"Chemo Brain" article

chynabear

"Chemo brain can last up to 10 years."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15136453/wid/11915773/

Patrusha

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....

lfondots63

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.

chynabear

lfondots63 said:

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.

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.

alta29

well...actually..I feel like mine is getting worsed...I even forget clients faces, ...I had a few embarrasing moments too...ooppss

JADot

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

Betsydoglover

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

jams67

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