Intuitive v. Literal

[Gennysmom]

OK, here's a question....in the 4 weeks I've been back to work I've noticed something...my boss will give me instructions or explain a concept, and I'm not intuitively getting it as well as I used to....I seem to make things more complicated than they need be, and it seems that I'm looking at things more literally than I used to...clouding the intuitiveness that I usually have.  Anyone else notice this?  I'm feeling like I'm needing to relearn how to do this, and I'm doing a lot of repeating what people say back to them to make sure I'm understanding correctly.  It's getting kind of frustrating.

[Joef]

yep ... its like I lost 10 iq points or something ! .. I'm not as sharp as I used to be ...

[Captain Deb]

Check out this paper By Kenneth Erickson on Cognitive Aspects of Vestibular Disorders:

http://www.backgroundfacts.com/menieres/COGDIS.htm

It is a long read especially if you have a vestibular disorder!!! I highlighted some of it and had Dr Love read it so he understood what I was going through.
This is why, when I'm driving around doing errands, I have a list of my stops, in order, in my car beside me in big letters. I can't concentrate on driving and also remember where I'm supposed to go and end up driving around in circles and back-tracking.

Capt Deb

[Gennysmom]

Joe...it's weird, I'm not feeling like I've lost IQ points, it's just that I solve problems/puzzles differently than I did before.  Example...I work with 3 others that basically do the same job as I do, and we share the workload...we were working on redistributing how we do things, and they set out a weekly schedule that for some reason I jumped to the extra conclusion that it would rotate EVERY week and be different....when in reality it's the set every week schedule.  It didn't say specifically that either way was right when it came out,  but when I found out the correct way to do the schedule I knew that intuitively reading between the lines pre-surgery I would have just known what the right thing was, but now I end up somewhere else with it.  This has now happened 8-10 times. 

[Captain Deb]

Re: the above paper--download it and print it out--it's 18 pages and easier to comprehend in small chucks.
Capt Deb

[Sue]

I don't know how anybody cannot go through what surgical patients go through and not come out of it  with some residual "fog"!  My goodness, you have just had REALLY major surgery, and some heavy duty meds.  It's a wonder you even remember your own name!! And the more you think about what isn't working quite right adds more stress, which makes things not work quite right and there you go...around in circles.  And I imagine some are more sensitive to this than others. Maybe you can keep track of the instances and ask your doctor about it.  IMO, I would think this would clear up in time.

Sue in Vancouver

[matti]

I find that at times I had to work much harder at a given task, that pre-AN would have come so easily. My problem solving ability has been somehow re-routed and I find that I tend to complicate things that should otherwise be a simple thought process. I do have to ask others to repeat instructions and sometimes find that I need it written down in order to dissect it and totally understand it. I know that my frustration does exacerbate the problem. When I get flustered, my thinking becomes clouded and the task takes longer. 

I know it's frustrating, but remember, your brain is working overtime in the healing process. What I have learned during my AN journey is that I can do everything I used to Pre-AN, but the application process is sometimes different. I always get to the finish line, but sometimes I take a different route.

Hang in there and sending big hugs,
Cheryl

[Gennysmom]

Deb...thanks...I had read that pre-surgery and forgot about it...it's a great document.  I can really relate to the driving scenario, and the ah-ha scenario, like what Cheryl describes (Cheryl, you hit the nail on the head with that).  I re-read it on the way home in the train...luckily, I don't have the issue where I have to do stuff like that in small chunks...just complex instructions and math.  So I guess where my curiosity lies now is that does this issue of surgery change like the facial stuff is, or am I dealing with something permanent, since the nerve was severed, that I either deal with or try to retrain myself?  I'm guessing the latter....I do have a Dr. appointment tomorrow that I may bring that paper up to for discussion.  I'm frustrated in that I know there's a change, but it's not a stressful frustration...in some aspects I find this all fascinating from an educational standpoint and I may ask questions not from worry, but from curiosity.   

[Boppie]

Yes, I am getting a funny idea that I just want to say "I don't know what you want me to say". ..some strange confusion in problem solving.  I have always been very mechanical.  Since surgery I don't solve mechanical inventive problems as quickly.  Sometimes I just give up and become weary of "thinking about it".  I feel as if I am missing a few pieces of a puzzle and I just don't want to look around for them. 

I guess I'll just settle for a sense of humor.

[Patti]

After 2 weeks in ICU, 4 weeks in a rehab facility, and 5 months of outpatient rehab, on the last day my speech therapist gave me some proverbs to explain and an alarm went off and i was sent to many hours of cognitive testing.  Apparently I was too literal.  For example "a watched pot never boils"  or "a rolling stone gathers no moss"   Well after all my cognitive therapy i am still literal but i think it is because of my science background.  They suggested getting proverbs and practice thinking.  They are probably on the web.  patti

[tryston]

Thanks so much for posting that paper, Capt. Deb.  It's very helpful.

[Patti UT]

For me, It's the constant questioning myself. I just don't feel the confidence in my ability anymore.  I agree with joe that it feels like theres been a reduction in the IQ, but I know that really isn't it. The inability to focus and concentrate as well, or get the thought completed enough before it comes out of my mouth. I'm always questoning, did I say that right, or do that right? It's like everything is so jumbled in my head I'm not sure if I put it in proper order before I say or do something. Usually, I have, but always questioning if I did.  Does this make any sense to anyone?

Patti UT

[matti]

Patti UT - It makes perfect sense to me, your description fits me exactly.

hugs,
Cheryl

[Joef]

I've actually gotten in fights with my wife over simple stuff  , because I am having trouble explaining something correctly ... Patti , I can relate! Its not a matter of who's right and who's wrong ... she just does not understand what I'm trying to say .. and we both get mad...

[Captain Deb]

I notice that when I'm working on a painting, and I work from digital images that I took while I was still able to "get out" that when I come to a place that needs to be "edited", I really have a hard time with that place. Like a photo with a place that has too much reflected light on it and in the photo it reads as a white spot and should be a rock or a tree trunk. I want to paint the white spot even though it makes the painting look bad. I used to paint a little more impressionistically and now I've moved into a more detailed realistic style--an almost photo realism.  Consequently I'm spending about 4x longer on each painting than I used to.

It's like I can't "make stuff up" or leave out any detail. Or I can but it's more of an effort.  Dr. Love is a big help with this and sometimes suggests that I leave stuff out of the painting that is in the photo.

I had a left side AN--wonder if that's make any impact with all this left-brain/right-brain stuff or is it the vestibular disoder?
Capt Deb