Chemo brain - No Laughing Matter

I know I used to make a joke out of it and would even get a few laughs out of it, but the chemo brain is beginning to really frustrate me and it's only getting worse. I'm no longer as quick as I used to be and this limitation on my brain is beginning to make me worry. I ask common-sense questions ALL the time and my poor brother has been so patient he answers all of them for me. When I try to read, I read the words, but am not comprehending anything and on the rare occasion that I do, I easily forget. When I watch tv or movies it requires alot of effort, especially movies because of it's length. I tend to drift to a place of nothingness. I feel as though I have the memory of a fish!

Anyway, I decided to look it up (again) and found some interesting articles published just recently. Just so you know, this was one of the major concerns I had prior to me starting treatments because my job requires that I be on the ball, not the air in ball. LOL! My oncologist assured me it was part stress/anxiety and part the chemo, but temporary. Below are links to the articles:

This article here refers to 5-fluorouracil or 5FU, which is the "F" in my first three chemo cocktails (FEC 100): http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20060929212115data_trunc_sys.shtml

This was written back in 2003. What's interesting is that the lady they speak of felt the effects after her third cycle, which is where I'm at: http://www.myhealthsense.com/F030701_Chemo.html

And some other interesting reads: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_39623.html http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-10-05-chemo-fog_x.htm

...All this makes me wonder about the many sacrafices there are just for me to live, healthy. I don't want to sound like a preacher, but since I'm standing on the "other side" of the fence, all I have to say is quit smoking, eat right and exercise! Take it for what it's worth. You're reading my blog because you care about me and I'm thankful, but you should care for yourself too. Don't make the mistake I did. I cared for everyone else, but me and look where I ended up! I stand before you today risking the chance of ever having children, causing damage to my brain that can last years on end and having to go through treatments that will only decrease my chances of reoccurance from 70% to 40%. Although medicine has advanced, there still is no ultimate cure or magic wand to fix this. Don't wait til' it's too late!