When Nesh woke up from her nap she had forgotten her age, her partner and her daughter.

Nesh Pillay was about to get coffee with her partner JJ when she started to feel funny.

"I'm going to take a nap," she told JJ.

But when Nesh woke up, she was severely disoriented.

"Apparently, I started asking questions like, 'Where are we going again?'; 'What day is it?'; 'Where are we?'; and [I] started to show confusion," the 35-year-old told Mamamia.

"By that evening, we were going to pick up my daughter, and I do distinctly remember having this thought of, 'I can't take care of a child. I don't have a child.'"

From that moment, things "went downhill" for Nash — her memory was resetting once a minute.

Watch: 50,000 First Dates trailer | Amazon Prime. Post continues after video.

"It was terrifying," she told us. "I knew who I was, I just thought I was a lot younger. I thought I was 17."

Of course, this meant that Nesh would routinely forget that she had a partner and an infant daughter.

At first, JJ — along with her parents — would remind Nesh of the things she had forgotten. But when things didn't improve, the family realised they had to change their approach.

"Because my memory was resetting once a minute, I think they got tired," Nesh said. "So my dad had me write in a notebook, you know, 'I've hurt my head'; 'I'm at mum and dad's'. And, from what I've been told, I would stare at that notebook sometimes for hours because by the time I would get to the bottom, my memory would reset again.

"This notebook became my lifeline; it was in my own handwriting, so I trusted it. I put a lot of my thoughts into that book."

Nesh eventually went to the hospital, hoping for answers.

"I was not treated, really," the mum-of-two said. "The reason is that I've had a series of concussions. I was in a car accident when I was 10 years old. And [memory loss] can happen.

"If you look at the studies, there's a high number of people who have had a concussion earlier in life, and then they end up with early onset Alzheimer's or Dementia. It's just really not studied that well. And when it is studied, it's primarily in male athletes, so not average people who are just clumsy."

While speaking to medical professionals, Nesh really had to plead her case.

"I am not the first one to go to the doctor and be dismissed, and I probably won't be the last, but I can shout about it the loudest," she said.

Many appointments later, Nesh learned that she has brain atrophy — the loss of brain cells (neurons), and connections between brain cells, which often results in decreased brain volume.

"Major structures in my brain are much smaller than they should be. The tissue has died," Nesh explained. "One of the areas affected is my frontal lobe, and that is what handles things like executive functioning and organising information in my brain, which is like 90 per cent of what mothers do day-to-day. I get frustrated, because it makes me angry that something so simple is hard to do."

As Nesh worked with doctors to piece things together, she and JJ, 33, kept her daughter as informed as possible.

"It was really scary for my daughter, and it continues to be scary, which I hate," she said. "As parents, it's our job to protect our kids. So, even though I'm not doing it on purpose, when something from me is the thing scaring my daughter, it's horrible."

The 35-year-old — who also welcomed a son in April 2024 — described having to nap for three hours simply to play a 30-minute game with her eight-year-old daughter.

"It's certainly not ideal for her, but it's the best I can do, and I think she understands that. And then when I have a really good day, she's really grateful."

While Nesh doesn't remember exactly how long it took to regain her memory, she estimates it was a few months.

"There was one particular day when JJ and I were supposed to get bubble tea, and about an hour later I looked at him and said 'Hey, weren't we supposed to get bubble tea?'" she recalled. "And then we looked at each other and burst into tears, because that was the first indication we really had that I would be okay. We actually got matching bubble tea tattoos after."

Even now, only around 20 per cent of memories stick — Nesh told me it is unlikely that she will even remember our call.

"Some days are hard," she said. "Some days I look at my kids and I get really sad that I might not remember that moment. But overall, I just focus on the gratitude of it all.

"I'm grateful for what I do remember. And I'm grateful to have each day; focusing on the gratitude is what really pushes me through because, if I didn't, I would fall apart."

Now, Nesh is sharing her story of falling back in love with JJ in an Amazon Prime documentary called 50,000 First Dates, a play on the 2004 Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore film 50 First Dates.

"The documentary really addresses whether real life can be like the rom-coms," said Nesh. "Spoiler alert, no, real life is a lot messier. It also covers the birth of my son. It was really vulnerable to let cameras in during those really tough moments for me. And it wasn't an easy choice to make to really open myself up that way. But I'm glad I did, because I think that other women will find solace in watching my journey. And it'll help build community; that's all I'm interested in doing."

Feature Image: Instagram/@pillay.nesh