Wednesday, January 20, 2010

It's Definitely Not Cancer, so I'm Sure it's Something Much Worse

The other day I was went to enter my home phone number into a form and I couldn't remember it.

The information just wasn't there.

It was so frightening. I had to ask my 7 year-old our phone number.

A couple of weeks ago, I was driving home with my whole family in the car after a night out with friends. We were talking about another neighborhood and all of the sudden I focused on the road and didn't know where I was. For a minute, I thought I was in the other neighborhood and couldn't figure out exactly where in it I was. I shook my head and knew where I was again. It all happened so fast, but it seemed to go on forever.

My heart was pounding. I tried to laugh it off.

Tonight I was talking about The Princess Bride with a friend. I was listing off all of the people in the movie: Peter Falk, Mandy Patankin, the kid from the Wonder Years and...not Robin Williams...his friend...he's a big Yankees fan...he's a comic too..."you look mah-velous!"...he's balding...damn what is his name??

Yeah. Billy Crystal. I couldn't remember Billy Crystal's name!

I'm a little freaked out. Is it normal to be forgetting information like this? It's like I go to the place where it should be in my head and it's just blank--I may even hear a swift breeze blowing through.

The hypochondriac in me is convinced it's early onset Alzheimer's or a clot or some other horrific disease that will make every one feel sorry for me yet not sorry enough that they'll come and visit me when I'm drooling on myself and muttering something about vibrators. The cynic in me says I'm just a garden-variety, batshit-crazy woman with three kids, a job, a house, a few hobbies, some volutneer commitments and low-blood sugar overreacting.

If it's Alzheimer's, remind me to be really pissed.

16 Deserve Mamma's Love:

Annika said...

I have moments like that when I'm overtired.

Unknown said...

happens here too....same thing when I'm overtired and over committed. I always take it as my "warning, danger ahead" sign...

flutter said...

sounds like you need to up your antioxidants and fish oil

Lisa said...

Thank you for posting this darling. Because I often forget how old I am. And do the same "where the hell am I" thing while driving sometimes. I forget common words and where I'm parked. It is scarey. I brought it up to a neurologist (I'd been seeing for migraines.) He blew it off. He muttered something about how moms don't get enough sleep and have too much on their minds. So I blew it off too.

If we both have Alzheimers we can room together. We could stare at each other all day saying stuff like "Who the hell are you". And "where did you get that vibrator?" ;-)

Lisa said...

P.S. I could totally move to DC. My husband told me if something ever happens to me, he's getting a crazy stripper wife. If he follows through with that plan, I'm thinking he'd be too busy to visit me anyway... And Seth is already such a boob man that he'd forget all about me every time his step mom's rack would jiggle. :-)

Anna said...

Hi...I'm by no means a qualified professional; I'm a grad student in Speech Language Pathology. Because of this, I've had to suffer/am suffering through neuroanatomy/pathology courses. Just yesterday in my class on cognitive-communication disorders, my prof stressed that "there is NO 'normal' memory loss associated with aging."

I've certainly had the thing where you walk into a room and forget why you're there. But your incident with the neighborhood is worrying. Not to be worrying! But if I were you I'd mention to your doctor what's happening. Doesn't hurt to have a little more peace of mind.

(Sorry to butt in on your blog; just clicked here from another blog I read regularly.)

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah said...

Any chance you are pregnant?

PFunky said...

You crack me up! You are just fine.
Maybe you need to drink more wine!
Your little mind blips might seem too frightening but I am sure your brain is otherwise enlightening some inner thoughts which need your focus (do you think my rhyme to you is bogus???)

Love you and will always love you, memory or no! xoxo!

PunditMom said...

I've got it too, babe. And, yes, it's scary. I never believed those stories about not being able to recall certain things after a certain age. :(

Lara Ivey said...

You know...there is only so much space up there and little bits of info get pushed out. Right? That's what I'm going to believe because it happens to me, too. How can I remember the names of things when I have to remember to put snacks in backpacks, notes about dismissal, grocery store lists, the dog's medicine...need I keep going? Seriously, if your son can remember the number, do you need to?

Totally normal. Tell me it's totally normal!

Justine said...

I can't remember what I did 10 minutes ago!!! And it's getting worse...it freaks me the heck out -I'll walk into a room and wonder why I'm there ;)

http://www.mylifetaketwo.com

Anonymous said...

I had to use spell check the other day because I couldn't remember how to spell of. 'OF.'

'O.... v??'

If you've got Alzheimer's, I'm doomed.

Anonymous said...

Oh crap I am in real trouble.

MamaKaren said...

I was just having a conversation with my husband about this very topic! (When it happens to me, he says I'm just ditzy, but when it happens to him, he acts like it's the end of the world because he has a family history of Alzheimer's).

I heard something on the radio about some heavy metal topic, and they mentioned Black Sabbath. Which made me think of Rob Halford, except that I realized in about a nanosecond that Rob Halford was not the lead singer of Black Sabbath, but rather of...that other heavy metal band...two words...not Iron Maiden...y'know, that sang "You've Got Another Thing Coming"...not Twisted Sister...my sister took my brother to see them in 1988...what the hell is the name of that band?! All darned day I could not manage to get my brain to spit out "Judas Priest."

Momfluential said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Momfluential said...

Are you sleeping? Eating and drinking enough? I have my fair share of Momnesia moments. Today even!

I had to laugh when I read your post. Right before that call with our panel today (and I got on mere seconds before you), I smacked my head on the minivan hatch HARD. So hard I was SURE, SURE that I was going to die later today, like Natasha Richardson :(. I was so preoccupied with my pain, I was having trouble forming thoughts. I was trying to balance an ice bag on my head and stop my 2yo from going out back towards the pool...

Mind you, I smacked my head, trying to get my computer bag out of my car, and get on the call, at my brother's house, because my cell phone in my car kept dropping me and then I could not remember if I had the time right, and if it was supposed to be on skype or on a phone line, and this was the nearest land line between my home and my kids' school. Who's a dork? Me!!!

In short - we juggle, we bonk our heads, we don't eat and sleep well, and sometimes we forget our own phone numbers. Definitely not just you!

The weirdest part is that I forget this stuff and then remember the lyrics to a song from camp circa 1980 or a friend from 5th grade's phone number.