dazzling light–
and his eyelids closed
to great applause


Today, a patient we’ve had for over a month afflicted with a serious disturbance of conscious closed his eyes in response to a penlight shone in his face to check his reflexes. Up until now, there hadn’t been any sort of facial response to light or touch. Even though this response was only small, I’m very happy. At least he seems to want to protect his eyes from stimuli. What’s more, he seemed to actually be looking at me when he turned his head in my direction. Other staff members saw this too. I called out to him loudly and explained his current circumstances, and his mouth seemed to move in response. At the very least, the sound coming in through his ears is probably stimulating his mind and causing a response. I felt like we had a conversation in a way.



眩しくてびっくり閉眼大拍手

まぶしくて　びっくり へいがん　だい はくしゅ



今日、重篤な意識障害をきたして、1ヶ月以上経過した患者さんが、対光反射をチェックするためのペンライトの光を眩しく感じたかのように目を閉じました。今まではライトを当てても顔に触れても反応がなかったのに。小さな反応ですが、とても嬉しいことです。少なくとも刺激から目を守ろうとしたのです。それだけでなく、何となくこちらを見返し、視線があっているような気がしました。他のスタッフも同じ反応を目にしました。私は大きな声で話しかけ、今の状態を話しました。すると、少し口元が動いたように見えました。少なくとも、耳から入った音が脳を刺激し、それに対する反応が出たわけです。会話ができたような気がしました。





– Fujisaki Yukiyo
– English by Chay Schiller