Reminders

Ahhhhhh, my memory has taken as bad a hit from MS, perhaps worse of a hit than my body!  I used to have a wonderful memory. I could remember nearly verbatim anything I had read and if I heard something I just needed to write it down once and I could retain it.  Now, at certain times during the day I can't even keep a thought long enough to carry on a simple conversation. It is always very frustrating and quite honestly often embarrassing as well.

Recently I decided that I would try to blog first thing in the morning because frankly it is when I am at my peak cognitively. I am well rested and my mental resources have not been taxed by anything yet. And by first thing in the morning I mean first thing! I'm still lying on bed as I write this! :) 

As I was about to start this post today on memory, in the morning (at the peak of my cognitive performance for the day, mind you), I was distracted by a muscle twitch. Not an unusual occurrence for me. Click here for post related to twitching.  So what do I do?  I promptly draft a post (see previous link)  about muscle twitch, save it, open my email and twenty minutes later remember I was supposed to be writing a post about memory this morning!!!! 

Obviously, because I am having problems with this I have had to and am continuing to develop strategies to help me cope.  Obviously, they don't always work ....... at least immediately. 

One thing I do is make lots of lists. If I think of something that I need to do, accomplish or purchase, I write it down, immediately  (for obvious reasons). I try to be consistent with this and have one particular notepad or device that I use so I'm not losing my list(s).  If I am using a hand written list I mark off anything completed immediately. If it gets too cluttered with scratch outs, I rewrite it because the clutter distracts me. 

As the day wears on and I become more fatigued both physically and mentally I have more difficulty even remembering to check a hand written list.  The afternoons are when I am thankful for technology. I am learning to use the reminder function on my smartphone more and more. It sends me a little jingle at a programmed time to remind me to check it. If I get something done with a single tap I can remove that task and the next one is moved into its place. If I don't get something taken care of on that day, it is automatically moved to the next day for me. 

Taking advantage of the technology available has been a life and sanity saver for me.....now if I can just keep up with my phone!

It's all in your head.....errrrr face!

Today is a PET PEEVE post! 

Aside from the obvious issues that we have to deal with fighting MS, such as the cognitive deficits that we have to compensate for, the walking troubles, dropping random things, etc  there are the weird skin sensations and pains!  Yes pains! 

Prior to being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis I would have bouts of odd "skin pain".  For months I had pain in my right hip/groin area that was excruciating.  It was painful for ANYTHING to touch me including the softest, lightest bed sheets.  The only thing that offered me any relief was to wear tight blue jeans.  I know, it sounds ridiculous but it helped.  I think because rather than any garment touching me in a specific spot in the painful area, it spread the "touch" over a wider area and made it more bearable.  No one could explain to me what it was or give me anything that could make it stop.  It made me begin to think I was crazy(er).  :)   I did try Lidoderm with limited success, but as with all of the other junk that comes with MS......it finally just went away.  (THANK GOD!)

So fast forward to yesterday.......The left side of my face and my scalp began to hurt.  The kind of hurt like you have had your hair up too long in a pony tail and finally let it down hurt.  Not comfortable but not the end of the world either.......only it doesn't go away after a few minutes.  It stays and seems to intensify.  It wakes you up when you turn over on your pillow at night.  It makes you wince when you brush your hair.  It brings you to tears to clean your face or put on makeup.  In general it just wears you down! 

I am hoping that this does not last months like the other did.  I am whiny when I am in pain and I hate to be whiny.  It makes everything else worse!   So if you see me with half a face of makeup you know why......or this week I can just play it off as my Halloween look!

Thanks for letting me vent!  I try to keep a positive outlook but sometimes I just need to let it out!