A Surgeon’s Life
Tourette syndrome and its symptoms can be seen in every culture, every race, and every society. This syndrome consists of too many convulsive tics, involuntary gesture, which is uncontrollable. We cannot say this is kind of a chemical or psychological disease or even the result of imbalance in neurotransmitter. We need to see all three perspectives in this syndrome. Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder, which becomes stronger in early childhood or adolescence. This syndrome happens almost one person in a thousand; the first symptoms usually are involuntary movements or tics of the arms, face, limbs or trunk. These tics are frequent, repetitive and rapid. There are too many mathematics, musicians, social workers, and …show more content…
The author of the book studies Dr. Carl Bennett, and explains in his book that this syndrome is like an obsessive. As the author explains in his book, first he met Dr. Bennet at a scientific conference on Tourette’s in Boston. According to the book, “When [the author] expressed incredulity about his choice of profession, he invited [him] to visit and stay with him, where he lived and practiced, in the town of Branford.” Therefore, Oliver Sacks went to Branford and met Dr. Bennett at the airport. He led the way to his car with an odd and rapid skipping walk, Bennett’s tics happens suddenly, and he touches his mustache to check for symmetry, his glasses to check for balance, and as Bennett said, “The touching has to be symmetrical.” As he explains, when they got into Bennett’s house, he patted his dogs, and his sons ran out, and then he patted their heads, too, in synchrony, symmetrically. Dr. Bennett was touching the lamp above his head while they were sitting on a couch and talked to each other too many times.” Whenever the sense of attention and interest interrupted, Dr. Benette’s tics appear on him. His mustache needed to be checked for symmetry and smoothness, and also his glasses needed to be balanced always, up and down, and side to side. He commented,” The touching has to be symmetrical.” While driving as the author says, he had to reposition his knees, or the steering wheel. “The sense of personal space, …show more content…
As Bennett says “anatomy came naturally to him.” When he went to medical school gradually he obsessed about phrases and paragraphs to be symmetrical and symmetrize. Overall, "A Surgeon's Life" depicts a Canadian surgeon with Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome, showing how he is able to go through hardship, and live as a respected member his of the community and become a good surger despite this disabling condition. "To See and Not See" tells the tale of a man in his 50's who is suddenly able to see after being blind since early childhood. After they drank the tea at house, Bennett and Sack went for a walk and they passed a heavy orchard with apple. As they walked, Bennett talked about his life; he was wondering to know whether anyone in his family had this syndrome or not because he was an adopted child. He was a loner, and he did not have any friends, but as he said, this sense of being lonely toughened him as well. This gave him a sense of independence, and resourceful, and also self-sufficiency. That’s one of the reason he decided very early to become a surgeon. Medical school was very difficult for him. He needed to read a phrase many times because of his obsession, and also he needed to repeat every words and lines to himself, which made the path even more difficult for