I stress this because I need to make very clear that Gavin was very aware of this whole thing and this was a big enough deal that it shouldn’t easily be forgotten. The medicine is different and the amount he takes is now cut in half, meaning his infusions go much quicker.

This morning, however, Gavin wanted to know why his medicine looks different and why he’s only taking 15 cc’s instead of the 30 cc’s. This caught me off guard and I assumed that he was asking why the dose of his new medication was less than the dose of previous medication. I soon realized that Gavin was unaware that he was on a new medication. He didn’t even remember anything that had happened that led to him needing the new medication in the first place.

He forgot everything that had happened and when I tried to explain, he looked at me like I had three heads.

How does he forget something that significant? Of course, that’s rhetorical because I know why he forgot. It’s the same reason he forgets everything else. For the most part, Gavin’s longterm memory is pretty solid. He may need some prompting but he can eventually make the connections and spark the memory.

I’m not sure if this qualifies as a long-term or short-term memory but it’s very worrisome that he forgot something this big.

When I reminded him of what happened, he got very upset with himself and began hitting his head and calling himself an idiot. I corrected the idiot comment and made him change what he was saying from I’m such a freaking idiot to I just forgot why my meds were different. 

This is part of Gavin’s overall decline. It’s heartbreaking and yet there’s nothing we can do about it. All we can do is try and remain positive while helping Gavin to find new ways of assisting his brain in remembering. Things like visual and or verbal prompts have proven helpful. Perhaps we need to increase the availability of these prompts and see if that helps to regain some of his independence.