The "Tuesday, 2/20/2018, A Day Best Forgotten!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Carol was attempting to catch our new stray cat, Snickerdoodle, and place him in our cat carrier so we could take him to the vet to be neutered.  Placed a few treats in the carrier and after the cat was half way in to eat them, she shoved him the rest of the way in and began to close the door.  But, he was too quick for her and escaped.  She was so upset since it meant another call to the vet to tell her we wouldn't be bringing Snickerdoodle today.  After she placed the call to the vet she walked to the kitchen sink and grabbed her pill container to take her daily meds.  I was in the process of taking mine also and after she dumped the few pills into her hand she stared at it and after a few seconds said to me, "I don't know what these are."  I looked at her and said, "What do you mean?"  She looked at me with a puzzled look and said once again, "I don't know what to do with these.  I don't know what they are."  Now she had my attention.  Her blank look was not only filled with fear, but was scaring me.  "I can't remember anything."  I immediately grabbed the phone and called our family doctor.  Within a few minutes I was talking to her nurse practitioner Cindy.  After hearing my story she told me to go straight to the emergency room.  Within less than five minutes we were headed to the Heart of Lancaster Hospital in nearby Lititz.  Carol asked what was wrong with her and I had no answer to give to her.  Within ten minutes we were in the Emergency Room registering her to be checked.  The time was just about 8:00 am.  Within a minute or two we were ushered into a room where she was given a gown and told to take her top off and place the gown on, tying it in the back.  A doctor entered and after talking to her for perhaps two minutes, ushered us to a larger room and ordered the stroke staff to begin their duties.  Test after test was administered and within half an hour the doctor returned and said we were going to face a TV screen and talk with a doctor from Hershey Medical Center in nearby Hershey, Pennsylvania.  Now we were both scared.  The young female doctor appeared on the screen and asked me to get into the picture and began to tell both of us what had happened to Carol.  She said Carol had not suffered a stroke as the medical staff at the hospital had suspected, but due to all the circumstances and test results, Carol was being diagnosed as having Transient Global Amnesia.  Wow, I could see the look on Carol face and knew she was scared.  She was squeezing my hand as we listened to the doctor describe what to expect with that diagnosis.  First, there is very little known about the neurological condition she suddenly had and there was no sure reason she got the condition.  She told us there were three reasons that can trigger the condition: (1) A blow to the head, (2) A very stressful occurrence and (3) no known reason.  After I told the doctor about Carol's attempt to catch the cat she wasn't sure if that could have been the trigger that set off the amnesia.  She did tell us that those over 50 are more apt to get the condition as well as those that get frequent migraine headaches.  She also said that since the cause is not really known, there is no standard approach to make sure you don't get it and it is more than likely that she will never get it again.  She said that Carol's condition would last between 12 to 24 hours and her memory would gradually return.  Even though Transient Global Amnesia has no direct complications, it can cause emotional distress.  Shortly she wished Carol well and we ended our Facetime session.  After a few more tests I was told that Carol will be observed by the staff and that she will have to remain overnight.  Soon Carol was taken to a private room on the second floor of the hospital with me in tow.  After she was made comfortable we were left to ourselves.  Only then did it hit both of us what had happened to her.  She had quickly forgotten the interview with the Hershey doctor and was beginning to wonder why she was in a bed on the second floor.  The more I tried to tell her what had happened to her, the more she became scared.  Tears began to flow from her eyes which in turn caused the same result from me.  She would ask me if she had a stroke and when I told her she did not have a stroke, she would ask how she got the condition.  After telling her the doctors were not sure, she would ask once again if she had had a stroke and the cycle would repeat over and over again.  During the day a series of different medical staff stopped to check her vitals and reflexes and ask her questions.  All questions dealing with her past were answered quickly and accurately, but anything related to today drew a blank.  She then saw the board on the wall in front of her and after seeing that it was Tuesday she said, "What happened to Monday?  This is really freaking me out!"  And then the tears would flow again.  It was a rough day for her to say the least.  I left about 6:00 pm to go home and feed the cat and eat something and when I returned about 7:30 pm I noticed the biggest difference in her face.  She was coming back to life.  I had planned to stay the night, but she told me to go home and get some sleep.  The next morning she was just about back to normal.  She said, "I thought this only happened on soap operas." It took quite a few hours before we were allowed to leave, but we made it home.  Two long days for both of us, but one day I will never forget.  As for Carol, it is probably best she will never remember anything at all about that day.  Might only cause her more pain.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.