Chemo Brain

After the scars begin to heal and you begin to feel like yourself again, you will find yourself in the “new-normal” zone.  You will never again be the old you, and that’s ok.  A lot of changes women face after cancer are positive.  We may be more compassionate.  We may be more health conscious.  Maybe we actually take time to stop and smell the roses.  But one aspect of my new normal is driving me up the wall.  CHEMO BRAIN..  It is real.  And it is REALLY annoying.  

I really wanted to blog about this earlier, but I kept forgetting about it….  O.K.  That was a bad joke.  But I have to laugh at some of this stuff or I’d go nutty.  I have misplaced the remote in the frigidaire, I get lost in my own neighborhood and have gone from a very mediocre (this maybe a stretch) Trivial Pursuit Player to the absolute worst.   

The scientific name for chemo brain is cancer related cognitive impairment associated with cancer.   I went to a chemo brain information session at the Pink House.  A Neuropsychologist explained what it is and what we can do about it.  

It turns out that cancer patients can get chemo brain even if chemo is not part of their treatment.  Radiation, hormone therapy and the surgery itself can cause it too! There are different severities of it and no one knows how long it will last after treatment. It can last for months or even years. It has only been studied for the last 20 or so years. 

I can describe mine as being similar, but more severe than what I experienced with “pregnancy brain”.  And with this, I don’t even get a bouncing baby out of the deal.  The problem I notice most is retrieving words.  It’s embarrassing.  I can be telling someone about a fantastic restaurant in a city I visit all of the time.  And then I can’t think of the restaurant’s name or a landmark close to it.  The person on the other end of the conversation must think I’m a big fat lier or that I have completely lost my mind.  It’s frustrating.  Others who struggle with chemo brain complain of forgetting conversations, retrieving words, misplacing things, distraction, difficulty multitasking, slowed process of information and reading comprehension problems.  

My team of medical doctors have never asked how my cognitive health has been.  They have other logs in the fire to worry about (blood counts, heart health, neuropathy, etc.).  But that’s where we need to advocate for ourselves.  Most centers have a neuropsychologist on staff. If you find your chemo brain is severe, let your team know you need to see one.  They can set you up with speech or occupational therapy, provide you with information on supplements that can help and provide any additional support you may need. 

The good news there are things we can do to help.  Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience following injury.  In layman’s terms, our brain is always changing as we experience, learn and adapt. So as we experience, learn and adapt, new pathways in the brain are created and strengthened.  It is extremely beneficial to learn a new skill that we enjoy.  For me, I’m blogging.  Yes, I’ve always known how to write, but to edit photographs and actually create a website is something I’m learning as I go.  Other women I’ve met are learning to knit.  You can learn a new language, play an instrument, and even take dance lessons to promote your brain’s neuroplasticity.  HOWEVER, it’s important that you enjoy the new activity.  If it’s frustrating to you, it can actually negatively impact your chemo brain.  At the pink house here in Charlotte, they offer card making, jewelry making and creative writing classes.  There you not only learn a new skill, but also make new friends in a supportive amazing environment.  

It’s also important to manage symptoms that make it worse, such as anxiety, depression, and poor sleep patterns. For me, yoga and acupuncture helps with all of the above. Mama needs her Zen to be her best!  I notice mine is worse when I multitask, make unrealistic goals of what I can accomplish in a given time, or when I don’t get my beauty sleep.  I find I need to take several breaks during the day.  For me, educating myself on chemo brain has helped drastically.  It is empowering and allows me to make the lifestyle choices that will allow me to be my best self.  And don’t worry, I wrote all this stuff down so I won’t forget.