Still a Pumphead?

[ILoVeNY25]

Hello everyone,

I know this topic has been posted on several of times and I've read many articles on it. I was wondering if anyone else feels like they still suffer from effects of the heart-lung machine. I'm almost one year post-op and don't feel the same mentally. I find myself forgetting things like people's names that I've known forever and even in some cases simple words. It's really been bothering me a lot lately, I used to be somewhat articulate and now I feel like I can't think of the words I want to use. And sometimes it makes me feel really dumb. I'll be talking to my boyfriend and I'll sit there trying to think of the word I want to use and it just won't come to me. I feel like an idiot and I don't feel comfortable explaining to people that it might be an after effect of my surgery. Saying that seems like an excuse for people who don't understand, And I sometimes question if it really is an after effect almost a year later. Anyone else have the same experience? Am I crazy? Anyone still feel the ramifications of being a PUMPHEAD??

 

[Georgia]

Hi, Nicole. I really know how you feel. I have some aphasia from chemotherapy I had many years ago.

I knew a gal who had aphasia that resulted from anesthesia (at least that was what she was told); she hadn't been on by-pass, just had several surgeries close together. You probably had as much brain trauma having one OHS as she had for her multiple other surgeries. I know her problems went away completely after quite a while.

The aphasia drove me crazy until I found a study that said this was a common long term problem from chemotherapy. I decided I couldn't let it bother me so much; and relaxing has really decreased the amount of trouble I have with it.

It's very odd - seems to attach itself to certain words that I have to relearn ("congestive" [heart failure] is my most recent). I'm also really articulate and write insurance contracts for a living. Fortunately, I have less trouble with it when I'm typing than when I'm speaking. Must be a different nerve path.

If you have a wordless attack, tell whomever you're talking to about it and laugh it off. Getting upset really makes it awful; and I'm confident that at your age you'll most likely get full use of your vocabulary back.

Georgia

 

[JimL]

Absolutely. I'm pumphead now, and always will be. It's a wonderful excuse to have.

 

[Bunny_Rabbit]

Hi Nicole

Hi Nicole

I haven't had a valve replacement yet, therefore I haven't been put on a heart lung machine. But I know exactly what you're talking about. Lately I find myself forgetting everything. I'll walk around repeating what it is that I have to do, and I still forget. In conversations I'm forever forgetting what word it is that I want to use and it's really driving me nuts.

I was thinking a while back that it may have something to do with my PH, but I'm really not sure. Maybe its because my valves aren't pumping sufficiently enough. I don't know, but the crappy thing is that I can't even say I'm a pumphead!

If I find anything out, I'll try and remember to let you know.

 

[pegne]

I wish I could blame the surgeries but alas I have always been this way. I'm not stupid or anything just a little forgetful. I am still responsible but I have always had to write down important dates and events. I guess I'm just an airhead. I was going to say something else but I forget what Oh now I remember My hubby had knee surgery a several years back and for about a year he had a hard time with forgetfulness. So there may be a valid argument for the anethesia causing it.

 

[hensylee]

Not to worry too much, Young'un - when we pumpheads pause while searching for that word, the other person generally can't stand to wait and will jump right in there and provide it - strange habit we humans have, but there it is. You will be just fine. This, too, shall pass.

Love your new pic.

And I did tell you there was another one right around the corner waiting. Remember?

 

[joy]

Oh, this is one of my favorite topics! Mimmiedoe and I go on and on, infact, Janie forgot where her "spot" was once, remember that Ann? Heck, I get in my car and before I've even gotten out of the driveway, I've forgotten where I am going. I think it is a combination of being a "pumphead" and the anesthesia. I've been under quite a few times on some pretty strong drugs(I was on some fentinyls) It was interesting. I lost my keys for two and a half months. Kevin was gone, so I just used his keys, and when he came home, HE found my keys! I would open up a soda andbefore I was done drinking it, I would set it down somewhere forget all about it, and go open up another one. Boy did I go through a lot of sodas! UUUffffdaaa! I doubt I will ever come out of my pumpheadedness. I love it though, it makes life interesting!

 

[Johnny Stephens]

I do notice that I sometimes have more difficulty following complicated discussions in meetings and "where I'm at" in a project. This has become an inside joke at our house, and even my 8yr old daughter gets in on it good-naturedly "gee Mom, are turning into a pumphead too?" I'm not completely convinced that it's not the 100mg Toprol XL I take every day (beta blocker for heart rate). Makes me feel like I'm walking/thinking in molasses sometimes.

 

[Kevin M]

It took me more than a year to feel recovered from the memory problems too.

Sometimes I also wonder if it's just because society has become so complicated that we don't have enough room in our poor little heads to keep it all straight.

I think for me, I felt like I was over the pumpheadedness completely at about 18 months. Maybe it was my imagination, but it felt like things improved quite suddenly.

Don't feel bad about it. I'm sure it will improve. You're young and you'll probably bounce back. Like Jim said - it's a good excuse while you can use it!
Kev

 

[Creed3]

Hi Nicole,
I know exactly what you are talking about. When I first went back to work, after my surgery, I felt like I was losing my mind. I kept forgetting things and couldn't remember the words I wanted to use. It was really bad the first few months post op. I have noticed it is getting better, but I still notice that I can be forgetful. I have always been that way a little bit, even before the surgery, but I really noticed it got a lot worse after the surgery. You are definately not crazy. It will get better as time goes on.

Take Care!
Gail

 

[epstns]

Just a thought. . .

Just a thought. . .

Hi Nicole,

Haven't been up the mountain yet, so I'm a stranger to the pump, but I have read that general stress levels and the sheer number of things we are trying to keep in mind may sometimes push our memory past its limits. In other words, after surgery you may have become used to an "uncluttered" mind, but now that you're trying to get quickly back up to speed with your complicated life, your memory is in "overload" status. Could be.

Also, some of the meds do have memory impacts. My wife has been on different meds to control cholesterol and triglycerides, along with BP meds, and some combinations of meds seem to make her forgetful. Could talk to your docs about possible interactions that may make normal things worse.

Just a few thoughts. . .

P.S. Like Bunny, I have no excuse -- just lose it now and then.

 

[hensylee]

Steve - there really is a pumphead syndrome (doctors among themselves fondly refer to us as pumpheads because we were on the heart/lung pump during surgery; that's where the word came from) and they did studies about it. Nancy can refer you to the article someplace here in VR if you want to read it.

 

[terry40]

I'm almost 5 months post-op...

I'm almost 5 months post-op...

and I hate the way my pumpkin-head feels.

I've always been a list writer, so I'd make sure I get everything done, on time, now I write them alright, but forget where I put them (the list).

I forget names of books and movies I want to discuss.
And being on coumadin, we can't do those herbals- gingko bilova, or gingseng to help that old memory.

I was never the sharpest tool in the shed, but now I feel like the dullest!

Terry40

 

[hensylee]

Steve, didn't intend to take away the importance of your post on meds with my answer. It is a well-known fact that meds are one of the greatest reasons people lose memory functions. Just pumphead is a whole nother thing and maybe you will want to read about it before your surgery so you can recognize it should it happen to you. It ain't bad, really. Just look at all of us and how much we re.......... - what was that word now?

 

[Granbonny]

Hi Little One

Hi Little One

So glad to see you posting again. I have missed you. I am sure your forgetting names, ect. will go away soon. Wait until you are my age I can remember everything from my childhood, career, children's growing up, ect. ..but cannot tell you what I did last week The brain works in mysterious ways. I spent the first year that I had my computer...doing family research. My dear Mom could remember things that happened to her way back in her childhood (age 81) but in her final weeks ..she could not remember I had called her the day before...So sad... I told you earlier..You've got to kiss a lot of frogs..before you find your PRINCE. Bonnie

 

[Rich]

I still get that way all the time and it's been a number of years since my surgery.
Maybe it's just old age rolling in, I don't know.
But when my wife tells me to do something and I don't I can use being a pumphead for an excuse.
Now what was your question ????

 

[hhardt]

2 Years and Counting, I Think 1,2,3....

2 Years and Counting, I Think 1,2,3....

Yesterday was my the end of my 2nd year since I got my aortic cow valve. I have a real time just trying to remember what it was like. My operation was on Wednesday, March 21, 2001. The next thing I remember was in the recovery room sometime on Friday. My memory slowly recovered during the next year, and was not too bad by then. The second year was not too bad either. It did bother me that people add in the word I am trying to find. What I notice now is that my head feels a "little more foggy". I can't explain the feeling, but it seems to slowly get worse.
I am having thyroid problems, and go from hyper. to hypo. and back depending on medication adjustments. Somewhat like trying to control coumadin levels for those still there doing that. That may be causing some of the symptoms.
But, yes the pumpheadiness gets slowly worse after year 1, just as reported. How long it lasts/or takes/ is anyones guess and may depend on a lot of variables, including the individual. But each morning I check and as long as I still look down at the grass, I count my blessings.

 

[Lorraine]

Two years post-op I too find myself forgetful at times. I make list too and forget where I put it!

It is a drag we can't take the herbs to help our memory! The only time I really worry about the forgetfulness, is when I forget to take my Coumadin! Does happen to me once in a while.

I leave notes on my mirror in the bathroom, have a message that pops up on my computer reminding me to take my Coumadin. If I'm out for the evening or spend the night elsewhere though, thats when it's possbile that I may forget, trying to rely on just the old memory!

For the most part the memory is still pretty intacted..................I think!

 

[carbomedic]

Nicole,
Even a year later, I find I can't multi-task very well anymore. I truely cannot be on 2 or more projects at a time, big problem! I find I must go a little slower, eventually I git there.
Recently we had a jam session and I finally was able to follow a song thread to a conclusion, first time in a year! I wooped it up big time after that!
All in all, it is frustrating when the words just don't come, the ideas flow slower, projects take longer.
Hang in there!

carbo

 

[hensylee]

Hey Carbo - good to see you and nice to hear you are gettin on. Thought maybe you 'forgot' us.................