Chemobrain

This explains so much:

Study: Chemo tied to temporary shrinking of brain

For years, cancer patients going through treatment have complained about short-term memory and concentration problems, such as forgetting where they put keys or the names of people they know well.

Although previous research suggested the treatments may leave patients with mild cognitive impairment, some doctors thought it might be caused by hormonal changes or the anxiety of having cancer.

In the latest study, published in Monday's issue of the journal Cancer, Dr. Masatoshi Inagaki at the National Cancer Centre Hospital East in Chiba and his colleagues used MRIs to compare brain structures in 51 cancer survivors who received chemotherapy to 54 who did not.

The experiment was repeated for 132 cancer survivors who had cancer surgery less than a year earlier. Of this group, 73 received chemo and the rest did not.

Within a year of surgery, sections of the brain involved in cognition -- such as concentration, multitasking and memory -- were smaller in the women who received chemotherapy than in those who didn't, the researchers said.

Source: CBC News

"Let this be a lesson to myself and anyone else who comes into contact with someone either on chemotherapy or who has received it in the past year: give them a break, okay?

Remember this, that the brain reacts with anger to being subjected to chemotherapy and tells certain areas to retract like a turtle popping into its shell. The good news is that three years later the affected regions return to their normal size, presumably to the benefit of the patient's mental skills. Having never taken chemotherapy, I am still waiting for researchers to discover the cause behind my own diminishing talents."

Source: Craig Hildreth, M.D. aka The Cheerful Oncologist


Hmmmm...what's my name again???

Source: Ya got me.