Explaining to my daughter that MCI mostly affects my short term memory

Yesterday was my son and his fiancé’s engagement party. During the party, I was sitting down talking to one my son’s friends. My daughter hadn’t seen him in a long time, so she didn’t recognize him. Then I was telling him that I remembered that I babysat his sister and brother when his mom and dad went to the hospital to have him. That was twenty-two years ago. I also told him that when he was born, I remembered that he had a problem with his heart and that he was transferred to another hospital and had heart surgery. He was amazed that I remembered all this.

Then my daughter said to me, “Mom, why is it that you remember these random things from many years ago, but when I have a brief conversation with you, you constantly repeat things?” I tried to explain to her that my long- term memory is usually really good, but it is my short- term memory that is most affected by my memory impairment.

I continue to try to educate my children about what it is like for me, but I’m not really sure when they are going to “get it”!! I just try not to get too frustrated about it!! I was diagnosed in July 2005 at age forty-seven. At the time of my diagnosis, my children were aware that I was having difficulty, but for some reason they choose to not remember that. They would tell me that I was repeating things, but I would not remember doing so.

Sometimes I think my memory is the worst from "moment to moment." For example, I'll be working at a retail store at the register. If there is no bar code for me to scan on an item, but the customer knows the price, I can do this without confirming the price with a customer service manager. I usually will take a piece of receipt tape and write the price. Otherwise, I will forget what the customer just told me. It can be very frustrating when I forget something that someone has just told me.

I really hate the fact that it bothers my children when I forget things and when I repeat things! Do they even realize how difficult it is for me? Unfortunately, I can't change the way that my brain is working. My children need to realize that I can't stop any of these things from happening because I have no control over this memory impairment.

Sometimes my symptoms can be pretty stable. I'd say, that over the past three years, I have mostly noticed a decline in my comprehension. Lots of times, words have little to no meaning for me. It can be so darn frustrating for me to deal with!!

If I could only get new things into my long- term memory, that would be good, but I don't think it happens too often. Oh well. Such is life.