Pal's Hilarious 'Cheat Sheet' for Buddy with Severe Short-Term Memory Loss a Great Reminder That Good Friends Are Hard to Find
After feeling ill for a few days, a Redditor who goes by JoDiegoJo decided to visit to ER "to rule out anything more serious than a virus and dehydration."
Sadly, a tragic oversight on the part of an ER nurse resulted in a chain of events that led to JoDiegoJo's hospitalization with severe short-term memory loss.
Many horrible things followed, including a meningitis scare, three spinal taps, long months of therapy, and what JoDiegoJo believes is an ongoing cover-up by the hospital to evade culpability.
But, through it all, she had one thing she could depend on to lift her spirits: Her best friend.
In the immediate aftermath of her memory loss, JoDiegoJo could only retain new information for about five minutes before needing to be told everything again.
By way of a shortcut, JoDiegoJo's BFF decided to compile a list of all her most frequently asked questions — where am I, what day is it, what's wrong with me, etc. — and answer each one to the best of her ability (see below).
"This letter got a lot of use, and I still got texts frequently when she couldn't find the paper," said the friend. "'Why the fuck am I in the hospital and why is no one answering their phones?' 'The letter is taped to your table, and because it's 3am. Go back to bed.'"
JoDiegoJo says she has spent the last two years "teaching my brain new ways to store information" through therapies "frequently used for stroke victims."
But having a friend who was willing to take a leave of absence from work so she could stay at her sick pal's house and watch over her kids definitely tempered the struggle.
And, in case you were wondering, this is what the fancy hospital room floors looked like.