"The Woman Perpetually Falling..."

In the excerpt "The Woman Perpetually Falling..." from Norman Doidge's book The Brain that Changes Itself, a woman named Cheryl suffers from a severely debilitating vestibular disequilibrium symptoms, brought upon by a prolonged use of the drug gentamicin. This drug is known to be harmful, but is used anyway because it is cheap and effective. This highlights a dangerous conundrum: use cheap and easily attainable medicine, or ensure the safety of patients even if it sends them into a deep debt? Cheryl only has 2% function of her vestibular system, which is responsible for regulating the sense of balance. It is comprised of 3 semicircular canals that send signals of changing external situations, such as a tilting head, so the body can adjust accordingly. Without this system, Cheryl feels as though she is constantly falling, her body weighed down with the added gravity of her condition. In addition to this seemingly physical weight, her mind is constantly exhausted and overworked. Since she is always focused on not falling, her mental capacity has no room for seemingly mundane tasks such as memory, thinking, etc. However, a doctor presents a remarkable solution: "a construction hat with holes in the side and a device inside it called an accelerometer" (5). This deceivingly simple device changes Cheryl's life, allowing her to finally feel normal for the first time in 5 years. I was moved by her shift in demeanor after she experiences stability, when she "starts clowning and showing off" (9). It is as if she can finally be herself, free of the mental and physical symptoms holding her back. This truly shows the correlation between physical health and mental health. Additionally, I was saddened by her disappointment when the effects wore off, describing herself as "tired, exhausted... depressed" (9). This resonated with me as she reverted back to her pain-ridden self, having experienced normality to only recede into her former shell. Thankfully, Cheryl's use of the accelerometer caused the symptoms to disappear completely, giving her life back.