cognitive recovery after sleep apnea.

Because you become aware of the issues you can't evaluate the same way. I have learned new skills because it is a good thing to do that. However I am also now 66 and been through a lot of stress, so there would be a difference no matter what. My interests have also changed.

Life is change. Don't look back to compare, only to learn. Move forward with what you have, what you can develop now. Read challenging material, learn a new language, develop a new skill set.

25 years ago I became very allergic to my artist materials, I mourned that loss for several years before finding a new artistic direction with materials I am not allergic too. It was actually a benefit, I developed new skills and a new direction.

Terrific note!

Some people are NEVER 100% mentally.
It seems like we are surrounded by them!

Julie wrote: If you feel pretty good and are able to more or less keep up with and keep track of what you need to do more or less as well as you did in the past, then you're doing 'as well as can be expected', and there's no way anyone can measure things for a better answer.

This is more or less what I was asking. Whether you get back to level were you can interact with the world the same way you did previously and perform at the cognitive level prior to all these issues with sleep. So far from what I've read in medical literature, it varies alot. Some say no, you have permanent deficits. Some say only partially. Some say yes, if it's wasnt that severe and if you treat it early enough before there are any permanent changes. And from what I read of people's experiences. They either get it back completely or they have some residual issues. With the occasional case where their .remaining deficits definitely affected tgem in overall. I atleast know that in some respects I'm still the same. In other respects I feel completely changed and altered. Especially in the domains of executive and working memory. I can't seem to keep a thing in my head longer than few seconds or think as deeply or as well as before or organize my thoughts efficiently. I'd rather not live like that for the rest of my life.