Julie:

I'm four years since surgery and I, too, have had problems with short term
memory loss.

I'm going out on a limb here... catch me if I fall... You may all think I'm
crazy (or is that, "know" I'm crazy?) but, I truly believe I have found
something that has helped me with memory problems. I've been doing this for
some
time to help my organization, attention and short term memory skills and I, as
well as people who know me well, have been amazed at the progress I have made.
It used to be that I couldn't even make it through reading a sentence because
I would forget the beginning by the time I got to the end. I progressed to
essays, then short stories and finally, I have read my first Stephen King novel.
I know it seems crazy, but I believe that computer games have really helped
me.

Computer games. Solitaire, Freecell, aol.com gamezone games like Whomper,
Tumblebees, Poppitt, Concentration... I'd find a game I had trouble with
keeping up with... then, when I found it easy to beat, I'd move on to another
game.
That, in addition to "uncluttering" my mind by freeing it up using programs
like Outlook, the Palm Pilot... I was so worried I would forget something, I
kept going over and over my "list" in my mind. Once it's on my "Things to Do"
List, all I had to do was have a note on the frig (and bathroom mirror) saying
"Don't forget to check your Things to Do list". I'll bet some of you can
identify with that! Happy to say, I don't need those notes anymore.

Maybe it was just improvement which I would have experienced anyway, but,
based on the prognoses I'd received prior, I don't think so. I still have
occasional problems with this, but not nearly as bad as before and I can
definitely
see the correlation between fatigue/stress/being overwhelmed and the degree of
problems with memory. With that in mind, by working to minimize the mental
"clutter" I CAN control (i.e., time for quiet time, expectations of myself,
the length of my to do list, obligations I commit to, etc) I have been happy
with the results.

Just an idea...

Trisha Fields, R.N.
5cm right frontal/temporal/partietal meningioma
removed May 1999