CHEMO BRAIN

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  • Penguin
    Penguin Member Posts: 2
    #22
    pkaz53 said:

    chemobrain
    I'm 6 years out of treatment and still have cognitive issues -chemo brain - I was hoping that by now these memory problems would subside but that hasn't happened.
    I usually keep a tablet and post it notes close by so I can jot down important things such as appointments and events,I have a hard time remembering the names of someone that I met recently or a person that I havn't seen in a long time -- and it gets scarey sometimes I get in the car go down the road and have no idea where it was I was going, but the bright side is I'm still here and thankful for all that I have.

    chemo brain
    Read your comments and I too have what the doctors say is mild cognitive impairment, my memmory is bad especially in regards to learning new stuff. People's faces, names,places I have been, etc. are all gone. I seem to have problems with things related to socially activities. What I learned years ago, technical stuff, typing without looking at keyboard and activities of daily living are all fine. Just recent recall or memory is affected.
    Additionally I have lost ALL sense of smell and taste. So food does not interest me at all.
    I had 7 months of chemo,then a double mastectomy followed by 6 wks of radiation. This has been over 3 years. I will keep you in my prayers and hope 2011 is a good year for you. Fondly, Esther
  • The Black Knight
    The Black Knight Member Posts: 2
    #23
    This is a rather old post
    This is a rather old post but I feel I can add to this.

    I'm almost a year and a half out of chemo, and the last few years are but a blur, I too do not recall specifics. Learning things isn't really an option....I doubt getting into a new field of work will ever be an option. Most of the time I can't recall what I had to eat yesterday.

    I remember the longer term stuff, stuff I knew before. but 80% of the day to day stuff I simply do not recall. Even 18 months after 4 months of chemo I really have to commit something to memory.


    Watching movies has been good for me, it's like seeing the classics for the first time all over again.

    I too wonder (often) how long this will last, or if it will just have to be a way of life.

    I often just sit here wondering how long it lasts.
  • missyanne
    missyanne Member Posts: 8
    #24
    zahalene said:

    I was in active treatment for breast cancer for 4 years (1986-1990). Chemo, rads, then being put on tamoxifen.
    During that time I did not notice extreme problems with memory function. However, one day a few years ago, long after all treatments and tamoxifen were done, I was looking through some old photos. There was one of me, wig and all, on Christmas morning holding up a g i f t I had just opened. I realized that I had absolutely NO memory of that Christmas at all. It wasn't that it had run together with other years either, because the tree was in a different room than we usually used for it, and I was wearing clothes I do not remember (I was dressed and we ALWAYS did Christmas morning in jammies and robes!). It was the weirdest feeling in the world to see myself in a time and place that I have absolutely no memory of.
    I also wonder what else I have lost. And wish I had lost some things that I didn't...lol. Anyhow, now I am 61 and can blame memory loss on age if I choose too, but I still keep my 'chemo card' up to date and use it whenever it makes me feel better than admitting I am just getting OLD! LOL
    God bless hun.

    ROFL!!!!
    I need the "Like" button here!!! And I need to be able to hit it many times!!! ROFL!!!! I completely agree!!!
  • bluerose
    bluerose Member Posts: 1,104
    #25
    The Black Knight said:

    This is a rather old post
    This is a rather old post but I feel I can add to this.

    I'm almost a year and a half out of chemo, and the last few years are but a blur, I too do not recall specifics. Learning things isn't really an option....I doubt getting into a new field of work will ever be an option. Most of the time I can't recall what I had to eat yesterday.

    I remember the longer term stuff, stuff I knew before. but 80% of the day to day stuff I simply do not recall. Even 18 months after 4 months of chemo I really have to commit something to memory.


    Watching movies has been good for me, it's like seeing the classics for the first time all over again.

    I too wonder (often) how long this will last, or if it will just have to be a way of life.

    I often just sit here wondering how long it lasts.

    I hear you
    I am a 23 year survivor of non hodgkins lymphoma and had a bone marrow transplant and total body radiation 20 years ago after one recurrance. It was harsh treatment for sure and I am left with a whole whack of side effects, every year I see another one I have been struggling one become validated by the medical community as a side effect of long term survivors. It gets old. Chemo brain is a big one for me.

    Now, having said that Knight, everyone is different in how they recover and your chemobrain might well disipate over time so don't lose heart and of course treatments have improved in many cases. I guess all we can do is live day to day and hope for the best.

    Ya video stores love me. I rent the same movies over and over and don't remember I have seen them before. Sheeesh.

    All the best.

    Blessings,

    Bluerose

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