Memory problems

I've just stumbled onto your site.  I find the questions and answer intriguing.

My husband, Dave, had a heart attack on 11/7/05.  He had triple by-pass, etc.  He suffered anoxic brain injury.

For 10 months we, I stayed with him, were in and out of the hospital and 4 different rehab facilities.

On Aug. 06 Dave started a day care so I could go to work.  He went here 5 days a week from Aug. to May 07.  I'd drop him off then pick him up on the way home.

In May we decided, the staff, Dave, and I, that he could stay home with a help watch necklace.  This has been successful.

My question is about the stories he will make up.  At one point in his recovery he thought I was his friend, Steve.  He would call me Steve.  He even thought I had gone to highschool where Steve had grown up.  He's not seen this Steve in 18 years.

When questioned he'd say I was Kathy.  When he'd get in the bathroom and need help, he'd, often as not, call me Steve.

About a year ago we were taking a drive.  On the way home he turned to me and said, "I wonder what Kathy is doing?"  I said, "I'm driving the car."  He said, "No, the other Kathy."

I questioned him about this.  It turned out he thought he was married to another Kathy, same family history as mine, same family names, etc.  She looks like me, just heavier.  (We met in AZ, where I grew up, first and only marriage for us.  Moved to CA where he was from, then moved to VA.)  the other Kathy refused to move to VA, still in CA.

He now says he knows that this is not true.  Where do these things come from?

Things were going along fine, then last night, while in bed, he said, "Well, I'm a male and you're a male."  I was, to say the least, surprised at this.

I asked what he was talking about.  He said he'd always known that I was a man.  I asked him if I looked like a man and he said no, that I'd been born a male, then at 5 years old my family had taken me to the drs. and I'd been changed into a girl.  He said everyone where he used to work in AZ knew about this.

Do other people with this type of injury have these false memories?

This morning he remembers telling me this and says he's relieved that it's not true.

Kathy

[supermomma531]

I don't really know what to tell you,although I have heard of sometimes the brain will make things up and store them as memories.Why? I don't know.Have you asked his neurologist?He/She would probably be the best person to talk to.Do you know what anoxic brain injury is?It might be a good idea to research it on the internet and ask questions to your dr.I'm sorry to hear that you are going through this with your husband.It must be very frustrating.If you ever want to talk, I check my messages daily.Good luck on your situation.