Hallelujah! Today a friend sent me the link to the NYTimes story and finally..what I and so many other cancer survivors have been telling the world...yes Virginia, there is Chemo Fog!
From the article......
The findings, based on a study of 92 cancer patients at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, suggest that the cognitive losses that seem to follow many cancer treatments are far more pronounced and longer-lasting than commonly believed.
You got that right! And ditto on how the doctors of said cancer survivors like to dismiss chemo brain as "normal aging or the fatigue of illness." I tried to tell my doc that just 1 month after my surgery, then 2 months, then 3 months, and on and on for probably at least a year...then I gave up. I even brought in the books I had found, the articles I had read and printed out-he wouldn't hear of it.
I wrote about Chemo Brain on this blog-over a year ago-3/14/10 to be exact. As I re- read that post, I will say, my brain has come alive and is much further along than one year ago. And the coming alive part is interesting to "watch"-and I mean "watch" as in the Buddhist teachings-when we watch our minds and the thoughts that develop. Even today I notice that there was a change in my memory, it's catching up, especially short term. Just the slightest change toward the positive in my brain function makes all the difference in my daily life. I feel more connected and a part of the flow.
The fog does lift-in layers-peeling away a little at a time. And there are a multitude of things that can help; exercise, meditation, being in nature, learning to do something you've never done before, eating properly and probably most important-sleep-restful sleep.
So kudos to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and thank you for validating
our experiences.
And speaking of sleep.....time for dreamland...............
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