Cognitive changes after chemo

Baeph,

Your story opened my eyes as none have before. I had to look up Ampullary cancer. My experience with a cancer diagnosis. My husband had 3 heart attacks by the age of 38, (family genes on both sides) leaving him with 2/3rds functioning heart muscle. In 2006 we went to visit his family before holiday prices increased. He was 49 then and no male had lived to see 61. After seeing everyone we made an "I will IF you will pledge". I thought he was the one that needed a checkup more than I did. Within 30 minutes after mammo I was told I had breast cancer by my gynecologist with no surgery/treatments until 01/17/2007. To get to my point...the cancer diagnosis was within a few days of Thanksgiving. It was like a bomb went off in my head. I could not wrap my head around how to deal with it. No holiday dinners for us that year. I fell inside my head and could not get any clear and positive thoughts even though I have strong faith. Looking back it was due to My Lack of Control and all the what-ifs. I was/am a highly functioning "A" type personality. I was/am still the CFO of our household and at the time all I could do was think of how to help my husband if cancer took me. In your opinion because you know him better than any psychiatrist may your husband have any of these fears within? I fought hard to keep it from my loved ones and Did Not Speak of it. Heck, I barely spoke to anyone. I cannot tell you how often I pretended to be asleep so not even my husband would Hover over me and ask again & again if I needed/wanted anything! Time does heal and in my case, it was not speaking with a psychiatrist. I felt empowered again thru forums like this. Do you think that would help him to get his empowerment back? I'm here to tell you that life can be good again!!! Keep the faith and take it one day at a time. For me, the last thing I wanted was to see another dang Dr. I was told 04/2021 that they were highly suspicious of recurrence however for me I do not fear cancer any longer so I waited until my mammo confirmed breast cancer recurrence. 05/25 I had a double mastectomy that's still not healed (dehiscence). I wake up every day knowing how blessed we are. I've added you and your husband to my prayer list.

My husband is being treated for Ampulary cancer, stage one after Whipple. He has not rallied after the surgery which was performed 6 months ago. He spends his time in bed and the quality of his life is much less than he would accept if he was thinking in his right mind. I am totally lost as far as what I can do for him. He told me today that he doesn’t want to communicate with anyone bc he is depressed(taking 2meds to combat this and I have requested consultation with a psychiatrist who is familiar with the needs of cancer patients. ). Does anyone have any experience with a situation where the patient fails to respond to treatment even though the prognosis is fairly positive?

There is also brain fog from from the estrogen blocking drugs we need to take following breast cancer treatment. Anastrozole was the worst for me! Lowering our estrogen to prevent breast cancer recurrence, is similar to going through menopause! Brain fog is one of the symptoms of of natural menopause; so of course, lowering our estrogen levels with cancer drugs is going to cause discomforts and side effects similar to those of natural menopause.

I started on Anastrozole, and after a few months, my son took me to lunch one day to ‘break it to me gently’ that I had Alzheimer’s because the brain fog was so bad. I talked to my doctor about the brain fog and she gave me a three month break from medication. I felt fine again. But the brain fog came right back when I went back on cancer meds. My doctor then switched me to Exemestane.

I have taken my breast cancer meds faithfully for 4 years. At my last appointment with my doctor about a month ago; she said that I can now safely go off Exemestane! I’m finishing up the last of my 90 day prescription and then I’M DONE with the meds.!! I still need to have a breast MRI every 6 months for the next two years to be sure there isn’t any recurrence. But I’m thrilled that everything seems fine to stop these dreadful medications!

It’s unnerving, isn’t it? I found doing crossword puzzles, Sudoku, Quordle (wordle, but with 4 games at one time) matching games, anything that takes some concentration or creativity, to be really helpful regaining focus. Ha, that and a LOT of post-it notes!!

I read in one of your replies that you’re starting another round of chemo November 7th. I’m sorry you have to go through that again. Wishing you all the best with your treatments. Not something to look forward to but if you’re like me it meant moving forward so…we do what we have to do, right?

YES!! I also have brain fog. It isn't too severe but I am forgetful and have a hard time concentrating.

Yes chemo brain is real and doctors know about as well as most of us. It is not just you and it is very hard to work around. Especially if one was high functioning BC.

@rhongirl - I had chemo 30 years ago and experienced brain fog. It’s still there, but I manage it better now- it doesn’t bother me so much. I forget words, names but I also know I’ll remember them in a while. 2015 I was taking immunosuppressive drug for 7 months for an autoimmune illness. I was sick a lot those months with various infections and I was quite worn out at the end. I definitely had cognitive difficulties then. Strange things. I started doing crossword puzzles daily and that helped.
What I don’t understand is how it could affect physical activities. I have played tennis for years but when I returned to the game I had lost all feeling for it- how to hit the balls correctly. It should not have happened- we have muscle memory at least. It has taken time to get back to it.
I also had difficulty parking the car in a parking spot. I would park it on an angle instead of straight forward. I practiced a lot. However, these things worried me, surprised me, unexpected. I’m back to normal now, just older.

Hi Rhongirl!
My husband has lung cancer. He had a small amount of chemotherapy but then they gave him Keytruda which is a version of chemotherapy. The Keytruda nearly killed him but with the excellent care of our primary care doctor my husband recovered. That was four years ago and he's doing fine. However, he feels his memory isn't as good as it used to be. I did some research and found the following foods that help your memory:

Foods good for memory: (Source: Mayo Clinic website.)
• Broccoli
• Turmeric
• Fish
• Green vegetables
• Mushrooms
• Coffee
• V-8 and Tomato Juice
• Almonds
• Apples
• Blueberries
• Salmon
• Sweet Potatoes
• Swiss Chard, Spinach
• Oatmeal
We were eating most of these anyway but now we are eating more of them and remaining active and drinking lots of water. My husband feels this has helped his memory.
Good Luck!
PML

Yes to your question. Somewhere around a year after the main round of chemo, I began to notice small memory lapses. I asked a nurse about it if that is a side effect and is it a temporary thing. She said oh it's a fact that people get "chemo brain". I had a great memory and people's names, phone numbers, etc. Now since I am older I know folks assume you have slight dementia because you have some trouble with words. I search sometimes for the correct word and not all the time but anytime is to much for me. I work on my memory and do my best to keep up. I do believe it is true so be aware and stay alert and maybe do some memory games and keep the brain busy.

@rhongirl Oh, you're not alone in this boat! While our bodies are playing hardball, handling surgeries, medications, chemo, tests, and whatall, our brains are trying to keep up. And sometimes, something has to give!

I had to learn to be gentle on myself. Started writing lists or notes. Forgiving myself for stopping mid-sentence with a loss for words. Relaxing and trying to not become too stressed when I couldn't recall why I was doing something. Am I thrilled to be in this position? Well, no. But understanding I am doing the best I can, helps. My ongoing chemo for a blood cancer sometimes gives me varying degrees of "fog" that may combine with other health issues. I am being as proactive as I can to stay as on top of things as possible. Slow down and be gentle on yourself!
Ginger