Forgetfulness

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Here I am thinking I have somehow managed to escape the major impacts cancer can have on you emotionally/mentally. I have been in good spirits and positive then yesterday I realize I forgot to pay my electric bill last month AND hubby and I forgot to renew our car registrations in May!!! I am always organized and pay everything ahead of time and I forgot 2 very important bills (hubby forgot too). I track all bills in a bill book every month and still screwed up! Yell

I am hoping I did not forget anything else and that I don't forget anything in the future.

Comments

  • dreaming
    dreaming Member Posts: 473
    edited July 2009

    There are studies that confirm the loss of memory, you can find about it in Goggle, in my case I have a job a profession that requires great memory and concentration, I have this for work; but for my personal life I depend on lists and my PDA.

    My doctor can not find a reason for this, neither can I.

    During my treatment I took Zoloft,it help me a lot.

  • Karenp62
    Karenp62 Member Posts: 142
    edited July 2009

    yasminv1, I am in the same boat. Was trying to balance my check book this month and realized I forgot to pay my cable bill. I have a check off list for my bills. The cable bill was checked off and written down in my check register BUT I did not pay it electronically as normal.

    At work I have sticky notes everywhere as reminders for important tasks that I CAN'T forget. Also notes at home.

    I blame it on Tamoxifen.

    Karen

  • dee1961
    dee1961 Member Posts: 1,672
    edited July 2009

    I believe it would be called STRESS. It makes us forget and do all kinds of strange things...lol

  • LittleFlower
    LittleFlower Member Posts: 405
    edited July 2009
    can it still be chemo brain 2 years later whene i forget what i'm about to say in mid sentence?Laughing
  • LittleFlower
    LittleFlower Member Posts: 405
    edited July 2009

    how about when i spell 'whene'  incorrectly!

  • cmharris59
    cmharris59 Member Posts: 496
    edited July 2009

    I am having major problems with memory, concentration, focus, and even my math skills. I needed all of the above for my profession. I can no longer perform the tasks necessary to work. Thankfully, I guess, I have physical SEs from the chemo that prevent me from working also, since mental issues are hard to define and use to defend disability.

    I have kept a ledger for the last 18 years of all of my expenses and income. There is a large gap in the ledger now during the time that I started treatment and until a few months ago. I stopped chemo last June due to SEs.  I still have trouble remembering bills to pay. I have had problems with interest rates being hiked because I was late on a payment. I have missed many months of utility bills. I have been aghast when I got a statement for two months instead of one, because I missed a payment. My credit rating went downhill fast. It was around 900 now it is so bad that I refuse to check it anymore.

    I live alone, so there is no one else to help me remember these things either. I forget Dr appts, too.

    I also used to love reading and read technical journals as well as fiction. Now my retention is terrible. I cannot read a book without having to reread nearly every paragraph. It has gotten so frustrating that I have almost quit completely. 

    What really pissed me off, is that as well documented as chemo brain is, when I mentioned the problems to my oncologist, she suggested that I get a brain scan. Sher said she had never heard of it. WTF!!!!

    C

  • yasminv1
    yasminv1 Member Posts: 238
    edited July 2009

    Thanks ladies for sharing your stories. It has been a crazy few months. Hopefully my Oncotype Score will come back low next week so I won't have to do chemo. I can only imagine what I will forget if I have to go through that treatment.

    Karenp62 - I am a sticky notes addict and use them alot. This is why it baffles me that I have been so forgetful.

    Dee - Stress?? What's that? LOL.

    LittleFlower - You made me giggle. I would definitely blame memory loss on the chemo if I had to have it. ;) I think studies have shown that chemo could have long term effects on memory.

    cmharris59 - I am sorry you are dealing with chemo brain. I hope it all gets better for your soon.

  • KinAZ
    KinAZ Member Posts: 180
    edited July 2009

    I finished chemo in sept 08...and i am still having mental issues....lol  seriously tho, my concentration sucks, my words get mixed up, forget lots of stuff, and confused often...it is not any better nearly a year later.  at my 6 mo follow up, i mentioned all this to the onco....who ordered a brain scan which came out normal....my friends and dh notice it!!!!  I think its one of those things the drs dont like to talk about or warn us that it may not ever go away.  I am going to my primary care dr next week and want to talk to him about this.  I have read that some women get ritalin for it.  I was laid off and now worry about being able to hold a job in the future.  There is more to it than just stress, I just wish the medical community would deal with the chemo aftermath better.....

    hugs to all, Karen

  • dee1961
    dee1961 Member Posts: 1,672
    edited July 2009

    I was really being facetious about the stress thing. I know it may have just a tad to do with it, but for the most part there is something else going on. I just get tired of everytime I ask a doctor why I am am having this or that symptom, they said it's stress :0)~

  • EWB
    EWB Member Posts: 2,927
    edited July 2009

    I think stress has a great deal with this, but is not the only thing. There have been studies, although it is only recently that "chemo brain" has been officially recognized. And they are finding that it is not just "chemo" brain , but also rads, surgey, hormonal, targeted therapy "brain". It seems common sense to me that once some one starts playing around with these chemicals, which screw with the normal balance and flow of things...that stuff happens like this. We all know it, why doesn't the medical community?

  • KinAZ
    KinAZ Member Posts: 180
    edited July 2009

    Dee.......I understood where you were coming from.....for me the doctors blame alot of stuff on stress...hell sometimes even the cancer is said to be caused by stress  Smile  lol....I had someone tell me that was why i got bc.not a doc....No doubt stress can affect our health.

    And my onc does tell me its also the rads, hormone therapy, surgeries, my anemia....and i agree with that....my complaint is why dont they address it more frequently....i feel that should have been included in the many discussions we had.  I feel like I have to prove to them that it affects my quality of life.  as i mentioned i am seeing my pcp soon.  he has been awesome, so i am curious to see how he treats it.

    my dh birthday was july 3, and this morning i could not remember if we celebrated it....total blank.  it actually upset me because i thought i forgot it, which is not like me.....took me 45 minutes before it came to me.....this was more than just the forgetfullness that comes with aging, and you all understand it.  i am glad we have each other.

    hugs, karen

  • Brendatrue
    Brendatrue Member Posts: 1,830
    edited August 2009

    I have experienced chemo brain x2--first time after CMF in 1995, now following a T/C chemo regimen that ended in May. I remember the frustration I felt in '96 and later when my onc insisted that there is no such thing as chemobrain, and I am glad for the relief in knowing that research has shown that chemo can have short--long term impact on cognitive status, more so for some than for others. I think that chemofog, other consequences of cancer treatment, aging (although I am only 52!), decreased energy, stress and multiple other things contribute to my forgetfulness. I hate those lapses in remembering but I also hate those times when I feel like I can't solve problems effectively or quickly, or when I feel like my mind is "a blank"! I am hopeful that I will recover again, although I know last time it took me a while (more than 2 years). I also use lists but sometimes I am just too tired to make another list or note!

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