You may be wondering what in the world is Trans Global Amnesia. I had never heard of it until a few weeks ago. Here’s what happened; it was Monday morning and I told my man to be sure and not eat anything because the next day he was having a routine colonoscopy. When he asked me when we had decided to do that, I started to wonder. I reminded him that all of our children and grandchildren had been here and that’s why we waited to have the dreaded test done. He could not remember that the kids had been here.
I ran to the my office where I keep important information and found the things to ask if you think someone is having a stroke like, stick out your tongue, smile, hold your arms up. He could do it all. I ask him my name, his name, what day it was, he knew it all but he could not remember that we had had lunch with the kids, or that we took them to the airport.
I called my son in law M.D. and asked him what he thought, the smarty pants told me it sounds like a thing called Trans Global Amnesia but that I should take him to the ER just in case.
After many tests we came home with the diagnoses of TGA, it is a crazy thing that rarely ever happens again it can last for days, his lasted about 30 minutes. He is as normal as ever LOL. If you are curious, Google TGA and read about it.
Why am I telling you this? Because I want you know when it happened my life passed before me.
At the hospital they asked me if I had power of attorney, I didn’t even know what that was. Now I know we need to get some things taken care of, like a will, power of attorney and probably some things I don’t even know about.
I don’t know how to take care of the hot water heater, furnace, AC, water softener, humidifier, water purifier filters, sprinkler system. I don’t know when the taxes are due or the car tags.
He does not know how to do banking on line and he’s not much of a cook but I suspect if something happened to me he would quickly find someone to cook for him. LOL
This TGA has made me want to take better care of him, watch over him and pray for him more than usual. He is an important part of who I am and I didn’t really realize it until that moment that he couldn’t remember.
[…] I am married to Bob, we have 2 children married is so 2 + 2 children 4 and 6 grandparents. I am Director of ministries of women of the Union of Mid – America. I also piano teaches elementary Helen Hyatt at school and in my studio. This article is revised from Trans Global Amnesia | Outlook Magazine. […]
Same happened with me in June 2009, while I was travelling to my home (bus), suddenly I didn’t know who I was,where I was going, or the best to describe all this mess: I didn’t know if I was real and things and people that surrounded me! I was afraid to watch people on the face. Then, I went home, told to my wife that I am not Ok, and sleept. When I walked up, everything was back to normal.
Same thing happened to my husband this spring. He had been working on a dreaded homework project with our sun that involved lots of woodworking. THey were almost done when he decided he needed to go back to LOWES for one more thing. After ten minutes, he was back home but in was in an unusal panic sobbing that he didn’t want to die, he didn’t want to die. This was totally out of character for him though he had recently had emergency open heart surgery. But, he quickly forgot the dying fear and just became fine and calm though he couldn’t remember hardly anything, including where he had just gone, if he ever got to Lowes, he had no memory of our son’s woodworking project, no memory of Obama being president, nor any memory of having just spent months in the hospital for a life threatening illness. On the other hand, he knew his name, all the normal stuff, and could count backwards from 100 by sevens. His lasted for 15-30 minutes then just went away. We were clued in to the diagnosis by the sudden fear of death, which was not at all justified in this situation. Very bizarre experience.