Article - Memory loss following breast cancer treatment
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Absolutely, Kate. We so often disregard how long it takes our bodies and brains to get over anaesthetic, alongside everything else that's going on, relating to why we had the surgery.2
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@kmakm. I've heard that too about anaesthetic, and I learnt it first-hand. After my second breast surgery (Lat dorsi), I applied for an item writing job at my workplace. It was very similar work to the position I worked in for 8 years, in the same office, so I was not feeling anxious when the time came for their standard writing test. It was 2 weeks after my surgery, and I sat in a room of competent people, and spent 90 mins trying to work out how to scroll the document down the screen and manage 2 screen pages simultaneously. I was barely able to engage with any of the prompts in any meaningful way, and as a result I missed out on the job. In hindsight, I should never have tackled the task so soon after surgery, but no one had told me that my brain would be addled!! It was so distressing- such a shock, but thankfully the cognitive impairment subsided for the most part over the next few weeks. I reckon our brains take such a huge hit, and whilst the treatment may achieve its intended result (and we are all thankful for this), more work needs to be done to find ways to protect and rebuild cognitive function.1
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I had 8 GAs dealing with BC VI . I reckon it took 2 years to get to a point I wasn't disabled. By what, I don't know. I do know that even having a short term general anaesthetic (less than an hour) made me feel like I'd been on a two week bender, even if I had been in the best of health previously. The big jobs, surgery that took all day, was crippling because it fucked with my head so it's hard to apportion blame. V2, same same. No big circle the wagons chop chop, but still 5 GA. It's not good for you.0
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Well, that made no sense but I refuse to edit it. Welcome to overthink chemo brain.
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@Zoffiel Made sense to me. I'm not looking forward to the GA for my changeover surgery next year - another brain dissolve, as well as clot risk. If I'd been able to predict having three clots in my lungs a fortnight after my mastectomy, I wouldn't have opted for an expander. But of course no crystal ball.0
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SO pleased with myself today ! Big brouhaha about financial control in a community organisation I started seven years ago, ran for years, and then had to hand over to someone else 2.5 years ago when my knee gave in. Now another organisation barges in, with approval by city council, and takes over running it - very hostile to original members and nastily excluding some of them. They started last month demanding handover of the money we worked our guts out over years to raise. Fortunately we have a legally-binding auspicing agreement an entity who has fiduciary responsibility and he is standing rock solid with us. Last night, a handful of us met with him around my dining-table (as so many of our early meetings were) and mapped out a plan. I've just written the document listing all the relevant facts and making it a water-tight statement of our intentions. My brain has behaved itself. Yay!8
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Bloody brilliant. Righteous indignation is SO satisfying. Especially when you win! K xox0
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I am really getting sick of re reading my posts and seeing all my there, their, they're, week, weak, to, two and too's mixed up! Dumb brain. I used to, too, two be able to write, right properly, honestly............. Grrrr6
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Hey there @kezmusc ...try this one for size.....The sheep farmer wanted to know whether the weather would be good for his wethers....just kidding. I reckon the print is too small for me to read on the monitor. along with the Uncle Toby Porridge Brain that I now have xoxo
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The last week I have had to think really hard for words sometimes and I don't know if it anaesthetic related, chemo brain, tamoxifen, lack of sleep from tamoxifen or all of the above 0 -
"...how they could not stay focused and would get easily distracted. They described how they seemed to have a lower attention span. Others described it as going blank in the middle of a task."
Seriously. It takes me around 6 hours to get through an hour long online lecture. I will be in the process of watching it and suddenly realize that I am no longer there. Like just now. I'm not done yet. I forgot what I was doing. It's been nearly 2 years of this. I feel like I should be on something for attention deficit disorder. (This is compared to pre-chemo study habits where I would easily get through the lectures, course readings, and notes revision process in under 4 hours.)
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@Kiwi Angel, you know where my bet is.
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I miss being able to learn and remember song lyrics and sing them.2
