Well people I am here to give you a break and maybe cheer you up a bit. I will be adding some links as soon as I get around to it. Please be patient with me. I am not as fast as I use to be. Sometimes the brain Fog srts in and I sit here blankly looking at this screen. I will be right in the middle of typing and ...blank! Like someone turned off my brain. Ahha, you have been there done that. I know people with out Graves Disease that get "Brain Fog" Which brings us to the topic of the day.
There are many of us with Graves' Disease that get brain fog. From the youngest of us to the oldest. Some days it it worse then others. Someone just asked me if it was "normal" (what's normal) to forget what you are doing or saying, forget where you are going or why. I am not a doctor, but I know this is a symptom of Graves' Disease. One thing I do remember is not telling anyone how much I forgot things. Oh, I tried to cover it up or make excuse's for my bad memory. It did not always work. I can actually look back now and laugh at myself. But, I sure was not laughing then. I was embarrassed many times. I laugh at myself because I don't want to feel bad and cry again. Besides I can not change the past. This disease has embarrassed me more times then I can count. I won't let it do that to me any more. You should not let it do that to you. This is a disease. If you had cancer, you would not likely be you should not be embarrassed to have this disease.
I was a state officer in an organization when I started down this road with Graves' Disease. The first time I was really embarrassed was forgetting my speech in front of about 70 people. Mind you this was a speech I had given many , many, many (to many) times. It was about getting membership. I must have been half way thru it. It was a very short speech by the way. When my TV went blank. They say I stopped in the middle of the sentence. Some thought I was gathering my thought's. Well,dahhh. ( another grandkids word) I was trying to. Some thought I was being funny. I was known for that. Others just thought I was not as savvy as they were lead to believe. You see I was also running for a higher office. I actually got tears in my eye's and I was not just embarrassed , I was scared. Well, that speech ended up shorter , cut off at the pass so to speak. My excuse that time was " I am not feeling well and have to leave." I forgot many things I was suppose to do, people I was suppose to call. My date book helped a little. Now I had to make more detailed notes to myself. Not just for the organization, but for work and other things.
I traveled thru 2 states with my job. I had to be at different malls to hire, train and set up my set's. Can you imagin getting to a mall in one city for an appointment you have in another city. Yes, I did that. Just drove to the wrong city and the wrong mall to top it off. I was soooo embarrassed. I even forgot Santa's name, well not Santa but his real name. I had worked with this Santa for years. And I forgot his name. How could I do that?? Well, now I know it was the brain fog. But I did not know it then. I had it pretty bad. What was my job? I was the "Santa Lady". I trained helpers, photographers and Santa's. Now you can laugh. I also trained the Easter Bunny. Hay, I was good at it. I had a lot of training raising five kids.
Talking of kids. My worse brain fog. And I am still embarrassed to say.. I would forget my grandkids names. I have been known to forget my own kids birthday's or the year they were born. Yes, five kids are a lot ,but not too many to remember when they were born. What mother does that? Well, I have to admit...sometimes I wanted to wring their neck. Four of them are boy's.
I have had many more embarrassing moments with brain fog. These were the worst. So, if you have had brain fog...well it may not go away. But, just knowing what it can do may help you. Just knowing others with Graves' Disease get it and survive. By the way. My husband resigned from the organization 1st, so I could resign gracefully. It was a military organization. I had to quit my job because I just could not do it. I was having trouble walking, had brain fog and could not drive. My doctor would let me after I got Thyroid eye disease. As for the kids. Well, they just keep multiplying. More names and birthdays to remember.
So, I leave with this
"To follow you, I'm not content, Until I learn which way you went."