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By Roxanne Jones
It started like any other day. I awoke around 6 a.m., threw on clothes and went to feed my neighbors’ cats; came home and had breakfast with my husband, Donald; then went into my home office to begin a writing project.
I took a lunch break, then made a phone call to schedule an interview. The next thing I remember, it was nearly
six hours later and I was in the hospital undergoing a carotid ultrasound.
My husband fills in the blanks. “I heard you make that phone call,” he says. “Evidently, they asked for your phone number and you couldn’t remember it. When you hung up, you walked into the family room and said to me, ‘My brain’s not working right. I think I’m having a stroke or [transient ischemic attack]. Maybe you should call 911.’”
My grandmother, mother, and younger sister have all had strokes. I knew my family history elevated my own risk.
I also do a lot of medical writing, so I knew that mental confusion is a stroke symptom and that prompt medical
attention is critical.
“I asked you to recite the months of the year, and you could,” Donald recalls. “But you didn’t know it was December, and you didn’t recognize the Christmas cards on the hearth. You knew me and the names of family members, but you didn’t remember that my mother had died last year.”
Apparently, I also remembered that Eisenhower Medical Center has 24-hour stroke treatment resources and demanded to go there. Donald drove me to the ER, where they performed an MRI of my brain to determine if I was, in fact, having a stroke.
Thankfully, my brain looked fine. And results from all other tests (carotid ultrasound, EKG, echocardiogram, lab work, and blood pressure) were normal as well.
I was not having a stroke. But for those few hours, I had absolutely no short-term memory; I could retain no new information. Donald says I kept asking the same questions over and over, like a persistent child. “How did we get here?” “Did you call my family?” “What am I wearing under this hospital gown?” And to this day, I have no memory of the six hours I spent in the ER.
I was admitted to the hospital for observation overnight. By the time I was wheeled to my room, my memory had returned. I had a dull headache and felt very tired, but my brain seemed to be functioning OK. Just what the heck had happened to me?
“You had an episode of transient global amnesia, or TGA,” explained neurologist H. Reza Salari-Namin, whom I saw the next day. The four- to six-hour time frame, the inability to retain new information, and the absence of any other neurological deficits such as numbness or weakness are classic signs of this condition that affects an estimated 23.5 out of 100,000 people age 50 and older.
My first questions involved what caused it and whether it would happen again.
Dr. Salari-Namin explained that TGA has no known cause, but that it can be triggered by extreme stress or physical activity, immersion in cold water, acute pain, or sexual intercourse. The recurrence rate is low: less than 5 percent. And he reassured me that TGA appears to be a benign condition that requires no further treatment and is not a risk factor for stroke.
While I can joke now about my “brain cramp,” losing my memory was certainly one of those life experiences that’s, well, unforgettable.
Even though TGA is believed to be a benign condition, if you or someone you know experiences sudden mem-ory loss, seek prompt medical attention to rule out a stroke or other potentially life-threatening condition. |
