He remembered...sort of

Yesterday, March 9th, was our 27th anniversary. Brian took the day off to spend with me. (This was a first.) We were both so excited to spend a weekday together. On his drive home from Seminary he picked up some roses for me. Aren't they beautiful?! 

We attended the temple first thing. Brian was surprised how quiet it was during the day. We did an endowment session then a few sealings. That was my favorite. Kneeling across the alter from my best friend was wonderful. 

We want to PF Changs...man it was good! With Brian on his diet we don't go out to each much. It smelled soo good. The original plan was just to eat lettuce wraps. Well...we both ordered an entree. It was soo good! BUT we didn't eat any of it all gone. We took home three boxes for three different items. 

We arrived home before the boys. I was surprised we made such good time. We decided to walk the dogs since we both over ate. Around 5 we started getting ready to go to a play. Brian took an unusually long shower and when he got out he was confused. We didn't now which towel was his. He didn't know what day it was, or that he stayed home and we spent the day together. At first I thought he was joking but I quickly realized he was really confused. I started asking him questions but he didn't know the answers. There was always a pause as he would think, then he would say, "I don't know."

I'll be honest, I didn't know what to do or who to call. We had plans and we were both looking forward to going to the play. I told Brian to get dressed and I went and made a call. I called April F., her husband is an ER dr, hoping to talk with her husband. He wasn't home so I asked her what to do. She simple said, "It's his brain, you need to take him into the ER." She was right. 

Brian kept struggling getting dressed. I had to hand him his clothes and keep reminding him to get dressed. I didn't say anything to the boys since they were expecting us to be gone all evening anyway. We headed to the ER. There was such an amazing sunset last night. I snapped a picture as we walked into the hospital. 

We walked in and I told them my husband couldn't remember anything about the day. Within a minute or two he had a wristband on and we walked back to take vitals. He was put in a wheelchair and was whisked off to do a CAT scan then back to the room where 8-10 people were waiting to draw blood, start a EKG, check his speech and reflexes, and start an IV. It was a whirlwind of duties. They quickly determined it wasn't a stroke and all but one left as she slowed down to talk to us. 

Over the next few hours I determined that he lost about 10 months of time. He didn't remember Karlee's graduation, family vacations, Goeff's accident, or Carson's play from last week. Throughout the night he started remembering bits and pieces. By 10:30 he was remembering everything except from what happened after lunch. We both were feeling better he was remembering.

It was about 10 as we headed to his room. He ended up getting another CAT scan with a dye then an MRI before he was admitted for the night. I left around 11:30 to check on the boys and try to get some sleep. I was only able to talk with McKinzie and Bailee last night. I talked with the boys at breakfast, Mason didn't go to seminary this morning. They handled the news well. I'll probably go get them to come see Dad this afternoon. I texted all our siblings for prayers and talked with Julie before I arrived back to the hospital today.

This is how I found Brian. They were about to start an EEG. He also had an ECHO on his heart before I arrived. Brian isn't in any pain, never had dizziness, and is really hanging out, taking naps, and watching TV trying to pass the time. We've seen the general dr and the neurologist. 

The Dr feels strong that Brian has transient global amnesia. Here's the definition from the Mayo Clinic. Transient global amnesia is a sudden, temporary episode of memory loss that can't be attributed to a more common neurological condition, such as epilepsy or stroke.

During an episode of transient global amnesia, your recall of recent events simply vanishes, so you can't remember where you are or how you got there. In addition, you may not remember anything about what's happening in the here and now. Consequently, you may keep repeating the same questions because you don't remember the answers you've just been given. You may also draw a blank when asked to remember things that happened a day, a month or even a year ago.

With transient global amnesia, you do remember who you are, and recognize the people you know well. But that doesn't make your memory loss less disturbing.

Fortunately, transient global amnesia is rare, seemingly harmless and unlikely to happen again. Episodes are usually short-lived, and afterward your memory is fine.

This is spot on!! It describes his episode to a T! We hope this is a once in a lifetime experience. 

Blood tests also showed he was low in B12, D, and folic acid. I'm sure that's due to his diet. He'll be taking supplements for awhile.

The definition said he would repeat questions. Oh man did he ever! When we were in an exam room there was a whiteboard with the date on it. It said March 9th. Every three minutes, I don't think I'm exaggerating, Brian would notice the date and say, "It's March 9th. It's our anniversary. Happy anniversary!!" The happy anniversary sounded like Frosty when he would say happy birthday everytime the magic hat was placed on his head. I'm serious! I would smile at Brian and say yes it is our anniversary and reply happy anniversary back to him. He would then ask where we were then why. I would tell him because he forgot. He would say, "I forgot our anniversary so you brought me to the hospital? We really need to do something different next year." So for the next 2 1/2 plus hours this was our conversation mixed in with trying to find out what he remembered. At one point I asked the nurse to erase the whiteboard. It didn't slow him down. He noticed the date on his watch and then I noticed there was a clock on the wall behind me with the date. I was useless...

He needs one more test before we can go home. Another scan of his chest. Then we should be able to go home and he'll have follow up appointments with the neurlogist for sure. 

Oh the memories we will have of our 27th anniversary. I know I will never forget this. Who know's about Brian. (hehe Is it too early to joke?)