As I was tooling around on the American Cancer Society’s webpage today, looking mostly for information on head scarves and where to find a free pattern (I got lots of cool fabrics yesterday!), I stumbled across a whole page outlining the details of a rarely-discussed side effect I’ve been experiencing called CHEMOBRAIN. It’s such a relief to discover that it is real, that I’m not going crazy, and that I really am getting dumber by the minute! I’ve always been a fairly intelligent person but the past few months my mind’s been slipping! My great memory has failed me time and again. Like last night I was trying desperately to remember the explaination my doctor gave me three months ago about what a PET scan is and why I haven’t had or don’t need one. Usually, err…pre-cancer, that’s a detail I would’ve remembered with extreme clarity. Of course, Honey couldn’t remember the answer either but his excuse runs deeper in his chromosomes: he can’t help it — he’s a man!

So here’re some of the highlights on chemobrain from the ACS webby:

Here are just a few examples of what patients have experienced and defined as chemobrain:
* memory lapses (check!)
* trouble concentrating (ADD, anyone?!)
* being unable to remember details (Did I remember to put on pants today?)
* changes in the ability to do more than one thing at a time (check!)
* having trouble remembering common words. (”onomono-wha?“)

Doctors and researchers call chemobrain “mild cognitive impairment” and define it as the inability to remember certain things, complete certain tasks, or learn new skills.

Yes, chemobrain is real, but its cause is unknown. How often it happens, what may trigger it, or what can be done to prevent it, is also unknown.

At this time, medical professionals do not know what causes chemobrain. It could be any of these things:
* the cancer itself
* chemotherapy drugs
* other drugs used as part of treatment (such as anti-nausea or pain medicines)
* patient age
* stress
* low blood counts
* depression
* fatigue
* hormone changes
(Well, at least they’ve got it narrowed down!)

The website further suggests doing word puzzles, memory games or taking a class to keep the brain stimulated (does watching 10 straight hours of TV help?). Furthermore, they suggest eating veggies, getting exercise, get adequate rest and don’t try to multi-task. One of the most important pieces of advice they offer is to keep a detailed dayplanner. So tonight, when I go to WalMart to get some more fabric and thread so I can start stitching together my own head scarves, I think I’ll swing by the fancy dayplanner section to get a big fat dealy to help me keep everything straight. I have a palm pilot but I have trouble keeping it updated and synced with what I add to my laptop every day so I think I’ll just revert to the ol’ paper standard.

In the meantime, if I forget simple things or you see me jump from task to task in the middle of them, please excuse me. It’s just the chemobrain talking!