Locked In: A Young Woman's Battle with Stroke

June M. Blurton is a retired speech pathologist.

Locked-in syndrome describes a condition in which a person, while
retaining intellectual and emotional function, experiences motor
paralysis in all parts of the body and is able to communicate only
through eye movements. In 1990, a massive brain-stem stroke left the
author—at the time a bright 19-year-old university student—in this
condition. This candid account chronicles her struggles to communicate
(eye blinks were used in the dictation of this book), the care she
received in hospitals and at the Rehab Centre, and the thoughts of
family, caregivers, and friends. The author makes two points strongly.
First, the support of family and friends is vital to a patient’s
improvement. Second, women who suffer from migraine headaches should not
take birth-control pills. The reader puts down this informative and
well-written book disturbed by the knowledge that Mozersky’s prospects
for recovery remain uncertain.