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How does chemotherapy affect dementia?

Caregivers: Dementia | Last Active: Jan 12 10:46am | Replies (7)

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@coping123

That’s a tough place to be. My husband has prostate cancer that’s metastasized to his bones. He’s made it very clear that he doesn’t want conventional chemo & I respect that decision. The effect on quality of life would be significant. For 13 years the cancer was held back by radiation, injections, and oral chemo meds. They have stopped working. He has had palliative radiation (will not do that again) & is currently getting monthly bone strengthening infusions (which he is tolerating very well). These last 2 treatments are just to try & reduce the tumors a bit & lower risk of painful bone fractures. They will not lengthen his life by much but should improve quality of life by keeping him out of a skilled nursing facility & contentedly living at home. Talk with your wife if she is still able to communicate. Discuss what is important to both of you - longevity vs quality of life. Ask her care team about the specific side effects & consider her ability to cope with them mentally & emotionally (not just physically). How would treatment affect your ability to care for her? Then make a decision that is right based on your lives & the goals you still share.

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Replies to "That’s a tough place to be. My husband has prostate cancer that’s metastasized to his bones...."

Thank you very much for your response. My wife's cancer is multiple myeloma which is cancer of the bone marrow (blood). The cancer was diagnosed in 2017 and she has been on Pomalyst, a chemo drug. with known side effects we have experienced over the years. A risk of multiple myeloma is weakening of the bones. My online search this morning indicates that the brain fog (short term memory loss) can be associated not only with dementia but with long Covid too. My wife tested positive for Covid in February 2023 and was diagnosed by a geriatrician in June 2023 with moderate dementia. She is in a memory care facility now. Long Covid is relatively new. Therefore, it is challenging to separate the independent effects of treatments of dementia and long Covid (2023) along with the side effects of chemo for cancer (since 2017). I appreciate your discussion of choice between living longer and the quality of that life. Long Covid and dementia are the newbies of 2023 whose effects we are trying to understand!