My dad has started to wake up after a severe brain injury he is now on an acute Ward waiting to go rehab as his left side does not work just moved slightly he has been awake for about nearly 2 weeks now but he dont remember anything about where he lives or much else at that. He recognises me but he said he dont know if ive got any children but he has 3 beautiful grand daughters which he loves very much so im really worried as he dont know any one in the photo album or anything. But he does know his date of birth and he got 2 sons and a wife. Which is correct so he knows that for sure but only that he knows he is in hospital but he hasn't asked why he can't move or why his even in hospital but he can hold a small conversation and even joke about like he would do if he was normal so im just wondering HOW TO JOG HIS MEMORY without upsetting him as he does cry a lot which is hard for me and him
ANY TIPS WILL BE GREAT !
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Ansell1980
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Ansell I'm sorry to hear that your dad is getting so upset so easily but it is still very early days and he has his whole life ahead.
Can you ask him what is so upsetting? And please ask him not to worry about it for now. I know it can be really distressing for both the person with the brain injury and their family.
Favourite smells or songs from the person's past can stimulate memories.
Although I could remember the immediate time before my fall a few weeks later my memory of the year or two before it is very patchy at best.
Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your lives and it will take time for your dad to feel human again.
Sorry I can't be of more help but I'm sure others will.
For the first month dad didn't recognise people who had 'recently ' come into his life.
He cried non stop unless he was sleeping. Apparently this isn't because he wants to cry, it's the brain confused and sending out wrong signals.
We spent a month showing my dad photos of family members and even some turned up without him knowing who they are. After about a month his memory re jogged and he understood.
However even now he may hear a name and not understand until we show him a photo or explain who they are (very rarely we now have to do this) xxx
I think photos are test but time is most certainly the best healer - he will be in the post amnesia stage at the moment if you imagine the brain as a muscle you can't run a marathon straight after you've damaged one- the brains a bit like this I suppose , we were also told the crying was very common as the brain sends out confused signals x
Keep positive. First of all, it's progress in itself that your dad is waking up. Give it time. Have a look on the headway website at the various e-books on strategies for memory rehabilitation. Some brain injuries can impact on the ability to recognize and distinguish between faces. Your dad does still seem to be remembering a substantial amount and it's early days. There's also one on managing fatigue.
Do give headway a call and they will point you in the right direction.
Remember if he's tired or gets stressed or upset (or sees you being stressed and upset), it might make his memory worse. If he's tired and on some days does not know his date of birth, don't worry too much if you can relate it to tiredness.
My mum said her home was not her house when she came home from hospital. She knows it now! She was also not aware of some of the children in the family, but she mostly knows now.
When I first woke up after my accident I don't actually really remember much until another 4-6 weeks from then.
My girlfriend would try and play naughts and crosses with me, and I couldn't draw the 4 line grid at all..!
I remember singing along to an S Club 7 song on the radio and being annoyed that I could remember the words to such a crappy song, but couldn't remember how to walk..
I always liked a quiz, so if pointless or something came on TV I'd be love being able to answer any trivia question.
Maybe playing various music and asking some quiz like questions would help?
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