brains

i know a lot about the human body. how it works, what it needs.the complex systems we are made of really is an amazing thing.

while i completely understand the lungs, the heart and the uterus, the brain is mysterious to me.  it is the seat of who we are. there are areas in the brian dedicated to speech, to motor control,  to emotions, to short and long term memory. areas that drive our personalities. chemically and structurally they are similar from person to person and yet here we are unique individuals.

when something  happens to your brain, it changes who you are.  the rise of traumatic brain injury due to war injuries has raised awareness of what an impact tbi can have on your personality. concussions, once thought to be merely a bump in the road for athletes are now taken pretty seriously in most circles.

lewy body changes your brain, and hence your personality. while you are still you, you are a different you.

lewy has changed alan in ways that are very apparent to me. in the old days, i remember him as being very engaged, very active.  he had a legendary roving eye.  as an architect he was good at knowing how things worked and figuring things out.

yesterday we had our annual gingerbread party.   the kids invite a few friends and we decorate houses with elaborate designs glued together with frosting. gumdrops, m &m's , candy canes, necco wafers, mini shredded wheat squares, licorice and pretzels all become construction material.  over the years the designs have become very sophisticated.

alan came, as he has in past years, but this year was different. he must have been having a very lewy day because he was quiet and unengaged. more interested in eating the candy than in watching or helping. he needed help figuring out how to take a photo on his iphone.  pre lewy he would not have needed help .

lewy has made him a different version of himself.  not exactly like meeting a new person, but he is a different person. his brain has changed. and while somedays he is more like the old alan than not, somedays he is a mysterious new version of himself.