Today's Forecast: Foggy with a chance of forgetfulness

Have you ever been in a fog? Most of us have at some point in our lives experienced forgetfulness or periodic moments of memory loss but when you are a person with cancer, chemo brain can be a real issue at times to deal with. It comes and goes but can leave you at times feeling disoriented and somewhat confused.

I was somewhat relieved to find that the experiences I was feeling, were acknowledged in both the Canadian and American Cancer Societies.  I found the definition according to the American Cancer Society,  described it pretty well and as the following and share it below:

What is Chemo Brain?

Sometimes people with cancer worry about, joke about, or become frustrated by what they describe as mental cloudiness or changes they might notice before, during, and after cancer treatment. This cloudiness or mental change is commonly referred to as chemo brain. Doctors and researchers may call chemo brain many things, such as cancer treatment-related cognitive impairment, cancer-related cognitive change, or post-chemotherapy cognitive impairment. The word "cognitive" refers to the way your brain works to help you communicate, think, learn, solve problems or remember.

Most define it as a decrease in mental "sharpness" and describe it as being unable to remember certain things and having trouble finishing tasks, concentrating on something, or learning new skills. Even though exact causes isn't known, it can happen at any time when you have cancer.

Some use the term 'chemo fog' to describe it instead of chemo brain. I feel that this is a better description of what it is like to have chemo brain. I would describe it as walking around in a state of fogginess. You can be unclear and unfocused. Sometimes I just kind of zone out.  As a person with cancer, these episodes of fogginess can be short ( a minute or two or for longer periods of time). Luckily they don't last too long. I find that for the most part,  I experience 'chemo fog' a day or two after chemo treatment.

Sometimes you forget the small stuff like names, places or what you are currently doing (why am I in the kitchen again)? Your brain is cloudy. Being foggy describes it well. It becomes harder to concentrate and think clearly. Luckily my chemo fog is fairly minor (at lease I think so, you would have to ask one of my family members for confirmation of that). It is generally sporadic, but when it happens is annoying and sometimes worrisome. I usually pride myself on being fairly sharp and alert for the most part.

It can be a bit embarrassing to be forgetful, especially when you temporarily forget someone's name that you should know well. I am the first to admit that I have always been bad with names but this is different. Forgetting someone's name that you know well or see often is concerning. Having chemo brain only amplifies my name recognition issues. 

Have you ever gone to the the grocery store to pick up a few items and return home with everything (including some extra items) but forget to buy the most important item or ingredient? I have. In fact it is becoming increasingly the case. I am in the grocery aisle and trying to remember what the items were again. I now put my grocery list into my phone so that I can refer to it if needed. Come to think of it, LOL, Michelle has been with me for some of these short grocery trips too. I guess it is just another example of sympathy symptoms on her part ( or it could be the lack of consistent sleep too).  

Life is foggy at times. We all can have moments of temporary forgetfulness. Sometimes forgetting is a good thing. I must say that I truly enjoy the moments when I forget that I have cancer! As a family we continue to have a clear focus on what is important, namely our family, creating memories and making the most of each day that we are blessed to have together. There is no fogginess there!

Stay focused everyone.  Keep moving forward through the fog!

Richard