Jean's new life is a series of memories and brief visits from those who have not classified him as a vegetable. The process is laborious and exhausting and few people actually take the time to learn the code. Jean blinks his one working eyelid until he reaches the letter desired and then starts again for the next letter in a word. The code is based on the alphabet being organized according to each letter's frequency of use in the French language. In the meantime, the therapist has reordered the alphabet and developed a communication code especially for Jean. He works with a speech therapist in the hopes of regaining some control over his breathing and speech. Jean tells of his daily life in the hospital as he undergoes physical therapy that may only bring about the tiniest bit of movement after several years. In his mind, Jean travels to Hong Kong, remembers pieces of his old life, composing books and plays, and creates elegant meals. Most of Jean's time is consumed with letting his mind flitter like a butterfly. His days are a slow monotony of baths, speech, and physical therapy, and, if he is lucky, brief trips outside.
This is the room where Jean will spend the rest of his new life. When Jean finally comes to, he is in Room 119 of the Naval Hospital in Berck-sur-Mer on the French Channel coast. He is whisked to a clinic by his sister-in-law and slips almost immediately into a twenty day coma.
Jean's stroke hits with a sudden ferocity. Despite the seemingly desperation of Jean's life, he brings his own story to the reader with a vitality that belies his immobile state of being. His only form of communication is code blinked out with his left eyelid. Jean is paralyzed from the neck down, although he can swivel his head from side to side. Jean's stroke results in a phenomenon known as locked-in syndrome. He is in his early forties and enjoying life with his young children when he suffers a massive stroke that leaves him completely incapacitated. Jean-Dominique Bauby is a lively, adventurous editor for French Elle magazine.
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