I am a 'suitcase'... (aka Tamoxifen and nuttiness...)

JuJuBeez
JuJuBeez Member Posts: 332
in Breast Cancer #1
I am really a 'nutcase', but thanks to autocorrect on my phone, I am now a 'suitcase'. I just wanted to vent about all the stinkin' time I waste looking for stuff that isn't really lost. I just forget where I put it or saw it five minutes earlier. I can look at the shoe rack, not see the shoes I want,(which are right in front of me), then proceed to spend 20 minutes looking for them. I always end up where I started, and lo and behold, there they are. I put my car keys in my back pocket so I wouldn't set them down and forget where I put them. You got it... 15 minutes in a panic because I can't find them. I'm living the movie "Groundhog Day". No matter how prepared I think I am the night before, the morning is all about searching for something that is right in front of my face, or in my pocket, or on the top of my head. I have a hook for my keys, case for my glasses, bin for library books, rack for my shoes, and nine year old to remind me where everything is or what I went to the store for. And I STILL can't manage to remember a darn thing. And I only had rads, no chemo! :-p

OMG! How do I kick this? I am making myself crazy. SUITCASE!

Comments

  • dbhadra
    dbhadra Member Posts: 344 Member
    #2
    sometimes I wonder if it is not so much chemobrain
    as you said, you didn;t have chemo, but I did, and I forget things too. I think it is an information overload as we have so much new stuff to process with this BC that other stuff (like where our keys are!) gets deleted from our brains!

    Laura
  • camul
    camul Member Posts: 2,537
    #3
    When you figure out
    how to kick this let us know! My worst one is names, keys, dates, going to the bank, go to get something and forget what it is that I am looking for. Thank God I find humor in it and have 2 boys who laugh at me when this happens (all the time)! When I start to get really frustrated it gets worse so I just laugh and engage anyone around to help me find stuff!
  • Lynn Smith
    Lynn Smith Member Posts: 1,264 Member
    #4
    dbhadra said:

    sometimes I wonder if it is not so much chemobrain
    as you said, you didn;t have chemo, but I did, and I forget things too. I think it is an information overload as we have so much new stuff to process with this BC that other stuff (like where our keys are!) gets deleted from our brains!

    Laura

    I didn't have
    I didn't have chemo or radiation but going through the same thing.I find things I had been looking for right in front of me.I have a place to hang my keys but usually lay them down.Never used to put them in my purse but do now.Then it's the last place I look.

    I am taking tamox and blamed that but really I think we have WAY to much on our minds and we are going in so many different directions.Our lives have changed drastically since our dx of breast cancer.Life will never be the same for any cancer patient. Not just the dx but everything else that hits us within our daily lives.Makes things harder to deal with.The little things get to us.AND we also have some major things to deal with.It is a combination of many things. Our mind is working overttime.

    Do you ever get out of your chair?? Get ready to go do something then forget what it was you were going to do??? I do that. Drives me crazy. It has been more so since my dx. I'm alot older than you but it scares me about getting alzehemiers earlier with all the worries. Our heads spin.

    Lynn Smith
  • JuJuBeez
    JuJuBeez Member Posts: 332
    #5
    camul said:

    When you figure out
    how to kick this let us know! My worst one is names, keys, dates, going to the bank, go to get something and forget what it is that I am looking for. Thank God I find humor in it and have 2 boys who laugh at me when this happens (all the time)! When I start to get really frustrated it gets worse so I just laugh and engage anyone around to help me find stuff!

    I've started asking
    I've started asking strangers in the store, "Do you remember what I came in here for?". That's always good for a laugh. Or when I'm in the parking lot, I'll ask someone, "Do you remember where we parked?" I have started to park in the same spot at the stores though, so I don't have to think about it. At Target I park by the word 'Pharmacy', and at Wegman's I park in the outside row, by the cart return. I've tried parking somewhere else, and I get lost. ha ha. I'm going to need to put a tag around me, like Paddington the Bear! 'If this lady is lost, please return to....' Maybe I'll pick an address with a clean house! Hmm...
  • mollieb
    mollieb Member Posts: 148
    #6
    Warning Sign
    This kind of day is a warning sign for me. It tells me to slow down, watch where I put my feet, look both ways. When I get like this about small things I can also fail to pay attention to big things. Bodily injury can follow!
  • mwallace1325
    mwallace1325 Member Posts: 806
    #7
    I don't know
    I don't know whether to blame chemo brain (which sounds like the best option) getting old (57 and still not a grown up) or just losing my mind.

    I'm generally good about putting things back where I found them (thanks, Mom) even if it's a dumb spot cause I know I won't remember otherwise.

    The one thing I can't keep track of is my cell phone. I don't know how many family members have heard me say, hold on, I've gotta go find my phone - yeah they hear me cause I'm talking on the darn thing.

    Hope this makes anyone dealing with this feel better cause it's worse than the sunglasses on top of your head.

    marge
  • robang13
    robang13 Member Posts: 333
    #8
    JuJuBeez said:

    I've started asking
    I've started asking strangers in the store, "Do you remember what I came in here for?". That's always good for a laugh. Or when I'm in the parking lot, I'll ask someone, "Do you remember where we parked?" I have started to park in the same spot at the stores though, so I don't have to think about it. At Target I park by the word 'Pharmacy', and at Wegman's I park in the outside row, by the cart return. I've tried parking somewhere else, and I get lost. ha ha. I'm going to need to put a tag around me, like Paddington the Bear! 'If this lady is lost, please return to....' Maybe I'll pick an address with a clean house! Hmm...

    You are NOT alone!! My kids
    You are NOT alone!! My kids look at me like I'm crazy half the time! I start a conversation and forget what I am talking about!! If you're on tamoxifen then that is one reason! I swear since I've been on it I get dumber by the minute! I leave notes all over the place and then forget to look at them! I walk around with my phone and take a pic of where I park. I leave myself text messages to remind myself of things. And repeat....I called my son to ask about a charge on a bill, figured it out and then when he called I asked him again! He asked if I had any money hidden in the house! So take comfort in the knowledge that most of us here are in the same lost boat! Now what were we talking about : )

    Angela
  • robang13
    robang13 Member Posts: 333
    #9
    mwallace1325 said:

    I don't know
    I don't know whether to blame chemo brain (which sounds like the best option) getting old (57 and still not a grown up) or just losing my mind.

    I'm generally good about putting things back where I found them (thanks, Mom) even if it's a dumb spot cause I know I won't remember otherwise.

    The one thing I can't keep track of is my cell phone. I don't know how many family members have heard me say, hold on, I've gotta go find my phone - yeah they hear me cause I'm talking on the darn thing.

    Hope this makes anyone dealing with this feel better cause it's worse than the sunglasses on top of your head.

    marge

    @marge, you do that too!!!
    @marge, you do that too!!! I'm always looking for my cell phone! My kids tell me they are going to get a cord and tie it around my neck! And YES I have been on it and looking for it too. I guess it is something we all have in common~

    angela
  • Nana C.
    Nana C. Member Posts: 108
    #10
    robang13 said:

    @marge, you do that too!!!
    @marge, you do that too!!! I'm always looking for my cell phone! My kids tell me they are going to get a cord and tie it around my neck! And YES I have been on it and looking for it too. I guess it is something we all have in common~

    angela

    Me too!
    I can be in the middle of a sentence and forget a word! Or even better than that, I can't remember what the whole conversation was about. I actually think that is why I was fired from my job. I was only working 2 days a week, but when I answered the phone, by the time I put them on hold, I forgot who it was, before I had time to write it down! Does anybody have any idea how long this lasts! Any suggestions would be appreciated.
  • natly15
    natly15 Member Posts: 1,941
    #11
    Nana C. said:

    Me too!
    I can be in the middle of a sentence and forget a word! Or even better than that, I can't remember what the whole conversation was about. I actually think that is why I was fired from my job. I was only working 2 days a week, but when I answered the phone, by the time I put them on hold, I forgot who it was, before I had time to write it down! Does anybody have any idea how long this lasts! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

    headcase - suitcase- nutcase
    headcase - suitcase- nutcase - mental case - call it what you will I agree with all of the comments. My chemo fog has cleared up considerably BUT I continue to search for words in my conversations. As someone said, we are all on overload and dealing with cancer puts us over the top or perhaps in an electrical explosion. If that doesnt affect our thinking I'd say that was abnormal. Of course age also has something to do with memory but some are older/younger than others.

    I walked around for 20 minutes recently looking for my purse, which was hanging on my arm during the entire search. I call my cell phone from my home phone so I can find it. Sometimes I answer my tv channel selector and use my phone to change tv channels, but I know that's because they are usually sitting together. ;0) It all gets very confusing but hey we havent been taking a casual walk thru the park, we've been dealing with sucky cancer.
  • mamolady
    mamolady Member Posts: 796 Member
    #12
    auto correct
    Gotta love that auto correct. I finally turned mine off! I love the movie Groundhog Day!
    Anyway, I have had to type this several times as my typing is getting really bad too! I agree with all the other comments. I am totally blaming the chemo for at least a year! Then I can fall back on the blond thing again. I can't offer any advise on how to kick this except slow down and give yourself a break. If you find the solution, let us all know.

    Cindy
  • Ballerina
    Ballerina Member Posts: 152
    #13
    I am a Briefcase nice to meet you
    Hi, I thought I was alone. My husband gets so tired of me losing things, forgetting things and fussing with myself. My friends tease me all the time. We go line dancing every thursday and they swear I learned a particular dance but I don't remember it. I use to let it stress me out but not so much lateley. I just write notes all over the place, I use my cell phone alarm to remind me and I don't rush. If I forget, I just say whatever. Sometimes I remember sometimes I don't. I just say life goes on.

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