Side Effects Tips

If you're newly diagnosed and have not yet begun treatment, ask your oncologist for a referral to a neuropsychologist for a cognitive evaluation. That will provide you with a baseline of how your brain functions now in terms of memory, attention, mood, etc. Follow-up testing during and after treatment will help your doctors monitor your cognitive health over time.

Even if you've already begun treatment, this type of testing can help. Neuropsychologists - especially those who work with cancer patients -- can suggest individualized coping strategies. They may also suggest medication if they think you'll benefit.

And just as having cancer affects the entire family, so does chemo brain. I can't tell you how many stories I've collected from people who tell me that their spouses and/or children just don't understand why they continue to be so forgetful, even though they're long past treatment. So you might sit down with your family and explain that chemo brain is real and that it may continue to linger. You may want to ask them to work out organizational strategies with you so that everyone takes a bit more responsibility.

It may help for them to read "Your Brain After Chemo" where I tell the story of a husband who had testicular cancer, and his wife who was often frustrated at how spacey he had become. In the end, they set up a more structured way of dealing with appointments, including their roles in picking up their son after school. That created more harmony at home. If you're newly diagnosed and have not yet begun treatment, ask your oncologist for a referral to a neuropsychologist for a cognitive evaluation. That will provide you with a baseline of how your brain functions now in terms of memory, attention, mood, etc. Follow-up testing during and after treatment will help your doctors monitor your cognitive health over time.

Even if you've already begun treatment, this type of testing can help. Neuropsychologists - especially those who work with cancer patients -- can suggest individualized coping strategies. They may also suggest medication if they think you'll benefit.

And just as having cancer affects the entire family, so does chemo brain. I can't tell you how many stories I've collected from people who tell me that their spouses and/or children just don't understand why they continue to be so forgetful, even though they're long past treatment. So you might sit down with your family and explain that chemo brain is real and that it may continue to linger. You may want to ask them to work out organizational strategies with you so that everyone takes a bit more responsibility.

It may help for them to read "Your Brain After Chemo" where I tell the story of a husband who had testicular cancer, and his wife who was often frustrated at how spacey he had become. In the end, they set up a more structured way of dealing with appointments, including their roles in picking up their son after school. That created more harmony at home.