Memory Improvement

[NebraskaTexas]

Hello Everyone, It's been a while since I have posted. I wanted to let you know that I see memory improvement in my husband. He is actually making new memories now. Not all memories stick but it's great to see some are.

Recently he was talking to me about not remembering his baptism or us getting married. I told him that we could always do it again. Well he was baptized a few weeks ago and today we renewed our wedding vows. Today was our actual wedding anniversary. Since he is remembering, he is actually feeling married now. He was telling everyone he is married. We had such fun and some family came to help us celebrate.

He is on a maintenance program for his autoimmune encephalitis and everything is going well.

Does he still have issues...yes... exhaustion is the main problem right now and some focusing problems. He is still learning the streets around us. If he is going somewhere new... I draw him a map and he is able to follow it. It's nice for him to have some independence.

Thanks for all your posts. When I read them, I feel that I'm not alone in this journey. That there are others out there that understand what we are going through.

Take care and good wishes to all.

[HSE_Survivor]

Hi NebraskaTexas . Renewing your marriage vows is so romantic that it brought a tear to my eye . It is really lovely to hear good news like this.

Is it now two years since your husband was first diagnosed? That time was a huge turning point for me , too. I had moments like being able to walk to meet my best friends at a local restaurant all by myself which I will never forget . My husband tracked me walking everywhere using the ‘Find My’ app on my iPhone. It gave him peace of mind as it reassured him that I couldn’t become lost without him knowing where I was . You might find that useful, too?

Your husband’s fatigue is a problem many of us know well, too . Mine has improved over the years , but it still has to be carefully managed.

Thanks again for sharing your story. Family support like yours is priceless on the long recovery journey .

[NebraskaTexas in reply to HSE_Survivor]

Hello HSE Survivor

My husband was diagnosed in August 2020 so it's almost been 3 years. He has made such progress in this time. Yes we do use the apple tags. We have one on each of his key chains and one in each car. This way if he loses the car while he is shopping he can find it.

Thanks for your response and take care.

[beachy1980]

Hello!

What a lovely idea to renew your wedding vows!!!!!!!! This made me feel happy - I'm really pleased he is improving too.

Fatigue is still a huge problem for me too but I feel like I've found ways around some of my problems so that I can still go out for the day for example - as long as I have a restful day the next day.

Take care x

[The_Bass]

Absolutely fantastic to read this story NebraskaTexas !

I couldn’t remember to names of streets around us when I returned from hospital but, in the grand scheme of things, I’ll take that loss!

Great that your husband is remembering things more and more. At expert earlier this year told me that, although we tend to talk about the first two years post-encephalitis being the time when we’re likely to see the most significant recovery, the improvements can continue for 10 years and more – there’s potentially no end to the recovery. Brains have the ability to find new ways to file around all the information in there – even post-encephalitis ones 😉