I never had trouble memorizing anything…or remembering anything.I could carry on a conversation without trouble and keep my train of thought roaring along just fine, thank you very much. This is no longer true.
Things I have had trouble with since Starting chemo in November–
remembering words for simple things
keeping my attention while having conversations(if my eyes glaze over I am not being rude…my mind is not wandering I am simply no where in particular)
making decisions–this is interesting–used to be able to run through the lists of ramifications from decisions in a heartbeat and decide…NOT any more!!!
Now I have to make a list and take some time –otherwise I piss everyone off by changing my mind five minutes or 30 minutes later.
Following a train of thought in a lecture–need notes–didn’t used to
remembering what errands I need to run in a given day.
So I am reading a book Your Brain On Chemo I think it is called and it has a plan…
also helpful hints–also realized I need to go back to memorizing poetry..the nice thing is I can remember things I memorized even years ago–WE went to see South Pacific and I remembered every word and every song in the show…I am also asking myself to renew skills—making jewelry–knitting–playing chess-
All these things are getting better with time and Glutamine–lots better in fact but I am a bit impatient–one thing the book said is that we may simply be people who never before needed help to remember stuff…We didn’t need to write notes to remember errands to run or dates with people…Well, I have needed to write things down for awhile but now I need to write them all in one place–the same place.
I also need to eat more fish…Need more omega 3’s.
I had a visit with a friend who is going through PTSD–she said I was one of the few people she knew who understood what her mind was doing and had had similar experiences with memory…
And that did make sense–PTSD–I am post traumatic stress–hope my Marines are doing okay too.
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