Just an ammendment.
Try to establish a highly structured surrounding at home. Use some
post-its as reminder at home. In neurorehab therapy, they often use a
personal diary to write down things to do and also the ones that are
already done. It requires some exercise (and your support in the
beginning). Not all patients benefit. But it's worth a try. If your
wife can't recall what she has done during the day, it may be a good
information source for her and you as well. In addition, if she starts
using it, it may be rewarding for her to see what she has done.
> Would there any possible chance of my wife getting over this problem
> with her memory loss, or will I have to come to terms that this is how
> she will be forever.
Experience shows that even a long time after the traumatic incident,
cognitive functions can improve significantly during and after rehab.
It is important that a neuropsychologist checks her learning ability.
(How does she learn? Does it take more time? Does she need more
repetition in order to memorize it? Are already slight disturbances
affect information retrieval? Where is the problem, is it in the
process of transferring material into memory, in retrieving the
material? Depending on the type, it may require a different emphasis in
the therapy and a different strategy for coping with it in daily life.
For both of you.)
How do you judge her awareness for her memory difficulties? Is she only
aware of her impairment when being confronted with her failure or does
she say in a "problem-free" situation, yes, I have problems with my
memory? That's pretty important for the therapy in terms of compliance.
Get her into rehab. Support her during her stay there. But at the same
time, try to get some time for yourself.
Mareen
