At Dr. Smith's office, the receptionist greeted me with a "There you are! We were just going to call you!" I was surprised, shocked, even. Wha??? Wasn't my appointment at 11:20? Oh, you're on the schedule for 10:20. Silly me. The front desk girl tossed off a breezy "Blame it on chemo brain."
Indeed? How PC. Chemo brain is a woefully named phenomenon many patients experience after cancer treatment, including problems with concentrating, multitasking, memory, and word retrieval. Some 15% have lasting effects even after treatment ends. Bumfart! Shazaam! And other expletives my addled brain comes up with. The most dire comments hint that brain shrinkage can occur. I'm not just killing cancer cells, I'm killing brain cells! I'm not just going bald, I'm going blond! (I keed, I keed)
I ponder deeply ... if whether this is what's feeding my sudden fascination with "The real housewives of orange county" or if this solves my new mysterious propensity of writing shopping lists then misplacing the list then leaving the store without buying what I needed. Bread! How difficult it is to remember 'bread'!!
New evidence of epic brain fail: I took the Census test, where the questions were like "Put these dates in chronological order" or "Count how many houses are on route from Spot A to Spot B." And I missed one. Out of 28. Which I can't even calculate what percentage that is. Now to put this in perspective, Wiggin took her super hard medical school pharmacology test. And missed one. See??
This is the most nonsensical story I've heard about, read and be scared!!
"Another patient, Patrick, a diagnostic radiologist treated for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 58, had to quit his job when he realized he was making mistakes. “I would lose my place and have to go back and start over with an exam,” he said. “I tried to explain a procedure to a patient and I got very confused.” At the supermarket, Patrick and his wife put groceries in the car, then he drove off without her. He forgot pots on the stove until the smoke detector went off. Upset by the loss of his former self, he contemplated suicide. "
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/health/04brod.html
Haha he ditched his wife at the market. And got away with blaming it on chemo brain!! Hmm this could come in handy ...
Help! If it's a matter of inevitability, maybe I could try to smarten myself before I dumben. I need a brain gym, be it Kumon, sudoku, mah jong, Smart Water!
Now, where did I put my glasses? ...
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oh goodness, I do the list at the supermarket thing too, but I have no excuse! haha so I end up going to the market multiple times a week because I always forget something.
ReplyDeleteif you need some mind exercises, check out www.sporcle.com! my friend introduced it to me the other day and it's fun. they give you different categories and you have to list all the countries in asia or major car manufacturers, stuff like that. enjoy!!
p.s. go wiggin!! that's awesome!!! :) teach me some med school skills!!
haha for some more perspective...i had my cardio test on friday and i went to sleep at 12am so i could wake up early to study. I ended up waking up at 7am...when my test is at 8 =\ Then at 7:20...i'm rushing out to catch the shuttle and my roommate comes in like...you know the test is at 9 right? haha
ReplyDeleteand last week we had an assignment due for this "howtobeagooddoctor" class....and i totally forgot about. Then the next week my faciliator's like...hey did you send me your write-up? and i'm like...oh shoot. so I write it in my phone and still forgot about it until 2 days later=x
basically, you're still awesome no worries!
p.s. play brainage or big brain academy =)
yea right, my two smarty doctors, you guys are just trying to make me feel better!
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