My chemo brain

Yes I can relate to that. Without wanting to sound arrogant I used to feel that I was pretty sharp, pretty on the ball. I could keep dozens of things in my head and juggle them, not so much easily, but competently. I worked full-time (for limited periods) and casually as a teacher while raising my own three children and also helping out my husband with the admin for his business. It was hard, but I like to think managed it quite well. 

Now, after chemo and radiation (and perhaps tamoxifen has an effect on my brain too) I don't think I could do it. I haven't gone back to teaching at all mainly becasue I don't want to put myself under that stress of trying to juggle everything again (maybe it played a role in my BC) and we are managing financially but also because I just don't think I could handle it mentally. I don't think my brain could cope with the demands of 25 students, running a household, helping out my husband with his paperwork and all the demands of my own three boys. 

Just juggling the houshold, the kids and the small number of tasks I do for my husbands business leaves me frazzled these days. It's hard to explain exactly what the difference is. I think it's to do with being able to co-ordinate a lot of tasks, or multi-task or something. When there is too much to process, I start to get overwhelmed. I can't think straight. And yes I find I forget things too. 

Annoyingly I guess it's another "change" we have to put up with as a result of breast cancer. I take gingko biloba everyday which is supposed to help memory. Not sure if it makes a difference. And I keep exercising and trying to eat healthily hoping that will help too. And I also make lists (always have been a list-maker though). Don't really know what else to do about it. Hope things improve for both of us. Good luck, Janet.