Leetonia Hammer

[Frosty]

Yeah, I keep calling our dogs by the wrong name, especially the Dachshunds and they have different colored collars. I blank on things, usually just words but sometimes entire subjects. I can get around words sometimes if can use another word and start the sentence over. Relaxing and just saying it without trying is working more and more often. 

My file tree changed. . . to a birch. STUPID TREE!

I'm really susceptible to threshold effect, I have to hold what I want to do in my mind by actively repeating what I intend. Yeah, transient memory is supposed to erase easily but this is ridiculous. My short term memory tends to behave like transient much of the time so every time I cross a line, doorway, window, etc. it resets to . . . zippo.

Frosty The Lucky.

[pnut]

The biggest daily problem I have is just losing words. They usually pop up sometime in just a moment other times after a few hours or days. I blank on common words sometime. The example I like to use when trying to explain it to someone is I'll be talking about Harley Davidson s and the last time I took a ride on my..........uh two wheels Harley Davidson , you grab the handle bars........ MOTORCYCLE .... that's it. During the whole time I'm trying to remember the word motorcycle I'll be pantomimiming steering the handle bars and kickstarting a bike.  It's worse some days than others. It's gotten much better over the last few years. In the beginning right after my injury I couldn't put names to many things. It's so frustrating knowing what something is and does and looks like but not being able to put a name to it. 'm talking about everyday things forks, apples, a glass. It's improved drastically since the beginning  though so I feel lucky. It could have been much worse. I have had my sense of time affected also. Everything seems like it happened about two months ago whether it was yesterday or ten years ago.

I was assaulted and robbed so the other lasting effect has been PTSD. Hyper vigilance insomnia depression but I try to make a little progress every day. I feel pretty normal now most of the time. 

Fatigue , hunger, low blood sugar,stress makes it all worse. I notice my emotions get a little more ragged and closer to the surface. I have to be careful or I can be a bit short with people and come off much harsher than I mean to. Enough couch time thanks doc I'll see you the same time next week. ;-).

Pnut (Mike)

 

  

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Brain fog is what my Oncologist calls it, a common aftereffect to chemo. I also struggle with names & places but not all the time. I often call our new dog by the name of a long passed one. His name is Axle and I sometimes call him Toddy.

[Frosty]

Yeah, sounds like we have similar TBI issues alright, it's like you're describing my average day. Living up to my IFI signature I'm lucky. . . AGAIN, my natural ability to make puns without thinking about it lets me use synonyms when I lose a word. Almost any word I use automatically has a list of synonyms and antonyms in my mind. I've always free associated everything I hear or see. 

Often just thinking of a synonym for the word I can't find works. To use your example. I lose "motorcycle" but the list of synonyms: bike, cycle, put, putter, scooter, chopper, ride, etc. (without going into descriptive phrases), are just there. So I mentally replace it with one in the sentence and it auto-puns in my head and there's "motorcycle" at the top of the list. Other folk in a conversation usually don't notice the pause, everybody has to look for a word now and then. Yes? I just have to go to the library. I don't use obscure words because I want to, sometimes that's all that's available at the time, the right one won't come.

I find it bewildering, the aphasia hides words and terms but I can make a pun instantly. That ONE word is hiding but all it's friends, neighbors and enemies are waving flags for attention. My mind is now it's own antithesis. Whodathunkit? 

The one issue that effects me a lot is how the TBI changed my sense of taste and smell. I used to have a palate that could distinguish individual ingredients in order of quantity at a taste or sniff. Now I taste everything but it tastes different. I'm reduced to using recipes and measuring things.

My left eye and ear don't work so well due to nerve damage I have to be really careful my depth perception is just off. Maybe I'll adjust but it's been almost 10 years now and it's still wonky. 

I don't THINK I suffer PTSD though I don't spend much time amongst the trees and haven't started a chain saw since THE day. Dealing with me, hospitals, doctors, life and all that . . . stuff traumatized Deb significantly, she expresses classic PTSD behaviors and symptoms. Any disagreement is a fight, problems are insurmountable, etc. and I don't know how to help her, can't get her to therapy. 

Maybe we should start a TBI/Stroke section where we can exchange experiences, tips and tricks, etc.

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

We could chip in and buy Deb a large supply of duct tape to tape you safely in a comfy chair...

[Frosty]

Comforting thought Thomas but if I sit in my recliner for long I'm pinned by dogs and the cat. 

On the other hand Deb's a practical gal she'll take all the duct tape you want to send.

I'll keep my pocket knife sharp.

Frosty The Lucky.