catatonia<\/a>, a mental disorder characterized by a state of apparent unresponsiveness.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_code admin_label=”Code”]<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QRDLZv5qNPU?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen><\/iframe>[\/et_pb_code][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”off” icon_color=”#7EBEC5″ use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#7EBEC5″ use_circle_border=”off” circle_border_color=”#7EBEC5″ icon_placement=”top” animation=”top” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” header_text_color=”#4c4c4c” body_text_color=”#494949″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” header_font=”PT Sans|on|||” body_font_size=”13″ body_font=”PT Serif|on|||” title=”Voice of Zeno Jaworski, Tommy’s mother (Video \u00a9 Hayley Chazan)” header_font_size=”16″] [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#4c4c4c” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_code admin_label=”Code”]<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JbXVt9DgJ2A?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen><\/iframe>[\/et_pb_code][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#f2f2f2″ allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font=”Open Sans||||” text_font_size=”16″ text_text_color=”#000000″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Once Tommy was admitted to the hospital, his doctors tried everything they could to get his catatonia to break.\u00a0 They first turned to medication, but ran into difficulty finding the right cocktail that wouldn\u2019t cause his breathing to slow down.\u00a0 After weeks of struggling to achieve the right balance of drugs, Tommy\u2019s psychiatrists suggested Electroconvulsive Therapy.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#4c4c4c” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_video_slider admin_label=”Video Slider” show_image_overlay=”hide” show_arrows=”on” show_thumbnails=”off” controls_color=”light”] [et_pb_video_slider_item admin_title=”Tommy scratching his head at hospital” src=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Tommy-Catatonia-3-2.mp4″ background_layout=”dark”] [\/et_pb_video_slider_item][et_pb_video_slider_item src=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Tommys-Catatonia-2-2.mp4″ background_layout=”light” admin_title=”Tommy in house during catatonic episode at the bottom of the stairs”] [\/et_pb_video_slider_item] [\/et_pb_video_slider][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”off” icon_color=”#7EBEC5″ use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#7EBEC5″ use_circle_border=”off” circle_border_color=”#7EBEC5″ icon_placement=”top” animation=”top” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” header_text_color=”#ffffff” body_text_color=”#ffffff” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” header_font=”Georgia||||” body_font=”PT Sans|on|||” body_font_size=”16″]<\/p>\n
During his catatonic episodes, Tommy feels like ants are crawling in his head. This is a common symptom of his illness.\u00a0(Videos courtesy of Zeno Jaworski)<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#f2f2f2″ allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font=”Open Sans||||” text_font_size=”16″ text_text_color=”#000000″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
At that time, Zeno knew very little about ECT other than the horrible scenes she had seen in old movies.\u00a0 Before she consented to the treatment, she was given a video to watch, which explained how the procedure worked and helped shed light on the differences between the stereotypes and actual, modern-era ECT.<\/p>\n
The choice Zeno faced at that time symbolized ECT\u2019s divided reputation.\u00a0 The archaic, barbaric procedure perpetuated by pop culture versus a modern day, effective treatment, capable of helping even the most hopeless and vulnerable patients.<\/p>\n
The fact that patients and their families have to watch a movie in the first place just to understand how ECT actually works, even to this day, is demonstrative of how much of a negative impact films like \u201cOne Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest\u201d had on shaping the perception of the general public.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was told at the time that ECT was really our last hope of saving his life, so it wasn\u2019t really an option anymore,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The doctors told Zeno that to pull Tommy out of his catatonic episode, he would need four ECT treatments, one every second day.\u00a0 But Tommy\u2019s catatonia was so severe that it took 12 treatments to be able to see even the slightest improvement, and he ended up having to spend five months in the hospital.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#4c4c4c” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Tommy-1.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” src=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Tommy-in-hospital-in-bed-cropped.jpg”] [\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” title=”Tommy spent five months in the hospital in 2006 during his first catatonic episode (Photos courtesy of Zeno Jaworski) ” url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”off” icon_color=”#7EBEC5″ use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#7EBEC5″ use_circle_border=”off” circle_border_color=”#7EBEC5″ icon_placement=”top” animation=”top” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” header_font=”PT Sans|on|||” header_font_size=”16″ header_text_color=”#ffffff” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#f2f2f2″ allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font=”Open Sans||||” text_font_size=”16″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” text_text_color=”#000000″]<\/p>\n
Since being released from the hospital nearly 10 years ago, Tommy has been receiving regular ECT treatments on an outpatient basis every two weeks as a preventative measure in conjunction with medication.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat keeps him going,\u201d said Zeno.\u00a0 \u201cBut after day nine, we see the slide.\u00a0 And sometimes we see the slide the whole two weeks.\u00a0 Not every ECT is as effective as the last one and there\u2019s no rhyme or reason for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zeno did say, however, that if either the drugs or the ECT were stopped, Tommy would end up back in the hospital.\u00a0 She was warned that if Tommy ever got into such a deep catatonic state again, the doctors might never be able to get him out of it and he could potentially die within twelve weeks.\u00a0 That\u2019s why, Zeno said, it is so imperative that Tommy never miss a week of treatment or a dose of his daily drugs.<\/p>\n
Although Tommy\u2019s ECT schedule can be burdensome at times, Zeno said the first-class care Tommy consistently receives from his team of healthcare professionals at The Ottawa Hospital has made the process a lot easier.<\/p>\n
From day one, Zeno said, Tommy\u2019s psychiatrist, Dr. Kiran Rabheru, has allowed her to be part of the treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always had the choice of actually staying in the room with Tommy for the entire treatment or just up to the prep time until he\u2019s anesthetized,\u201d said Zeno.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve always opted for the latter.\u201d<\/p>\n
To limit Tommy\u2019s anxiety, Zeno said that Dr. Rabheru and his team always make sure he is the first person in for treatment on a given day.\u00a0 Dr. Rahberu has also allowed Zeno to bring music and an iPad into the procedure room to make Tommy more comfortable.<\/p>\n
While ECT appears to have quite literally saved Tommy\u2019s life, it has unfortunately come at a cost.\u00a0 When Tommy was younger, he used to be a talented piano and keyboard player.\u00a0 Zeno said he used to jam with one of his neighbours throughout high school and played in school concerts and at church.\u00a0 Tommy loved music more than anything, but shortly after his treatments began, he lost his ability to play.<\/p>\n
Zeno said that in order to try to restore Tommy\u2019s musical abilities, Dr. Rabheru altered his treatment, switching from bilateral ECT to unilateral ECT. \u00a0Bilateral ECT involves placing the electrodes on both temples.\u00a0 This type of ECT is the most effective for severe mental illnesses like catatonia.\u00a0 On the other hand, unilateral ECT consists of one electrode placed on the crown of the head and the other on the right temple. While this type of placement is generally less effective, it is associated with fewer negative side effects.<\/p>\n
Dr. Rabheru thought that the unilateral electrode placement might limit the impact on the part of Tommy\u2019s brain that he needed to play music.\u00a0 But unfortunately, the unilateral placement wasn\u2019t effective enough to get Tommy out of his episodes and the doctors were forced to revert back to their original course of treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really sad, because Tommy\u2019s played music since he was two,\u201d said Zeno.<\/p>\n
Zeno says she\u2019s hopeful that a more effective method of ECT will come along sometime in the future that will allow Tommy to regain his musical abilities.<\/p>\n
A small group of psychiatrists in Canada are hopeful that impending guidelines to standardize how ECT is delivered will eventually help to minimize cognitive side effects in patients like Tommy.<\/p>\n
The Canadian ECT standards document, which will be released in the next few months, will help centres across the country deliver ECT at the highest possible level, consistent with the latest research and developments in the field.\u00a0 The document, which is ten years in the making, is the result of a national survey of ECT in Canada that was carried out between 2006 and 2007.\u00a0 The survey revealed that there are large variations in how ECT is delivered across the country.<\/p>\n
The group believes that a higher quality ECT treatment, performed consistently across Canada, will make it easier for psychiatrists to track outcomes and determine what works and what doesn\u2019t.\u00a0 This will eventually lead to further research and new discoveries.\u00a0 The standards document is in no way final, and the plan is to publish many versions over the years in order to reflect ongoing improvements in the field.<\/p>\n
While Tommy has lost his ability to play the keyboard, he still loves to sing, in his own way, Zeno said.\u00a0 He\u2019ll sometimes burst into song at a moment\u2019s notice.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#4c4c4c” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_audio admin_label=”Audio” audio=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Tommy-singing-O-Canada.wav” title=”Tommy singing O’Canada” artist_name=”Tommy Jaworski” image_url=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Tommy-in-life-jacket-in-water.jpg” background_layout=”dark” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [\/et_pb_audio][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#f2f2f2″ allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” text_font=”Open Sans||||” text_font_size=”16″ text_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” text_text_color=”#000000″ use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Despite the negative side effects, Zeno said that with ECT, Tommy can at least have a quality of life that he can enjoy.\u00a0 It might not be perfect every day, she said, and some days may be spent curled up on the couch, but he certainly does get to live his life.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Tommy-outside-with-hat-on.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Blurb” url_new_window=”off” use_icon=”off” icon_color=”#7EBEC5″ use_circle=”off” circle_color=”#7EBEC5″ use_circle_border=”off” circle_border_color=”#7EBEC5″ icon_placement=”top” animation=”top” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_icon_font_size=”off” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” title=”Tommy loves the outdoors (Photo courtesy of Zeno Jaworski)” header_font=”PT Sans|on|||” header_font_size=”16″ header_text_color=”#4c4c4c”] [\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#4c4c4c” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_code admin_label=”Code”]<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KHChOlkuw6w?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen><\/iframe>[\/et_pb_code][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Everyday, 30-year-old Tommy Jaworski sits in his rocking chair and flips through his growing collection of postcards. \u201cI think it lets him explore the world from his point of view,\u201d said his mother, Zeno. Tommy has always been fascinated with geography.\u00a0 Growing up, he had an eight-by-six-foot map of the world on the wall of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-54","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":160,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":879,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions\/879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/ect\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}