Let's face it, life the past few months has been a whirlwind - and not the positive kind. I'm glad to say that Garion is healing well, dealing with learning to accept himself as he is now, and looking forward to getting back to work. Sam and I have been looking for a house. My disability claim is under appeal, but we are making ends meet. So I have much to be grateful for and I thank God in my prayers every day.

Then there is the topic of my shirt term memory. I really think it is getting worse instead of better. Writing notes to myself is almost useless. If the note is not right in front of me, every minute of every day, I don't remember I even wrote myself a not, let alone what it was I needed to remember. Setting alarms is no better because when the alarm goes off, it scares me and I wonder who the heck it was that did something so pointless and upsetting as setting an alarm. Lists of things to do fall the way of notes.

I've asked people to start calling me during the day to give me "friendly reminders" of things. The problem there is we get off topic, chatting, and I forget what it was they called to remind me, as soon as we hang up. If I don't do whatever it was they called to remind me to do, right away, it won't happen.

The only think I CAN manage to remember to do is to take my pills every morning. Of course, that is a habit that has been there for more than 20 years.

I have to find some more effective coping mechanisms to deal with this total inability to remember things from one minute to the next. It really bothers me that I cannot keep track of life like I did before the stroke, and that it only seems to be a progressively worsening problem. How do other people manage to get through the day with no short term memory? I really need the help.