Thursday, March 23, 2017

Seeing Clearly through Brain Fog

Brain fog. That vague feeling of ineptitude. You’ve got the ideas. You’ve got the thoughts. And you know the words are in there somewhere. But you just can’t get your ducks in a row. You can’t string your thoughts together. You have the words on the tip of your tongue, but they are falling off the precipice of that mental block you’ve hit.

Brain fog is, clearly, a very real condition. Everyone experiences this cognitive hiccup from time to time. However, it’s a particularly prevalent symptom of those living with MS. In fact, more than half of all people with MS develop problems with this and other cognitive functions. Difficulties include…

  • ·        Information processing (dealing with information gathered)
  • ·        Memory (acquiring, retaining and retrieving new information)
  • ·        Attention and concentration (particularly divided attention)
  • ·        Executive functions (planning and prioritizing)
  • ·        Visuospatial functions (visual perception and constructional abilities)
  • ·        Verbal fluency (word finding)

Yesterday I had my weekly physical therapy session at HealthSouth. I just started back again after a two-year hiatus, way too long to be living with MS without professional input. My PT (physical therapist) is a rock star! She’s super knowledgeable about MS and employs the latest methods to keep her patients fighting strong.

During therapy, I lay on a therapy mat while my PT moves my limbs in order for the brain-body connection to occur. My job is to think through the motions as she does them manually. The hope is that my legs and brain will partner together to allow independent movement. I really have to concentrate. If I don’t, no relationship is established between the brain and the body.

I was having a brain fog day, so I had to work especially hard to not have my attention divided. Did you read my “Decisions?…” post the other day? Yeah, so you see how my brain works and how I can be easily distracted.

She put my leg up on her shoulder to stretch it. While doing so, she purposely said, “I’m putting your leg up on my shoulder to stretch it.” My job is to hear the words and see the action in my mind, “willing” my leg to do it independently. But my neurons began to wander and I’m distracted by my thoughts…

“Whoa! She’s really stretching that leg. I bet this is how a rubber band feels when it gets stretched. Rubber bands. I like the little red ones. They remind me of SpaghettiOs. Tasty, too! I should know. I had my stomach pumped when I was 3 after eating a whole bag of them…”

“So, how does that stretch feel, Angela?”

Whoops! My attention snaps back to the moment. I’m supposed to be concentrating on making a brain body connection, aren’t I?

“It’s okay. Not too bad.” No, really. It wasn’t bad at all.

Next, she asked me to lie on my side in a relaxed fetal position. “Now, take your free arm and punch it forward, then pull your elbow back.” Right! Arm forward. Elbow back. Got it!

I laid there motionless for a second. Processing, processing, processing…

“You okay?,” she asked quietly. Perhaps she thought I’d fallen asleep.

And then it happened. Connection made! I punched my fist in front of me like I was pushing a door open. Then I pulled my fist back like I was closing the door, pulling my elbow behind me. Success!

Now she asks me the $64 million question…

“Tell me, what muscles do you feel yourself using when you do that?”

Oh, c’mon! Now I’ve got to use my “word finding” skills, too? Okay, you can do this. Think, Angela. Think!

“My abs!,” I said resolutely. “My abs.”

A moment of silence.

“Yes! That’s right!,” my PT exclaimed. “You’re using your abs to balance yourself on your side and to move your arm back and forth. Good job!”

So, in spite of brain fog, I was able to get through my PT session successfully. And the bonus? I remembered the exercises from yesterday and was able to duplicate them again this morning. Booyah! Take that, brain fog!

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