Ramble On » Chemo Brain http://www.dcooley.com Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:58:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Chemo Brain http://www.dcooley.com/chemo-brain/ http://www.dcooley.com/chemo-brain/#comments Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:23:00 +0000 David http://www.dcooley.com/chemo-brain/ Now they call it Chemo Brain. There are pages upon pages of data on this dysfunction.

When I did chemotherapy in 1992 the term was not used, at least not that I heard.

It fits, and I believe it to be a real side effect factor to be considered and dealt with. Almost as soon as I started my chemotherapy this was one of the first side effects I noticed. It was like living in a fog.

I have always wondered if my short term memory is worse than it would have naturally been if I had not taken chemotherapy?

]]> http://www.dcooley.com/chemo-brain/feed/ 1 My Chemotherapy Wardrobe http://www.dcooley.com/my-chemotherapy-wardrobe/ http://www.dcooley.com/my-chemotherapy-wardrobe/#comments Wed, 02 Aug 2006 08:18:00 +0000 David http://www.dcooley.com/my-chemotherapy-wardrobe/ Now here was a plus. While doing chemo I found my wardrobe the one thing that I liked. It was real simple.Sweat Pants, T-shirts and a bandana. Easy to mix and match.The only problem I ran into was in a few public places. Once while walking through a mall I was harassed by the security guards and told I had to remove the bandana because it represented the colors of some gang. It was frustrating and funny at the same time.

Here I was, seriously bloated, very, very white, 30 years old without a hair on my body. And they wanted to harass me about a bandana. What made it even more weird, the guys I ran into that probably were in a gang, were the ones that seem to have sympathy for me and did not give me a hard time.

I tried to find some designer bandanas, however, back then they just were not available in my area. This was something I thought might make me feel better and allow me to wear something with a message of some sort on it.

]]> http://www.dcooley.com/my-chemotherapy-wardrobe/feed/ 0 Clear the Chemo Taste http://www.dcooley.com/clear-the-chemo-taste/ http://www.dcooley.com/clear-the-chemo-taste/#comments Mon, 24 Jul 2006 18:59:00 +0000 David http://www.dcooley.com/clear-the-chemo-taste/ I am sure each patient and each Chemotherapy is different, but I had a terrible time with how it affected my taste buds.

Everything had a metallic taste to it. Things that I loved I could not tolerate with this added flavor.Finding something to drink became an increasingly difficult task. I loved sodas but could not drink them during chemo. I tried Gatorade (which was ok) but I was looking for something that actually tasted good and was refreshing.

My poor wife was trying desperately to find the magic drink, she would bring home all kinds of things to try. And then by chance we found it.

Minute Maid Fruit Punch !!

Even to this day when I need something different and refreshing I will pick up a carton. It was the only drink I found that helped during my chemo. And I would hope the same result for you. Give it a try.

]]> http://www.dcooley.com/clear-the-chemo-taste/feed/ 0 Chemotherapy and Humor http://www.dcooley.com/chemotherapy-and-humor/ http://www.dcooley.com/chemotherapy-and-humor/#comments Thu, 06 Jul 2006 00:48:00 +0000 David http://www.dcooley.com/chemotherapy-and-humor/ I am going to use 2 words that certainly will not appear to go together.Chemotherapy and Humor.Why? Because I found out very quickly that you had to have one to survive the other. If you can manage to keep a little sense of humor a big part of the Chemotherapy experience will be a lot easier to take.

Hair, yes, hair! Everyday of my life I woke up, looked in the mirror and gave no thought to what I would look like without my hair. I was a 70’s child. You know the kid, blue jeans with holes in the knees, t-shirt, sneakers and a head full (and I do mean full) of hair. It was beautiful. Long, blond and curly.

What was I going to do now ?

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