Living with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)
I have recently been diagnosed with MCI and I'll be attending Mayo Clinic group on this. Each day just seems to bring me challenges. I have days when I get depressed because I feel like I'm being a burden to others. I will be attending MCI seminar at Mayo Clinic in January. I need help and support in this area.
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Brain & Nervous System group.
@artscaping Oh Chris, you read my mind. I visited my horse yesterday to clean his hooves and treat them for thrush. I expected this because I couldn't be there for 3 months except for some visits outside the fence, and he has deep clefts that trap stuff. I don't move very fast since my ankle fracture and I put on my old leather hiking boots because that would be better protection if he stepped on me, but I also needed to pay attention and not stand close enough to put myself at risk. When you pick up their foot, sometimes they shift and take a side step and once (before my injury) he did step on my foot that way and I pulled it out before he got his weight on me which bruised my toes.
Yesterday, he saw me drive up and was watching me waiting at the gate. I had to walk from the barn to the paddock without crutches and I worked on using longer strides and I slowed him down so we could match our walk back to the barn where I could treat his hooves and pack them with antiseptic putty. Going back to the paddock, we would stop for grazing, then walk a few more steps, and back in the paddock, he got several apples which he devoured. That was therapeutic for me too for the walking and enjoying the relationship I have with my horse and the lovely sunny day. I do want to get back on him, but I can't do that until I know I can safely dismount which means that my ankle needs to volunteer a bit more effort. At this point, I would not be able to slide off him and land on my ankle. There is a mounting block of stairs which I could use, but I would need someone to hold the horse so he couldn't move if I tried to step down onto the block. It would also hurt. Today, I am still aching from doing this, but those efforts are what build strength when your body says it needs to rebuild to meet the challenges.
Have you tried Arnica gel topical? It's over the counter, and it relieves pain and inflammation. I use it and it works. Perhaps I should introduce my ankle to this magic gel. I have been paying attention to my moles since learning from my husband's experience at the dermatology clinic. His very first visit caught melanoma on his hand and he was off to surgery and a skin graft. I will go for an evaluation myself after I can walk better. I have a mole between toes on the injured foot that would stop my physical therapy progress if they were to remove it now. I also have my next surgery scheduled for dental implants in a few weeks. This should be an easier procedure than what I've already done. It's a juggling act sometimes to schedule a lot of things that need to be done. I do get to look forward to being finished next year and having a permanent restoration in place.
Just finding/reading this thead for the first time and appreciate having a place to share and hear of others also experiencing mild cognitive impairment. What shows up most often for me are those times when I lose the name or place I'm wanting to share with another. It was embarrassing at first but now I'm becoming more accepting that this just happens for me.
Another thing I'm realizing, most recently in moving my phone charger from its customary place to a "safer place after removing everything from a kitchen pantry, is that I can't remember the "safer place". In replacing foodstuffs back into pantry, the charger was found but the exasperation and time spent looking for it unsuccessfully was aggravating and disturbing.
I store other foodstuffs and cleaning supplies on a wall of shelves in my utility room. After rearranging items and changing the locations of some, I'm finding it difficult to remember their "new" homes. It seems after some things get "locked in one place" and are moved, it becomes a challenge to know where they are. Anyone else experiencing similar small challenges like this?
@fiesty76 All the time I put my glasses somewhere at night have to hunt on morning so frustrating same as the remote list it the other night then after a hour of hunting found it .
Good afternoon @dougjanehaltom, @erikas Welcome to Connect. We are delighted to have you join us. And thank you Erica for introducing these folks to me. I hope you are getting excited about coming to Mayo in January for the MCI program. And it sounds like it couldn’t be soon enough. I think if I could have any gift for Christmas that I really want and need it would be to be able to cope with my MCI better and become a more organized and contented human.
How long have you been dealing with memory issues? And by the way….are you a male (Doug) or a female (Jane) or someone else? That will help me get everything in the right bucket. I need a little help every once in a while.
At this point in your journey you are working not only on your memory challenges, like appointments and “to do” lists, you are also fighting depression over the thought of becoming a burden to folks in your life.
I wonder if you have been sent any reading assignments or video offerings by Mayo. Perhaps not. If it were me, I would forget what I had read of course. I would need to experience it. It would also be helpful to know if any of your medications or other treatments affect your cognitive efforts. Sometimes just changing the time of day for your dosage can help with the items on your daily calendar or to do list. Foggy brain doesn’t reside here anymore.
Regarding being a burden …… may I propose that you stay in the present, the here and now. I am fortunate that my life partner has been a therapist and knows all the soft kind reminder messages. He rarely, if ever, becomes agitated or perturbed with my….”I forgets”, “I don’t remembers” and “what did you say?” Sharing your experience with your significant other is a huge help…….my wonderful love goes to all my appointments and supports most of my efforts.
So what do you do right now? Here is what works for me……when I can’t remember why I have gotten up and walked to another room only to stand there dumbfounded I just try this…..quiet my mind and stand very still. If I breathe quietly and wait……all of a sudden it will pop into my brain…oh…yes check on the toothpaste supply. The same strategy also works when trying to remember what someone just said. Be quiet, do not talk, request a moment and wait for the other person’s words to return to your mind. It is really important to answer their question or comment as quickly as possible.
So…those are my prizes for today. I will leave you with this memory. My father had Alzheimer’s and my mother ran smack into cognitive decline. It is reassuring to know that my neuropsychologist has told me that I have skipped Alzheimer’s just by my age. Yippee! I am thankful. Have you had any of the tests? How did you do?
May you be content and at ease.
Chris
Hey there @colleenyoung, @emyliander, @helenfrances and welcome to @dorty. I know why it is so important to keep Colleen, our director around. If it were not for her, we wouldn't remember when it was reunion time again. And welcome to you @dorty. Hope you enjoy meeting others who have risen above this issue of cognitive decline….finding ways to challenge it, diminish it, and live with it. We have also learned that putting pressure on it from within or without just doesn't do much. So….where are all of you in your journeys? It appears that there have been some postponements, adjustments, and new explorations since we were last together.
Because I know how you are dear lovely folks,……..I will go first so you can get a better grasp of what I am talking about. I have some never before happenings to add to my lifetime of experiences. The first one is a "panic attack" when I just lost it while trying to get my taxes in before the last extension. I couldn't remember the instructions from my tax accountant. He couldn't understand why It was so difficult when we are just about to celebrate 30 years of a business relationship. His words: "it's not like we haven't done this before." I stopped and shared my cognitive issues with him. I think that being a numbers person he may not have understood everything and why I waited so long to get it done.
So my revelation was met with concern and compassion. He hung there with me until late at night and repeated every instruction as needed. It took us three days. The middle day was for my recuperation from the panic attack.
O.K. That is my most meaningful MCI encounter. I struggle with directions, concentrating so hard that I create my own anxiety. On Connect, I will see a name I recognize and tell myself….." when I finish this, I want to go back and check-in with her. Of course, I can't find "her" and because I wasn't paying attention I can't even find "it"….the page.
Anxious to connect with you all and to read your additions. I am sure there are both funny and sad ones. That's OK!
May you all have peace and ease.
Chris
Thank you so much Chris I appreciate all the advice I can get. My husband will tell me his schedule for the day and if I don't write it down I don't remember it for 5-10 minutes. A lot of it I feel it's thinking that I'm not going to remember it. I wish I could get over that part of this. That would help me so much. I do write a lot of things down which does help! I am looking forward to the clinic so much. I really need the support and the encouragement. I'm also looking forward to learning different ways that will help me in this as I'm going through this. My husband is Doug and I am Jane.
Hi @dougjanehaltom – I'd like to add my welcome to the others. My husband was diagnosed with MCI in 2015 and I can tell you that the HABIT Program at Mayo was one of the single most important steps we took in coping with the diagnosis initially. I hope you and your husband will find it as useful as we did. I'm also going to recommend another resource that you might find useful. It's a blog by Virginia Laken who was also diagnosed with MCI and also went through Mayo's HABIT program. In it, she shares many aspects of her own journey as she has coped with the diagnosis. You can find the blog at this address: https://virginialaken.com/blog/
Wishing you all the best!
Thanks, so much, Chris! I am 70. Does this mean that Iwill just have mild Cognitive impairment or will this go into Alzheimers? I am trying to do everything that I can to avoid getting worse. Is that even possible? I am so thankful for this support group!
Hi @dougjanehaltom Janie, You asked "Does this mean that I will just have mild Cognitive impairment or will this go into Alzheimers?"
That's a question most people ask when diagnosed with MCI. The Directors of the HABIT program answer that question and other commonly asked question in this blog post:
– Common Questions After Being Diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/living-with-mild-cognitive-impairment-mci/newsfeed-post/what-is-mild-cognitive-impairment-mci-questions-you-may-have-after-being-diagnosed-with-mc/
"MCI is often considered the beginning signs of a progressive disorder, such as early stage Alzheimer’s disease. 30%-50% of patients with MCI progress to a diagnosis of dementia, often with an underlying cause of Alzheimer’s disease in 5 years. However, MCI does not always progress to dementia. Some patients experience improvement and some stay stable over time. It is unfortunately difficult to predict at this time for an individual patient if decline will occur, or how rapidly decline will progress."
New research shows that lifestyle can help slow progression. See here:
– Combination of Healthy Lifestyle Traits may Substantially reduce Alzheimer's https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/living-with-mild-cognitive-impairment-mci/newsfeed-post/combination-of-healthy-lifestyle-traits-may-substantially-reduce-alzheimers/
You might appreciate following the MCI blog and reading through past posts here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/living-with-mild-cognitive-impairment-mci/
Janie, what are some of your favorite activities?
Oh my gosh, my golly, I found you. Happy everything. Most important….how are you feeling? What is new in your household? Are you in a new house? For real? Daughter? Husband? How did you handle the Holidays? What do you hear from Australia? O.K. I will take a break and pour another cup of tea……so I can think about our lives, our loves…..like puppies? And then, of course, there is our
issue.
I'll share my crazy and embarrassing memory issue. You talk about misplacing credit cards. I am on my 3rd American Express card because I lose them. Not really lost just misplaced. I finally found one between two insurance cards. I tend to use American Express as much as possible because we will need miles to go to visit grandchildren as soon as it is safe to do so.
We stayed here in Minnesota bemoaning the loneliness of trying to have a joyous family event. And then we discovered Zoom. There are 12 of us in this blended family and now we all know each other. My daughter and granddaughters zoom every other Sunday. We call it a Bed Party. We have a subject to think about and then we just laugh and catch up. When they used to come up on the mountain, we always had bed parties.
Have you been comfortable with the burden of your daughter and husband falling pretty much in your lap? Actually, Jay and I think we have become much closer. The beginning was a little treacherous but now we sort of enjoy our time together. Sometimes we don't even see each other all day. I am usually downstairs and he stays upstairs.
We have been a little concerned about the Austin, Texas family with an 18-month-old and a 3-year-old. They actually cooked over the fireplace. By yesterday they had "steady" power but no water. Our son-in-law filled 90 buckets with snow from the roof. Then they have to boil the water. It was quite disheartening to see the folks trying to cope with that situation.
This year on Connect, we invited folks to think about their "Quality of Life" and select something that would improve that detail and demonstrate self-compassion. I gave myself an extra MFR session and a commitment to work on my hip and thumb. Here is a copy if you didn't catch it before the Holidays.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/quality-of-life-a-gift-that-just-keeps-on-giving/
Grab a moment when you can and let me know what is happening.
May you have happiness and the causes of happiness.
Chris
Good morning @dorty, I just re-read your story and couldn't help wondering how you are handling the prerequisites for a comfortable life. It has been some time since we connected. We are working on Quality of Life issues that will improve the chances for happiness. Do you have anything that you need but just don't permit yourself to aquire. Now is the time.
Here is the post as it was sent. It is not too late…….in fact we all would be better humans if we took better care of ourselves.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/quality-of-life-a-gift-that-just-keeps-on-giving/
May you be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
Chris