Proof

I suffer from chemo brain.

Chemo brain has been very difficult at times for me. It has brought me to tears. Sometimes it is knowing there is something, like a specific word,  you want to say but your are unable to find that particular word. It is like writing out a recipe and not being able to list the ingredients. You know you need to add flour but the word is not there. So frustrating . I can usually find words to describe what the term or thing is. For flour I would use white fluffy wheat stuff.  But the word escapes me.

Sometimes when I am in a hurry I will say or  type a sentence that includes a word that makes no sense. Just the other day I texted my niece about Christmas but ended up putting down the word birthday. Weird huh. I didn't catch it. She did. Good thing she understands.

I can be in a conversation and my husband will ask me if I meant to use a word.  Many times that is not at all what I wanted to say. At other times my husband or children will graciously finish or find the word for me. Thank goodness. I write notes to myself all the time and will check and double check and triple check what I write here or in e-mails I send out because sometimes the letters are all there but they sure aren't in the correct order. I mix up numbers too. I taught math and computer science before chemotherapy and never made the errors I make now.

I was very happy yesterday to watch a video and read about research on chemo brain at the University of West Virginia that included before, during and after PET-CTs of 115  breast cancer patients brains. The study found that there was significant metabolic changes in the superior medial frontal gyrus and the temporal operculum of the brain. The superior medial frontal gyrus is associated with mental agility, problem solving, sequencing  and decision making and the temporal operculum is long term memory.

The researchers are not sure of the mechanics of the metabolic changes but it could be a cytokine response or nerve demyelination.Now all we need are researchers to discover how to reduce this metabolic change for those undergoing chemotherapy.

Sources :
Radiological Society of North America meeting Source reference:
Lagos R, et al "Towards diagnostic imaging of ChemoBrain phenomenon" RSNA 2012; Abstract LL-MIS-TU2A.

Medpage 'Chemo Brain' a Real Thing

Video MSNBC


Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

Uhhh & Ummm

Today I was looking at flowers . There were these really pretty bright red clusters with these thick green leaves. What was the name? I grew these for years in the pots on my patio in Edison. They're called. Uhhh. Begonia's? No. Umm .

GERANIUMS!

How long did it take me to remember the name? 16 minutes. Why do I mention this ? Why do I write everything down and make lists of lists?Chemo brain. I am not really complaining because the drugs that caused this have made me disease free twice. Just want everyone to know that it really is a condition associated with chemotherapy and with so many cancer survivors living longer there are many Ummms out there .

Check out this article in CURE magazine for more info.
http://www.curetoday.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/article.show/id/2/article_id/1642

The links on the page a pretty good too. I like the one Reclaim Your Brain.

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

SRA Reading Programs and Chemo Brain

When I was attended Catholic elementary school we used the SRA reading program. It was an individualized reading program where you read a short story and answered multiple choice questions to check your reading comprehension. After completing the stories at one color level you would move on to the next color level. I remember the goal was to get to Purple (or was it Gold?) at your grade level and move on the next grade's program.

I loved to read back then and still do. One of the first things I did when I moved to our new home was to sign up for a Mercer County library card. Hightstown has this quaint brick library right by Peddie Lake. I've visited it a number of times since we moved in. I've borrowed cookbooks, novels , and a book on the history of Hightstown.

During my last visit to the library I noticed a book called A Kingdom Strange The brief and tragic history of the lost colony of Roanoke. I borrowed it because it deals with a similar time in history and region of Virginia that my son has researched for his master's thesis in history.

So I started to read it. I read the first 5 pages on the first day, started over on the second day and read the first 5 pages and 15 more. The next time I picked up the book a few days later I had to go back and read over the previous 2 pages to get my place. Frustrating. I noticed over the past 4 years that I can't remember details of what I read as well as I used too - I used to be a "Purple" level reader. I can remember themes but those details - character names, dates - they just are difficult for me to remember. Before I wrote the post on the Elizabeth Berg character I reread the last 5 chapters of the book. When I spoke to my son I told him I was reading the book. I also mentioned that I didn't know that the leader of the Roanoke colony committed suicide because he left the colony to get aid and when he returned everyone was lost. My son said " Mom - I wrote about that in my thesis" . I read his thesis about fear in Jamestown in the early 1600's twice so I was a bit upset that I did not remember that big detail.

I know that I am more easily distracted now. I need to write myself notes to remember to do things and I've started to take notes on long articles & books that I read so that I can remember content better. Maybe I don't remember because I am trying to do too many things at one time or that I am getting older. But I think a big portion of not remembering what I read is chemo brain. I seemed to have gotten worse after finishing the chemo for my recurrence.The American Cancer Society has an interesting page on chemo brain. I experience many of the symptoms listed there. As cancer survivors live longer we sure need more research into the issues of what causes chemo brain and ways to prevent it.

I enjoy reading too much to give it up so I'll just keep plugging away even if I am back at the "orange " level. I'll just reread things if I have too. And keep correcting and revising things that I write.

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing! I am blessed because I still have good eyesight and can read- even if I don't always remember what I read.