A stroke can wipe out your memories. Everything depends on what part of the brain was damaged. It didn’t erase my memories, luckily. I have a really good memory. My long-term memory did not seem to be much affected. I always knew who I was, who my friends and family were, how old I was, the president, stuff like that. I remember wowing some people after the stroke with things I remembered. My short memory – not so good. It’s fine now but after the stroke there was definitely a problem. I had trouble recalling a story that was just read to me – among other things. I remember I couldn’t do this one test and it frustrated me so much. Name all the words you can that begin with the letter ‘M.’ A conjugation of a word doesn’t count. So if you have said the word ‘mop,’ the word ‘mopping’ doesn’t count. I think the goal is to say 11 words in a minute. I couldn’t do that. For a few months, I couldn’t do it. That made me really mad! 🙂 I guess this would test long-term memory. Anyway, couldn’t do it at first. A friend of a friend had a stroke a few months ago and when he woke up he thought he was 5 years old. He forgot that he was in his 30s. Memory should be frequently assessed. Here’s an article on memory.
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- Guest Post: Memory (brendamarroyauthor.com)
Categories: Brain stuff, Recovery, Stroke stuff
Maybe our doctors should be prescribing gallons of green tea. We could also then be practicing urinary control.
http://www.australasianscience.com.au/news/september-2012/green-tea-boosts-memory.html
Dean
I have read that green tea isn’t all it’s been made out to be. http://www.happyhealthylonglife.com/happy_healthy_long_life/2010/12/shinya.html
Wow.
I know. Read the book The Enzyme Factor.
My experience pretty much echoes yours. What was interesting to me then and now is the fact that it was a week or so before I could tell time on an analog clock.
It all returned, but it did take time.
My other post-stroke surprise was that the speech therapists are in charge of all of the “memory” issues. They were all great!
Edie
That kinda surprised me too, that speech therapists did all the cognition stuff
Well, anyone who has ever been beaten on word scramble by you would ever know you had any word memory issues.
Haha! I think that game really, really helped me.
I have no memory of being pregnant or having my children. I lost a LOT of memories due to seizures. The surgery that tried to help epilepsy led to my stroke. Miraculously, this surgery and the stroke developed a better memory capability than I had, had before.
This is a great topic many people are unaware of. Thanks for writing about it!
Wow, how is it better now?
Surgeons took out part of the memory section of my brain. The previous damage (scar tissue) had caused a lot of memory problems including amnesia. It appears at the time of the surgery memories had moved to a completely different area to protect themselves. The brain is amazing!!! I can remember things that begin with M, numbers, names, letters -anything that can be put into words now better than most people that are tested.
Downside, the stroke took away all my visual memory and all ability to remember/recognize any face (prosopagnosia) -2 different areas of the brain- Why does that not bother me? I can remember each day, every moment I spend with my family. Tomorrow when I wake up and that memory will be still be mine. That is more than I could have ever hoped for before the surgery and/or the stroke!
I cannot imagine not being able to recognize faces. I hope you get that back someday. You’re right, the brain is amazing! Weird too!!!!