Boy did you hit the nail on the head there!

One of my biggest problems was the cog fog. I couldn't even explain it when it was happening because I couldn't find the words to explain it adequately! While I may have "looked fine", I wasn't and I knew it, regardless of what anyone else thought.

I had a near photographic memory before I started down the MS road. I could read a magazine from cover to cover and when questioned, could recall any article word for word. I never had to study for tests because once I read the material, I could pull it all back up at a moment's notice.

Now it's notes and reminders, calendars and memos, calculators and alerts on my laptop, reading and then re-reading, lists on top of lists and family members telling me stuff ten times. It frustrates them, but it frustrates me more. I've learned to live with what has been lost but I don't freakin' like it!

I've turned into that person at the grocery store who stops and peruses the list and examines every label and price, who stands at the checkout and writes down the check and uses the calculator to enter the balance after the check is written, who has to count the money in hand two or three times before handing it to the teller...

I've learned to be patient when others do this now, because I am them. I've learned to check every detail. I've learned to SLOW down and think much more carefully. I've learned that whether or not someone else thinks you should be acting more like your old self, it ain't there and you have to learn a new way to do what you always did with no effort in your previous life.

I've also learned the biggest lesson, that it CAN be done, that you can make up for deficits by doing things a different way instead of banging into the wall time after time, trying to do everything the way you always did it before!

Thanks for your post!