Quadriplegic Term Analysis

I realized then that my father had already told us what to do, just as Susan Block’s father had. My dad was more afraid of becoming quadriplegic than of dying. I therefore asked Benzel which posed the greater risk of his becoming quadriplegic in the next couple months: stopping or proceeding? Stopping, he said. We told him to proceed.

We witnessed for ourselves the consequences of living for the best possible day today instead of sacrificing time now for time later. He’d become all but wheelchair bound. But his slide into complete quadriplegia halted. He became more able to manage short distances with a walker. His control of his hands and his arm strength improved. He had less trouble calling people on the phone and using his laptop. The greater predictability of his day let him have more visitors over. Soon he even began hosting parties at our house again. He found that in the narrow space of possibility that his awful tumor had left for him there was still room to live.