Most people in the United States are right-handed, perhaps as many as 93% of the population. In practically all, the ability to understand the spoken and written word and the ability to speak is confined to one side of the brain. Interestingly this ‘speech area’, in most people is located in the left side of the brain.
Gary Robinson, was one of the few people who very likely had his speech are located on the right side of his brain.
Sometime around Thanksgiving of 2008, Gary became a bit confused, although in retrospect his brain was probably developing a difficulty with processing things he heard and saw. The resulting confusion caused him to be involved in a car accident. Fortunately no one was injured but after being brought to the Emergency Room, Gary’s confusion led him to leave the hospital against medical advice. In fact, Gary was now becoming belligerent as well and had also developed some weakness on his left side. As a result, his wife, Barbara was becoming a little distraught. She was however able to get him to come to the hospital at Mease Dunedin by reassuring him that she would be with him the entire time and no one would touch him without her permission. This seemed to calm Gary and so he came.
After being admitted, an MRI scan was obtained which revealed the source of Gary’s ‘confusion’. He had a large cystic tumor in the temporal lobe on the right side, very near the speech area, if it were on the left side in the majority of people. As it turned out, Gary’s speech area was located on the right side. And if this wasn’t bad enough, Gary had a second tumor in the frontal area on the right side but close to the pathway connecting the right and left sides of his brain.
On December 2nd, I performed surgery on Gary and as I suspected the tumor was a glioblastoma multiforme. This meant the second tumor was merely a radiographic visualization of the tumor which actually extended from the temporal area of his brain, where I operated, all the way to the frontal area. With such an extensive tumor, Gary’s prognosis was not good.
Postoperatively, Gary received radiation and chemotherapy but when I saw him back in the office on April 8, a recent MRI had shown the frontal tumor had gotten bigger and was now extending across to the left side of his brain. I told Gary and Barbara there was nothing further that could be done. On April 28, Gary passed away, less than 6months after his confusion began. Shortly after his death, Barbara sent me a letter…
5/20/2009
Dear Dr. Colbassani, Francy, Paul and staff,
I would like to thank you for everything you did for Gary. Obviously, I had forgotten my lessons on how his down fall would be. Probably something that shouldn’t be happening. I had also forgotten the meaning of weak, too. I have learned is has many definitions.
Gary did not lose his humor or wit, or kindness. He could hold on with his right hand until the very end; that was most helpful as I flipped him like a burger, so he could have a different look in the room. He did lose his speech and that was hard for me, but I did find out that he could sing and carry a tune with his ‘ahhs’.
We have a hammered dulcimer; you hit it with mallets, it has a very bell like sound, not loud, unlike the piano and organ which distressed him. It bothered his sensitive hearing, I was told.
So I blew off the dust & tuned it up. Since we couldn’t go to church, perhaps we could “sing” hymns at home. As I was playing “Amazing Grace”, Gary began to sing – I just about fainted! Here is a guy that could hardly move, but could sing along. We kept it up for 40 minutes. He slept well after that! Even on his last day, (April 28) he delighted me and sang along. It was such a special gift.
I want to really thank you for giving him the time to say goodbye to his family and to say things that needed to be said and done. Had he waited, he would never have had the chance.
Your kindness and patience gave us hope that we had a little time and we were so very grateful.
May you continue to do all the good work you can do. Thank you also for your compassion. Without that, I don’t think I could have done what I did.
Your staff is exceptional and you should be very proud of them.
Taking their time, from their busy days, calling me back and calming my fears – Answering my questions, telling me of their experiences with the others that have gone on before, was invaluable. All I have to offer is my humble thanks.
Sincerely,
Barbara Robinson
(& Gary)
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