  This movie shows that Bec and Kate both needed each other in their own ways. 

I remember watching this movie years ago and thinking how good it was.  I was thinking about what I could do my next Neuro Note on and thought of this movie.  I tried to search for it but could not remember the name so I went to the resource list provided to this class and there it was! I then found it on Amazon Prime and chose to watch it mainly for my enjoyment (if that’s what you would call it because it’s actually pretty sad) but also for school as an added bonus.   

From this movie, I saw the physical effects that occur to a person diagnosed with ALS but also social and emotional effects that the family went through.  I learned that ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with no cure yet.   As the disease progresses, motor neurons die and the brain can no longer control/produce muscle movement.  This leads to the decrease in ability to move and eventually the inability to speak, eat, and breathe.  Once you are diagnosed you usually do not live longer than three to five years.  ALS attacks motor neurons so it leaves your senses like sight and hearing intact.  I think that the movie did a great job of portraying the physical effects of ALS.  From her diagnosis, Kate only lived a few years and symptoms started with her hands trembling but progressed to impairing her breathing.  The movie also did a great job on showing how people in different roles are effected by ALS.

I think that this movie is very good and I am glad I was able to find it again.  The movie is available on Amazon Prime Video but only until July 31, 2020.  I would definitely recommend watching this movie but know that the ending is bittersweet.

References: 

ALS Association. (2020). Understanding ALS. https://www.als.org/

Wolfe, G. C. (Director). (2014). You’re not you. [Film]. Daryl Prince Productions, 2S Films, DiNovi Pictures.