My thoughts

On April 30, 2014 I had a very bad fall at my job. I was out of work for a couple of weeks, healing from numerous injuries. When I returned to work, one of the women asked how I was feeling and I said that I was feeling better. She said that I looked really good for having such a horrible fall. On the outside, all someone sees is a splint on my right wrist. They don’t see the bruise on my hip that is still healing, the knee support that is on my left knee or some minor concussion symptoms. This made me think about living with a memory impairment.

On the outside, if I don’t tell someone, they probably wouldn’t know anything was wrong. It made me wonder how someone with a memory impairment is supposed to look!

Living with a memory impairment is like having an “invisible illness.” On the outside, you look fine. If you talk to someone, they might not know that you have a memory impairment. Especially if you are having a really good day! Then your illness can continue to be invisible. It isn’t until the memory impairment symptoms become noticeable that it is no longer invisible. Someone who is with you might recognize that something is wrong, or perhaps that haven’t noticed.