Now I know I'm Not Crazy

padee6339
padee6339 Member Posts: 763
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
HALLULIAH! FINALLY IN PRINT! Now I know I'm not loosing my (what is it???...........duh) marbles!!! LOL Check this out! I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Pat
Cancer Brain is Real

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/health/29chemo.html?ex=1178510400&en=fda0 46761b19beb1&ei=5070&emc=eta1
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Comments

  • taleena
    taleena Member Posts: 1,612 Member
    #2
    not feeling brave enough to
    not feeling brave enough to check it out yet... let me hold off a little longer... I check it out when I get brave...lol


    Hugs,

    ~T
  • tgf
    tgf Member Posts: 950 Member
    #3
    taleena said:

    not feeling brave enough to
    not feeling brave enough to check it out yet... let me hold off a little longer... I check it out when I get brave...lol


    Hugs,

    ~T

    Not Cancer brain ... but CHEMO brain
    Thank goodness. I was beginning to think I was just plain losing it ... even though many peoople on the discussion board have said they "have it" too ... it always helps to have it in writing ...

    The article is great!

    thanks.

    hugs.
    teena
  • RE
    RE Member Posts: 4,591 Member
    #4
    :-)
    Thank you for the article very interesting. I posted a blog in the expressions area o CSN regarding just this topic a couple of day's ago. I may go back and add this link, it is a good article. Trust me it does get better, much better!!!

    Hugs,

    RE
  • Marcia527
    Marcia527 Member Posts: 2,729
    #5
    RE said:

    :-)
    Thank you for the article very interesting. I posted a blog in the expressions area o CSN regarding just this topic a couple of day's ago. I may go back and add this link, it is a good article. Trust me it does get better, much better!!!

    Hugs,

    RE

    Makes for a good excuse
    Makes for a good excuse though! I still use it and I haven't been in chemo since 2004.
  • JoMama54
    JoMama54 Member Posts: 78
    #6
    Yep it's confirmed by me!
    Padee,
    I read the article and thats me to a tee! I am always putting in different words for what I really mean. I told my kids yesterday my dad was still in detention and I meant isolation.I have called marbles marshmellows and it makes me fill like I am going crazy!
    Thanks for the article.
    JoMama
  • outdoorgirl
    outdoorgirl Member Posts: 1,565
    #7
    I know!
    I feel like a person from another land sometimes when I say,"What's the word for that?" And you know it's bad when you're trying to say something and make sense and people are staring at you like you don't have a clue !
  • Marcia527
    Marcia527 Member Posts: 2,729
    #8
    outdoorgirl said:

    I know!
    I feel like a person from another land sometimes when I say,"What's the word for that?" And you know it's bad when you're trying to say something and make sense and people are staring at you like you don't have a clue !

    If you can't think of a word
    If you can't think of a word just use 'thingy' or 'whats a ma call it'. A few years ago before cancer even, I had a job interview and I was so used to people finishing my sentences that I started to answer the question I was asked and stopped at one point because I thought he would finish the sentence. He didn't and sat there staring at me. I didn't know what I was going to say so I made something up and he looked relieved that I finished the sentence. I got the job anyway.
  • taleena
    taleena Member Posts: 1,612 Member
    #9
    Marcia527 said:

    If you can't think of a word
    If you can't think of a word just use 'thingy' or 'whats a ma call it'. A few years ago before cancer even, I had a job interview and I was so used to people finishing my sentences that I started to answer the question I was asked and stopped at one point because I thought he would finish the sentence. He didn't and sat there staring at me. I didn't know what I was going to say so I made something up and he looked relieved that I finished the sentence. I got the job anyway.

    Okay.. read it.... don't
    Okay.. read it.... don't like it.. I already have problems since I was diagnosed.. can't stay focused on anything. My husband was talking to me last night and said the same thing twice and I still said..."What" he replied.. "Okay let me break it down for you again".."Ready".. "The dog... are you with me so far"... .and that's how it went, lol until he finished an knew I heard him... So if I am that bad now, how much worse would it be...
  • tgf
    tgf Member Posts: 950 Member
    #10
    taleena said:

    Okay.. read it.... don't
    Okay.. read it.... don't like it.. I already have problems since I was diagnosed.. can't stay focused on anything. My husband was talking to me last night and said the same thing twice and I still said..."What" he replied.. "Okay let me break it down for you again".."Ready".. "The dog... are you with me so far"... .and that's how it went, lol until he finished an knew I heard him... So if I am that bad now, how much worse would it be...

    Love it Taleena!
    I swear that's how I feel most of the time. I really need people to take it one word at a time ... of course if they go to slow I'll forget the word they just said.

    I'm 65 and still work full time ... so between being downright OLD ... and having chemo brain ... I don't make any sense. Thank goodness I have the world's greatest boss and co-workers. I can't believe how patient they are when they are talking to me and I suddenly have this blank ... totally lost ... look on my face. I just point to my head and say "chemo brain" and laugh. I makes lists and then forget what I meant (or ... even better ... forget where I put the list).

    Forgetting what something is called is the worst. When you just can't think of the word ... like saying detention ... when you meant isolation. I'm always coming out with the wrong word. And ...my spelling is horrible. I can't remember how to spell the eaziest wurds (lol).

    But ... there's enough bad stuff going on with our treatments and side effects ... that I guess we just have to laugh at the things we say and do with chemo brain ... because goodness knows we need all the laughs we can get. Right?

    Now ... what was I saying ?????????

    hugs.
    teena
  • mimivac
    mimivac Member Posts: 2,143
    #11
    I have it, too
    LOL. You are not crazy. Chemo brain is certainly real and documented. I have problems finding words all the time. Sometimes, I can practically see the word I want to use, but it's just beyond my reach. So frustrating! But, I can say that a few months out of treatments and it's already getting better.

    Mimi
  • cats_toy
    cats_toy Member Posts: 1,462 Member
    #12
    absolutely real
    My onc gave me paperwork whenI was first set up for chemo, it had lots of stuff about chemo brain and that was two years ago.
    I still use it....
    =^..^=
  • Marcia527
    Marcia527 Member Posts: 2,729
    #13
    I confess. I have to scroll
    I confess. I have to scroll through the postings to see if I posted already because sometimes I forget I already did. hee hee.
  • Jeanne D
    Jeanne D Member Posts: 1,867
    #14
    cats_toy said:

    absolutely real
    My onc gave me paperwork whenI was first set up for chemo, it had lots of stuff about chemo brain and that was two years ago.
    I still use it....
    =^..^=

    Rad Brain?
    I didn't have chemo, and, I admire you women that did. But, I am just like you! So, can I call it Rad Brain??? Sounds good to me!
  • outdoorgirl
    outdoorgirl Member Posts: 1,565
    #15
    Jeanne D said:

    Rad Brain?
    I didn't have chemo, and, I admire you women that did. But, I am just like you! So, can I call it Rad Brain??? Sounds good to me!

    Jeanne,
    you go right ahead! You've got my permission!!
  • RE
    RE Member Posts: 4,591 Member
    #16
    Marcia527 said:

    I confess. I have to scroll
    I confess. I have to scroll through the postings to see if I posted already because sometimes I forget I already did. hee hee.

    hahahahha
    My dear Marcia I thought I was the only one who did that.....too funny!
  • Jeanne D
    Jeanne D Member Posts: 1,867
    #17
    outdoorgirl said:

    Jeanne,
    you go right ahead! You've got my permission!!

    THANKS!
    Thanks Patty! Whew, now I feel better! :)
  • tasha_111
    tasha_111 Member Posts: 2,072
    #18
    RE said:

    hahahahha
    My dear Marcia I thought I was the only one who did that.....too funny!

    Padee
    Brilliant. Its' about time they addressed this 'Very Real Problem'. I had never heard of it before I had it, and I thought I was going insane, it made things a lot worse than they actually were. I had a peer support survivor phone me, because I was in serious need of someone who understood, I thought it was just Overload. She mentioned Chemo Brain and I fell about laughing, she had to explain to me that she wasn't joking and that it was for REAL!
    My Onco (Dr. Charisma-Bypass) ignored it and refused to answer questions, told me to look it up on the net. I found this site doing just that, so I guess the guy did me a huge favour!
    When my peer support lady eventually got it though my thick scull that there is a real condition called Chemo Brain, life became much easier, I knew I wasn't going bonkers and I knew that I had limits.
    I hope they will bring this side-effect to the forefront and not let too many others suffer like I did. Once I knew it was chemo brain, it was like..."Hey, It's just chemo brain" whereas before, I was in a total panic thinking I was losing it.
    Thanks for the link.
    Hugs Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Kristin N
    Kristin N Member Posts: 1,968 Member
    #19
    tasha_111 said:

    Padee
    Brilliant. Its' about time they addressed this 'Very Real Problem'. I had never heard of it before I had it, and I thought I was going insane, it made things a lot worse than they actually were. I had a peer support survivor phone me, because I was in serious need of someone who understood, I thought it was just Overload. She mentioned Chemo Brain and I fell about laughing, she had to explain to me that she wasn't joking and that it was for REAL!
    My Onco (Dr. Charisma-Bypass) ignored it and refused to answer questions, told me to look it up on the net. I found this site doing just that, so I guess the guy did me a huge favour!
    When my peer support lady eventually got it though my thick scull that there is a real condition called Chemo Brain, life became much easier, I knew I wasn't going bonkers and I knew that I had limits.
    I hope they will bring this side-effect to the forefront and not let too many others suffer like I did. Once I knew it was chemo brain, it was like..."Hey, It's just chemo brain" whereas before, I was in a total panic thinking I was losing it.
    Thanks for the link.
    Hugs Jxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Ok, rad brain here too! :)

    Ok, rad brain here too! :)
  • taleena
    taleena Member Posts: 1,612 Member
    #20
    Kristin N said:

    Ok, rad brain here too! :)

    Ok, rad brain here too! :)

    Well, if we have chemo brain
    Well, if we have chemo brain (real)... and we (allow) rad brain... I'm claiming dx brain...lol
  • ladydi1
    ladydi1 Member Posts: 120
    #21
    taleena said:

    Well, if we have chemo brain
    Well, if we have chemo brain (real)... and we (allow) rad brain... I'm claiming dx brain...lol

    Chemo Brain Poetry
    CHEMO BRAIN

    There's no such thing as chemo brain!
    They'd like us to believe
    But simple words spelled wrong and thoughts stuck in my head
    All lead me to disagree!

    A normal conversation
    I cannot complete
    For halfway through the chemo fog sets in
    It's like my brain waves hit delete!

    I write myself a thousand notes
    To get through my work day
    But half the time I look at them
    And wonder what the heck I was trying to say!

    I've forgotten all my passwords
    No longer pay bills on time
    Can't even access my bank accounts,
    Favorite web sites or school notes on line!

    Some of us have hot rollered our bald heads,
    Others gave orange juice to the cats
    Some looked for beer in their clothes dryer
    Now I could drink to that!!

    No longer do I fear senility
    For when my memory cells begin to wane;
    I will just keep smiling
    And blame it on chemo brain!!!

    Hope it made you smile!
    Ladydi1

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