Amnesia - no joke!

Have you ever seen a movie, or a soap opera, where a person had amnesia? It happens on soaps quite often. And people think it is just some dramatic condition that is made up for whatever reason the writers think it will serve.

There was a time that my husband and I went to New Orleans. At a famous piano bar called Pat OBrien's, (awesome place) I drank at least three Hurricanes one night. Sitting at the table on a hot summer night, we were with friends and having a fabulous time. I had actually been there before and drank a Hurricane. ONE.

But like I said, it was a hot night, we were staying in a bed an breakfast nearby - within walking distance. And I was with my husband, I always feel safe with him. So I drank more than usual that night. Everything was fine, until I stood up to go to the ladies room. That's the last thing I remember. But I didn't pass out or anything. Not at all. According to everyone else, I had a great time the rest of the night. I just don't have any memory of it. My husband said I did do some things were were uncharacteristic for me.

My next memory is waking up in our room, feeling pretty fuzzy and confused. My head was uncomfortable, and it took me a few minutes to realize I must have fallen asleep with my earrings on, I don't usually do that. So I removed it. It was un-nerving to find out that it was one I had never seen before. How did I wind up wearing a pair of ear rings that weren't mine? And where were my earrings? I remembered that the night before I had worn a favorite pair.

I laid there a little longer, trying to remember the details of the night before. I knew it was daytime, there was sun streaming through the window of the old Victorian house were were staying in. I remembered how delighted I was about getting to stay in such an old historic place. I remembered getting ready to go out the night before. I remembered going out and meeting our friends. I even remember smiling at my husband and kissing him, just before I stood up to go to the ladies room. But that's where my memory stops. And I never have recovered it.

My husband has filled me in on most of it - I think. He told me that at one point, I was walking/dancing down Bourbon Street, singing Joan Jett's song, "I Love Rock and Roll." And that's when I saw a pair of earrings in a store window that I insisted he buy for me.

Okay - stop right there. I have never asked anyone to buy me anything for me in my whole life. That is totally Not like me at all. My Mother raised me better than that. And they were strange earrings, not anything like I would usually wear. But the details of that night, what I know of it - are not the point of this hub. Have you ever drank something so strong that you had memory loss? Can you imagine how weird that feels?

What if you woke up with almost no memory? Like you see in the movies. The shocking thing is that it is not uncommon. Besides my little incident, and later in life finding out that I do have some repressed memories of my childhood, I thought it was mostly a joke.

Until my sister had to have brain surgery last week. I won't go into the gory details, but I can say that it was a lot more radical and traumatic than we had been led to believe. And then there were complications. She even had a partial lung collapse. But even worse. She is suffering from pretty severe memory loss, also known as amnesia. When she woke up, she couldn't remember anything at first. Then her memory started coming in and out. She especially has a hard time with her most recent memories - even people.

We have a large family, and some of them traveled to to the state she lives in to be there. The day of the surgery, I anxiously called the hospital five hours after the operation was supposed to begin. The night before, my sister had told me that it was not supposed to be any longer than five hours. It turns out it took over seven hours. That was one week ago today. She was supposed to be in the hospital about 5 days. Now it turns out she was in the hospital for a solid week. In ICU for five days. Now they're saying that she has to stay for another two weeks.

Like I said I did a lot of research on line about memory loss and amnesia. It's a lot more common that we think it is. There are many different kinds. I found a magazine that for some reason I saved from last February. I never read the whole thing, and I picked it up the other day, flipping through it while I was waiting on a phone call to give me an update about my sister. In the back it has quite a few stories about and by - people that have had amnesia and memory loss. Most of the stories are quite positive and made me feel a lot better. But I'm still worried, that's just the way I am. I feel worried sick.

They Think she will get most of her memory back in about six weeks. This past week has been a nightmare. But the good news is that she is getting better every day. Especially physically. She knows who certain people are, but I don't really know if it's because they told her, or if she remembers. I spoke to her on the phone last night. She didn't sound like herself. I'm not sure if she Really knew who I was. She was very polite. I didn't know what to say to my own beloved sister. She and I have always been very close. We used to call each other Twinkies. We even have the exact same color and shade of blue eyes.

I booked a flight to go there twice, and I've had to cancel both times. Now that she's going to be going through physical therapy for the next two weeks, they want to limit visitors. So now I plan on going in two weeks. I hope to God, that she will be back to herself by then. She is one of the best people in this world. I love her so much. Most of my favorite family memories are with her. She was with me the first time I went to Pat O'Briens. We both drank a Hurricane and laughed together all the way up that long curving staircase to the ladies room. At least by the time I've gone up it, it seems to be curving. The funny stories we have about Christmas shopping together. The times she took me to the movies when I was young - she's my older sister. We've had some great times together. I cried when she got married three years ago and moved so far away. Now we're lucky to see each other once a year. We have a brother on the far North West coast, and two sisters on the North East coast. One in the middle of the country, and two of us left here in Texas. Sometimes it's scary being the youngest.

I don't know if she will ever have her memory completely restored. But I am praying a lot. She made it through a difficult surgery, there is no sign of cancer, and she is remembering some things from one day to the next. I can't wait to get to see her in two weeks. I hope and pray she really knows me.

My next hub will be my 100th. I hope it will be a much happier one.

Stay Safe,

KT