deb,
*ROFLOL* that is a good one...............so let me see.......I take it that all the little quirks & tricks you teach one don't especially work???? *LOL* just teasing you............

Going on let's see 8 yrs here soon myself.........and the word game......YIKES!! I have to tell people the words meaning & then they give me the right word that I want to use *LOL* hubby is really good at that one.........

And for short term memory........well mine got really bad after back surgery (L5 to S1 fused, this after a fusion of L2-L4 in '05) last June 1st. I lost most of that day, due to surgery, along with June 2nd, 3rd & most of the 4th..........completely. I remember absolutely nothing of those days....NOTHING!! I ended up in a 'catatonic like state' I believe it might be called. I remember a little of that Monday evening & I was in such pain I begged them to let me die &/or to kill me cause I couldn't live that way. The pain was burning feet & due to the type of surgery cramps & muscle spasms in buttocks & down both legs. I couldn't stop crying & the pain was so bad I kept throwing up. I truly did want to die. The hospital doc that had my care thought I was a closet alcoholic on top of it. Sometime that night after 10pm, cause that is when my hubby went home, I went into this 'state' & I remember nothing until late afternoon Thursday. I was told that they thought they gave me too much pain medication so they stripped me of all meds & more than that even with some drug (can't remember the name of it). I went into this 'state' & where, when Jack came in, I didn't know who he was nor Seth, my son, nor even who I was. They all thought I would end up in a psych hospital for maybe the rest of my life. I was cussing everyone out, I wouldn't leave my nightgown down or stay covered up. It was like I didn't know what I was doing or saying........well I guess I didn't. They stripped so much essential 'stuff' out of me they had to give me insulin shots(I am not diabetic), thyroid medication(my thyroid is fine), blood pressure meds(I don't have high BP), potassium, & magnesium even thru my IV & oral vitamins once I could swallow again. Wed morning I tried to get out of bed & managed to do so & fell. They did a head CT & I was cleared. They were suppose to be watching me closely as I was in observation when I fell, then in ICU afterwards. They finally called a Neurologist in & he said to put me back on my pain meds (morphine). Idiot, the doc who had me, thought I was on too high a dose of morphine, it's what he told me on Friday. He still didn't have me up to my reg dose when I left. Did my feet hurt? yep. Did my back? nope. I didn't eat for all those days until Sat. Jack said when he looked into my eyes on Tuesday, I was not there.......I was just gone. After I started to come around (after they got me back on some morphine) it took me until Sat to tell them who the president was & I think the only reason I knew for sure was I had seen him on TV that morning. It took me until late Friday to get the day right. Until Sat to tell them the name of the hospital I was in & what city I was in. I wasn't able to eat or hardly drink I guess even after I started to come out of it, everything tasted nasty, like metal(I lost 12lbs). I could barely hold a conversation with anyone until late Sat. The nurses said they had never seen anyone come out that type of 'state' as fast as I did. Well anyway, my whole point of this is that since then my short term memory is just GONE for the most part. I forget ust about everything short term. I will forget to check email for over a week sometimes even. If I don't write notes it can get bad. I got us over drawn cause I forgot to do the bank statements even. And when I was signing out of the hospital I forgot how to write my whole last name. Took me a week after to get it right. That whole week is scarey for me to think about. It is like looking back into a black hole....those 4 days are a black hole for me!!! That is what it must be like for a coma patient to wake up & not remember anything ........to look back & see but a black hole. I can understand why they would wake up scared out of their wits. You don't think any time has elapsed but it has.

Well........... anyway.....hang on to what you got for short term memory cause kids it can be worse........way worse.............mine scares me anymore. I am hoping I don't forget to ask my doc in the morning before I have an SGB some very pertinent questions. I have been going over it & over it in my head so I don't forget. I could easily make a nightmare out of this short term memory thing..........

Sorry for all the rambling...........
Debby