Age is only a number.

So my last entry focused on short-term memory loss, and I got some comments I wanted to address.

I work with a lot of different types of traumatic brain injury patients, from about the ages of mid-thirties all the way to about 70 years old or older.  Some of these patients were injured before their tenth birthday, and some as late as their late thirties, and some even before or after that.  The vast majority of these TBIs are a result of motor vehicle accidents: car collisions, motorcycle accidents, cars striking pedestrians, even tractor trailer accidents.  I would say more than half of these accidents involved driving under the influence of alcohol.  We have a couple of more unique accidents, one client was thrown from a racehorse, another client had a roofing accident, another accident involved a loose manhole cover.

Because of the varied ages that these accidents have happened, we end up with clients in every stage of life.  Some clients are 'stuck' in their teenage years, with all the characteristics of a 17 year old, including the attitude.  Some clients are married with children, and some are divorced (which unfortunately happens often when a spouse becomes brain injured).  Some are more childish and have limited communication ability.  Also because of these varied ages, among many other factors of course, memory loss presents itself in each client uniquely.  Those clients that were injured at a very young age did not have much opportunity to experience life and therefore have limited long-term memory in addition to short-term memory loss.  Most of their memories consists of parents and siblings, and some can remember events and things they've done since their accident.  Clients that were injured later in life often have uncanny long-term memory, much better than I feel I would have myself.  A client that was injured at 17 can remember many details about the night she was injured, like where she went, where she told her parents she was going, who she was with, and even the "heaven" that she remembers being in while she was in a loooong coma.  Other clients can tell stories of family members and events (although the short-term memory loss kicks in here because I have been told these stories so often I can now repeat them verbatim).  In some cases, clients can remember important events  that have happened since their injury, like a particularly memorable vacation or the day they got married (but on bad days, they can't recall the exact date).

Many clients do seem to be, in a way, stuck in the time period their injury occurred.  Like I said before, pretty much whatever age they were injured at is the age they perceive themselves as for the long haul.  We have 50 year old teenagers, 40 year old children, and plenty of other people who just don't act their age.  This can be at times refreshing, and at other times, just plain challenging.  When a past-middle-aged woman wants to 'make out' with the men she works with like she was a hormone-driven teenager... sometimes you just have to remind them that somethings aren't age appropriate.