Comments on: New study identifies physiological evidence for "chemobrain" in cancer patients

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:25:00 +0000

Thanks for responding….in fact, they were secondary effects of an auto-immune disorder I’ve had for many years. Killing off fast-growing cells affects a lot of different parts of the body, including non-cancer cells.

By: Clifton

Clifton — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 06:04:00 +0000

Radiation will do similar things for you. I remember 14 years ago, somewhere around 5 weeks into the daily radiation regime, I was sitting there, staring vacantly through this gray mental haze, and thinking “This is what it’s going to feel like to be 90.” And that was on a relatively small radiation dose!

I was deathly afraid I would never regain my former sharpness, but for me it wore off eventually. It’s sobering though, to remember that insight: we’re all just “temporarily able-bodied”, and able-brained.

By: Saint_Zero

Saint_Zero — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 04:24:00 +0000

I kept hoping for superpowers, myself. I had a top five list during my treaments for Mantle Cell Lymphoma. Didn’t happen, of course, and I do have the “chemo brain” side effects still. But I’m not dying, and that’s a fair trade indeed.

By: jaytkay

jaytkay — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 03:00:00 +0000

When I saw the headline I thought chemo was giving people Super Brain Powers.

Dammit!

By: Pat L

Pat L — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 02:56:00 +0000

I definitely had periods where I was … the best word I can think of is “ditsy”. Just not sharp. Sometimes talked in run-on sentences that trailed off into embarrassing silence when I suddenly realized I sounded stupid. It was variable like other chemo symptoms, which all got better after finishing treatment. I think I never did/never will fully recover from many of those side effects. But, that’s OK. :)

@chgoliz: Who knows, maybe what you thought were “age-related minor complaints” were really effects of the cancer, explaining why they got better after treatment.

By: BukaHobbit

BukaHobbit — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 22:39:00 +0000

I completely understand this. I suffer from what some call “pump head” from being on a heart-lung bypass machine for too long. I hate the loss in mental acuity that resulted. OTOH, without the pump I would be dead, sooooo, a pretty fair deal. If the choice is dipshit or dead, I’ll choose dipshit every time.

By: harrenP

harrenP — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 22:33:00 +0000

I really noticed this in my mother after her chemo. The good news is – it gets better, especially with treatment.

By: Michael Walsh

Michael Walsh — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 22:07:00 +0000

Imagine how affected your mind would be had you died! Glad yer better.

By: Boundegar

Boundegar — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 21:51:00 +0000

We still love you for your mind.

By: awjt

awjt — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 21:48:00 +0000

Nah, you’re fine. It’s all in your head!!! I know HORRIBLE!@!! BAD JOKE

By: Jardine

Jardine — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 20:48:00 +0000

Some of those symptoms sound like possible side-effects of marijuana use as well (not that I’d discourage using it). Or, come to think of it, that’s also how I feel when I have to take a bunch of painkillers to get through a nasty headache. I’m not entirely sure what my point was. Fuck cancer in an uncomfortable place.

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 20:09:00 +0000

“here’s the thing: you adapt. You get through it. You will function differently, but you will function.”

Brava. That’s it, exactly. Surviving is not done in the short term, but over the long haul.

Conversely, I discovered that some of my age-related minor complaints actually disappeared as a result of chemo. Medical science is a weird beast. One might say Cthulhu-esque.