Wow that scares the crapola out of me. I know with only four treatments in that I am forgetting phone numbers and things that I always knew by heart and my ability to write clearly and concisely sometimes seem to suffer. I was hoping it was temporary, but this is scary....
I found that my experience was very similar to yours in forgetting things that I used to know by heart or that I was good at remembering. I was also unable to focus or concentrate for very long. I actually thought that I had the adult form of ADD or something, not realizing that it was probably just the effects of chemo. This was before I ever even heard of "chemo brain".
If it helps you any, it has gradually gotten a LOT better since the stop of chemo. In fact, I'm already "almost" back to my previous mental ability. The exception being that I used to tease my husband for his "notes" and his "lists" to help him remember everything. Now, I find that I am the one who must do this or else I will forget to get things at the store or forget things that were mentioned. I now have a notebook that sits right at my desk and I record everything.
I really enjoy your posts. They are so informative. You must be an incredibly well-read and totally dialed-in person. Thanks for bringing all the interesting tidbits to the board!!!
Me, me, me! I am the living testament to chemo brain. 3 months after the end of chemo, I still can't remember a thing and do really goofy and stupid stuff all the time. So I have so many Duh! moments. My husband is going to be so thrilled to find out about the 10 year goofiness half life :)
But hey, as the saying goes, ignorance is bliss. What I can't remember can't bother me :) I consider being alive and being able to laugh about my chemo brain as a distinct priviledge :) :)
Wow - it was sort of fun making a joke of this, but I was hoping it would go away soon. Have to admit though - my serious thinking processes seem to work as well as they ever did - but remembering relatively trivial details? Wow - that has gone out the window!
If I think of something at work late in the afternoon - e.g. I need to call this guy about that - need to set up new project number - other minor stuff - I absolutely HAVE to write myself a note and put it on my desk in front of my keyboard. Otherwise I forget it the next day - I NEVER used to be like this. Trying to be Pollyanna about it, I have gotten more organized - much better about completing a trivial task before I let myself get interrupted by another one. If I do go into interrupt mode (my old style that always worked well) I end up with something falling through the cracks.
So - darn - I didn't want this to take 10 years to fix, but hey - I am only 11 months off chemo - another 9 years and 1 month sounds pretty good!
10 years! You know I told ya'll (I'm from TX) that I liked playing WEBoggle. Well I found that with the neuropathy in my fingers and the chemo affecting my brain, that when I would try to type fast my fingers would go to keys I didn't tell them to go to. I think it is probably a very good exercise. I play under the name "team can'tspelltipe" Join me and help out. jams
Joined: Jun 2006
Re: "Chemo Brain" article
Wow that scares the crapola out of me. I know with only four treatments in that I am forgetting phone numbers and things that I always knew by heart and my ability to write clearly and concisely sometimes seem to suffer. I was hoping it was temporary, but this is scary....
Joined: Jan 2006
Re: "Chemo Brain" article
Hi,
This doesn't sound very promising but to put a good spin on it; Anything I forget to do I can say it is chemo brain for the next 10 years?? LOL.
Lisa F.
Joined: Jul 2005
Re: "Chemo Brain" article
Patrusha,
I found that my experience was very similar to yours in forgetting things that I used to know by heart or that I was good at remembering. I was also unable to focus or concentrate for very long. I actually thought that I had the adult form of ADD or something, not realizing that it was probably just the effects of chemo. This was before I ever even heard of "chemo brain".
If it helps you any, it has gradually gotten a LOT better since the stop of chemo. In fact, I'm already "almost" back to my previous mental ability. The exception being that I used to tease my husband for his "notes" and his "lists" to help him remember everything. Now, I find that I am the one who must do this or else I will forget to get things at the store or forget things that were mentioned. I now have a notebook that sits right at my desk and I record everything.
Joined: Mar 2005
Re: "Chemo Brain" article
well...actually..I feel like mine is getting worsed...I even forget clients faces, ...I had a few embarrasing moments too...ooppss
Joined: Jan 2006
Re: "Chemo Brain" article
Hi Chynabear:
I really enjoy your posts. They are so informative. You must be an incredibly well-read and totally dialed-in person. Thanks for bringing all the interesting tidbits to the board!!!
Me, me, me! I am the living testament to chemo brain. 3 months after the end of chemo, I still can't remember a thing and do really goofy and stupid stuff all the time. So I have so many Duh! moments. My husband is going to be so thrilled to find out about the 10 year goofiness half life :)
But hey, as the saying goes, ignorance is bliss. What I can't remember can't bother me :) I consider being alive and being able to laugh about my chemo brain as a distinct priviledge :) :)
Did anyone see my car keys?
:) :)
Again, thanks so much for your informative posts!
Cheers,
Ying
Joined: Jul 2005
Re: "Chemo Brain" article
Wow - it was sort of fun making a joke of this, but I was hoping it would go away soon. Have to admit though - my serious thinking processes seem to work as well as they ever did - but remembering relatively trivial details? Wow - that has gone out the window!
If I think of something at work late in the afternoon - e.g. I need to call this guy about that - need to set up new project number - other minor stuff - I absolutely HAVE to write myself a note and put it on my desk in front of my keyboard. Otherwise I forget it the next day - I NEVER used to be like this. Trying to be Pollyanna about it, I have gotten more organized - much better about completing a trivial task before I let myself get interrupted by another one. If I do go into interrupt mode (my old style that always worked well) I end up with something falling through the cracks.
So - darn - I didn't want this to take 10 years to fix, but hey - I am only 11 months off chemo - another 9 years and 1 month sounds pretty good!
Thx for the article,
Betsy
Joined: May 2006
Re: "Chemo Brain" article
10 years! You know I told ya'll (I'm from TX) that I liked playing WEBoggle. Well I found that with the neuropathy in my fingers and the chemo affecting my brain, that when I would try to type fast my fingers would go to keys I didn't tell them to go to. I think it is probably a very good exercise. I play under the name "team can'tspelltipe" Join me and help out. jams