Looking for stories of hope of recovery from anterograde amnesia

[Sarbear123]

My husband had a cardiac arrest aged 36. He was in a coma for 5 days and when he awoke had trouble recognising people. 4 weeks after the event he now recognises people but his memory is completely shot. He doesn’t remember things ten minutes after they happened. Sometimes he’ll remember things from a few hours ago but this is rare. He never remembers things from yesterday. Can anyone share experiences of being in a similar situation and making a good recovery? Just looking for any hope for the long term as we have a three month old daughter together.

[kth101]

Sorry to hear your situation. I’ve not posted on here before but couldn’t ignore your request for good recovery stories to give you that hope - I’ve been in a similar situation and know exactly how you feel.

My husband, 34, suffered a brain haemorrhage back in March 2018. We’d just found out we were expecting baby no. 2 and we had a 2 year old at home. Those early weeks were the hardest of my life. The delirium and short term memory issues were heartbreaking and I hunted day and night on here for positive recovery stories to give me that hope!

You are in the VERY early stages of recovery. From my experience, things do and will improve and I’m sure others on here will say the same.

I’d bring my son in to see his daddy around the 4 week mark and 15 minutes later after he’d gone home he didn’t know he’d been. Fast forward to now and those days seem like a lifetime ago - in fact, he’s just taken our son to see Toy Story 4 at the cinema! His short term memory is still not what it was, and probably never will be, but it’s no where near as bad as it was and even now we still see improvements. With brain injury recovery there are no guarantees but time really is a healer!

I was told in those early days ‘how your husband is now isn’t how he will always be’ and that statement really did get me through.

Reach out to headway if you haven’t already - their support, particularly from the HATS nurse was invaluable to me.

Take care of yourself and that little one - and I hope your husband makes a good recovery.

[Sarbear123 in reply to kth101]

Thank you so much that means a lot to me! Yes I think the common theme is the short term memory doesn’t really recover as well but it’s a small price to pay to have him back!

[Sarbear123 in reply to kth101]

Can I ask one more question, did your husband return to work, if so, when? Also when did you see significant progress with the delerium subsiding?

[kth101 in reply to Sarbear123]

My husbands attempt to return to work is imminent, just working on the plans now. He was in hospital for 10 weeks and I’m sure it was around the 5 week mark we noticed significant improvements with the delirium. I thought it would never end!

Feel free to message me privately if there’s any other info you feel will help.

[claretand]

I echo the reply from kth101. It is very early days. My wife suffered an acute Subdural Haematoma and a double sah on 1st December. Like many I searched for recovery stories just to give me hope, specialists are cautious in their long term recovery diagnosis. The harder I searched the more fearful I become, there are however many stories and members on this forum that have made a good recovery and their experience is more than comforting. My wife's short term memory post coma was about 10 minutes, memory pre coma was pretty good. I would say it took about 3 months before her short term memory began to improve. We are now 8 months post injury and her short term memory has completely returned. It's a long journey, each day I saw an improvement and each day that passed we were one step further away from the accident and one day closer to recovery. I find the key was just patience and repetition. I wish you good luck and I hope the recovery goes well

[WinB]

Hi Sarbear,

I had an SAH/Brain bleed and was in cuckooland for nearly a year and when I spoke it didn't make sense so I am told, as hydrocephalus was keeping me in cuckooland. Everyone medical gave up on me. I told OT's they are witches as they told my husband I'd never recover and it is best to mourn me ..and put me in home, I had ventriculitis, Sepsis and so glad I was out of it. Had a shunt put in to drain water off brain and awoke with 2 dogs licking me and there toys at the side of me in a pile and my Daughter said welcome home Mum and we cried xx My short term memory is not very good but it is getting better, remember the human spirit is strong. I was sung to by sisters and I kept happy and asked not to hear doom and gloom stories which never went down well with one Sister xx She is lovely but does like a moan lol .. I found that singing and laughing helped me get better and I knew I was well as hubs stopped waiting on me ! Good luck to your Husband and never give up xxxxx Was told I'd never walk now up to 800 yards before back aches xxxx Rest and try singing as if he knows words to a fave song ????? xxxx

[Sarbear123 in reply to WinB]

Thanks for your story what a wonderful community this is. My husband loves music and could remember lyrics to songs when he could remember nothing else. I was reading about how some stroke victims can sing when they can’t talk. The brain really is fascinating.

[WinB in reply to Sarbear123]

Good luck to you both and if i hear any music I'll know it is you and hubs singing xx

Shame my Dad only taught me rude ones lol Keep talking and singing xxxx

[Hidden]

Hi Sabear,

There is always hope and may I say your doing really really well handling this situation and supporting your husband, your amazing.

I can tell you there is hope, my wife has both retrograde and some anterograde amnesia that still now causes its own frustration and anxiety for her. She was in a coma for a month and awoke not knowing who I was, but recognised and remembered everyone else, however not the last ten years since we were married and very hazing 10years before this around the time we first met.

Her hospital stay was almost 8months with exstensive rehab and 2months ago came home. She is better at recognising me but I do slip from her memory from time to time.

What has worked for us is telling the same facts in the same way, almost like script for each time she is unsure of me, how we met and who I am and how I related to family members, using places and other people as hooks for her memory to grasp onto. Also be patient, sometimes it can be scary but believe in yourself.

We had full time carers for the first month when my wife came home but I have since given up work to work on building our relationship, in the last month I have been home my wife is beginning to show signs of increased insite and very slowly regaining her memory largely due to our daily contact... So there is always hope where their is love.

Hope this helps,

Regards

[Janeleverton]

My son had a cardiac arrest aged 18 almost exactly 4 years ago. He was in a coma for 6 days and then once awake was intermittently shaking uncontrollably. Since then progress has been very slow but there has been significant progress. His memory remains very poor and has cognitive issues but he has just started working a few hours a week in a local pub. It’s a difficult journey but keep strong and remember it’s a slow road to recovery and do look after yourself.

[Tabbylucy]

Hello,

I had a cardiac arrest nearly two years ago. It has been a long recovery for me but at last I feel like I am getting there. I was in a coma for four days. The memory problem is due to the brain injury. I have no memory of the month after I had my CA. People say that this is good as you don't remember how bad things were. It is strange though to think that you were living doing things and just can't remember it. I have been told that I have made an amazing recovery and I think this is due to the help given after my injury. For the first year I didn't really know what was going on and the changes in my ability. I can't sugar coat it as it is hard, for family, friends and the person. I am back at work, where I work have been so support it but now only work part-time. Please ask me any questions as I am willing to answer anything xx

[CassandraDee]

These stories are giving me more hope, too!

My healthy 69-yr-old husband had a heart attack and stroke while playing tennis mid-February. He has recovered miraculously in many ways, but his short term memory is still literally only minutes long. Was your husband’s diagnosis an “anoxic” brain injury? It is often characterized by more severe short term memory effects than other kinds of TBI. His docs say it is still, at 5 months, too early to tell how far he will go in recovery. And your husband is so young, keep the faith! Sending you love, hope, strength!

[Sarbear123 in reply to CassandraDee]

Yes it was an anoxic brain injury. Here’s to your husband’s continued recovery x