ChemoBrain: How Cancer Therapies Can Affect Your Mind » (New Edition)

Ellen Clegg (Boston, MA) is a deputy managing editor of news operations at the Boston Globe, in charge of the Sunday paper. Her previous positions at the same paper include health and science editor, night news editor, and city editor.

The brain fog that afflicts many people who have undergone standard or high-dose chemotherapy is known as "chemobrain." In this clear, concise guide for cancer patients, survivors, families, friends, and caregivers, journalist Ellen Clegg provides the latest information on this much-discussed but poorly understood side effect of chemotherapy treatment.

Based on interviews with physicians and scientists who have treated and studied this problem, Clegg explains in understandable terms how chemotherapy works at the most basic biological level and also provides practical tips for coping with the aftermath of chemotherapy treatment. The key areas she addresses include:
• Tactics for dealing with cognitive problems, fatigue, and other lingering side effects
• Strategies for multitasking at home and reentering the workforce
• Dealing with health insurance
• The history of the patient empowerment movement that brought chemobrain to the attention of the medical establishment in the first place.
• The future of cancer research and the search for treatments that do less harm

This is the only book to delve into the cognitive problems associated with chemotherapy that many patients and survivors have complained of for years. ChemoBrain brings together cutting-edge science, the compelling stories of adults and children who have struggled for years with cognitive dysfunction, and the coping strategies being developed on the front lines of patient care.

Foreword Stewart B. Fleishman Fleishman, Stewart B. 9

Acknowledgments 15

Ch. 1 Cancer and Its Treatment 17

Ch. 2 Sorting Out Side Effects: What to Expect During Treatment and Afterward 43

Ch. 3 My Treatment Is Done: Why Can't I Think Straight? 73

Ch. 4 How To Get Help: Finding Support as a Survivor 111

Ch. 5 Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults: The Double Whammy 139

Ch. 6 Navigating 175

Ch. 7 The Future of Cancer Treatment 193

Ch. 8 Solving the Puzzle 219

Resources 223

List of Illustrations 231

Index 233