Drugs and memory

I am in that same waiting position now Kitty and I agree how stressful it is. If only my counter part Gran was in a Hospice they would make her comfortable and let her go, but is hospital they seem honour bound to prolong the misery and I just want to weep.

I think once we have arrived tomorrow and are with the grandchildren I will be too busy to mope about in tears, as I am now.

Sorry to be so miserable and depressing at this time of year.

DSiL's father died a couple of weeks ago and his eldest daughter (aged 5) was very aware. She drew a picture of him going up into heaven (including fireworks ) and it brings her comfort.

I found the period while he was in hospital stressful as I was waiting to be supportive of either Dd or DSiL at any time. (hugs) Kate

Yes I agree Anya the importance of involving youngsters in the stuff of life and death. Our 3 year old just thought his gran was unwell and in bed but the 5 year old certainly was far more aware. I am expecting him to ask me how long I have got left when I see him on Friday and I shall give a jocular 'I'm planning on being around for a long time yet' response.

Thanks the (((hugs))) were much appreciated.

NanKate I can hear that the sadness around your co-gran is affecting you. My SiL's mother, a lovely, lovely woman died two years ago from heart failure following a bungled operation.

She knew she was dying at only 65 and at first didn't want her grandchildren to see her in hospital. She was only thinking of them. But then she asked to see them. Our shared GC were 8 and 5 and it was a good decision as they got to cuddle 'grandma' and she got to say goodbye to them.

It is unbelievably sad and very stressful.

Sending you (((hugs)))

It's been interesting to see that so many of you have memory problems too.

I was watching Ben Fogle tonight out in the wilds of the USA and it reminded me of one of my favourite films, but could I remember the name of the film, could I heck as like ? About 20 minutes later I remembered it was 'Deliverance'.

One or two of you have said how stress can affect the memory and I tend to agree. My counter-part Gran is I her last few days/weeks and I feel unbelievably sad. She asked to see our two GSs 5 and 3 and my DinL took them to the hospital today and they spent 4 hours with her and managed to behave themselves all that time - now that is a miracle so perhaps dealing with all this, plus regular sad updates from DinL and DS by text is contributing to my memory fog.

Thanks for listening All, it's good to know you are there.

Best not, I agree

Didn't want to get involved in a "domestic" with your DH!

Only joking Daphne don't you recognise a leg-pull when you see one! Lighten up love!

Which, what, when, where??

Why such a nasty post DB?

Why such a nasty post *DH"?

You haven't got dementia if you forget what you went to the fridge for - it's if you forget what the fridge itself is for that you need worry about it!

I think distraction is the problem not lack of storage space. And that a lot depends on what we focus on. We remember different things. I was in a conversation recently in which a friend was saying she has a very detailed memory of "who had what" in various restaurants. Amazing recall going back over several years. She is of course very interested in food.
Of course the brain dumps stuff - but isn't it surprising when you remember something or someone that you haven't thought about for decades!
I was suffering from a lot of tip of the tongue problems a few months ago "what's the word for....?" Dawned on me eventually that it was my brain getting used to going to Welsh twice a week. It has now settled down although sometimes the Welsh word pops up when I am speaking English.

Oh No DB, I was right there with you on the believing our memories are full of junk so often can't find anywhere to store the "don't forget to turn the hob off" message. I sometimes which I had a delete button, like the one of this lap top so I could clear a bit of space.
One good thing about getting older is that my ability to store good memories and stop ruminating over the tougher stuff is much improved. It's one of the few things physically or mentally that has improved rather than deteriorated.

I am just off to plug my brain in to defragment with a and five minutes power nap.

With DH it's more a case of the pathway between the ear and the brain.

You are all effectively saying your brain is full to capacity and there's no more room left, so something has to be dumped?



Lighten up Anya, can't you recognise a leg-pull?

That's certainly the case with DH.

Well, I will concede that my neural pathways aren't always firing. I think it's more like a traffic jam and they have to find another way, down some side street perhaps, to get to their destination.

I believe that the brain is like a computer. Or should be other way round - a computer is like the brain. Storage and retrieval and gigabites (whatever they are) etc.
I sometimes get a message on my computer like 'you're running out of storage space!'.

Ah Ha! Like I've just de-fragged my computer you mean Jalima?

No, mine just needs tidying up a bit, there is capacity but it is fragmented
and rather foggy at the moment (post-viral - how long does this go on for, jelly legs as well).

You are all effectively saying your brain is full to capacity and there's no more room left, so something has to be dumped???

I agree with Daphne, and I'm very forgetful lately. Silly stuff like not turning the light out in the bathroom or leaving a lamp on when I've gone to bed!
I'm not having dementia!

I sometimes think my brain needs to go through a defragmentation process like the pc.

That way the files would be more in order and perhaps retrievable and there could be room for some new files.

Like - have I bought all the Christmas presents?