One of my favorite side effects is chemo brain.\u00a0 It’s great.\u00a0 You can’t remember anything, so there are no worries!\u00a0 You won’t remember this in five minutes anyway.\u00a0 \u00a0And words.\u00a0 What are those?\u00a0 I routinely blank out in the middle of sentences and can’t remember a word I need.\u00a0 It’s what I imagine it is like to have amnesia.<\/p>\n
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In all seriousness,\u00a0chemo brain can be annoying at best, and debilitating at worst.\u00a0 But I am learning to cope, and I want to share a few hacks with you.\u00a0 And this is not just for those with chemo brain!\u00a0 I know a lot of my non-cancer friends are entering the life phase of being “forgetful”.\u00a0 These will work for you too!<\/p>\n
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So what am I talking about?<\/p>\n
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1.\u00a0 Write it down.\u00a0 I’m serious.\u00a0 Pencil and paper baby, keep it old school.\u00a0 Get a notebook and keep it by your side.\u00a0 Write everything down.\u00a0 EVERYTHING.\u00a0 You may need it to jog your memory later, or you may never look at it again.\u00a0 But I have found that the act of physically writing something down sometimes imbeds it in my brain so I remember it.\u00a0 Also, I have rediscovered penmanship.\u00a0 It feels so soothing to take my time writing.\u00a0 And I feel\u00a0 accomplished when I look back at the beautiful cursive.\u00a0 Props to my third-grade teacher (whose name I have forgotten) for drilling this skill into my mind.<\/p>\n
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Typing on your computer or phone doesn’t seem to have the same effect, so don’t bother.\u00a0 Pen and paper.\u00a0 You can get them at any store.\u00a0 \u00a0Go.<\/p>\n
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2.\u00a0 Speaking of writing, get a planner.\u00a0 A good old-fashioned book that you actually write in.\u00a0 You can put things in an electronic calendar if you like, but it helps to remember it if you physically write it down.\u00a0 The are some great ones out there, I personally use the Law of Attraction planner.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s so much more than just a calendar.\u00a0 It’s a life planner.\u00a0 I’ve brainstormed, set goals, and evaluated my progress.\u00a0 It inspires thinking and planning.\u00a0 And it allows me to write.\u00a0 It is by my side constantly, reminding me of tasks and appointments.\u00a0 You need this.\u00a0 Go now.<\/p>\n
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Freedom Mastery Law of Attraction<\/a> or search on Amazon. (I have no vested interest, I just love their products.\u00a0 So there.)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 3.\u00a0 Puzzles are good.\u00a0 They make you think, and use logic.\u00a0 They make you write, and we all know how I feel about that.\u00a0 I personally love sudoku.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s not just thinking, it’s using numbers.\u00a0 It’s a workout for your brain.\u00a0 The more the brain is stimulated, the more it heals and stays young, or so I like to think.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (Disclaimer:\u00a0 I am not a scientist.\u00a0 I just like giving an opinion).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n So pull out that pencil and do a word or number puzzle.\u00a0 Not an app on your phone that does all the work for you, but actual paper and pencil.\u00a0 You know the drill.\u00a0 Go.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 4.\u00a0 Learn another language.\u00a0 It gives you a mental workout and challenges you to remember new things.\u00a0 Think of where you would go on your dream vacation, and start learning the lingo.\u00a0 Start with an app to help you with vocabulary (there, you can finally use your phone, does that feel better?).\u00a0 A nice one I like is\u00a0Duolingo<\/a>.\u00a0 Once you get more comfortable, watch shows in your new language with English subtitles (Netflix is your friend).\u00a0 Read books and learn about the culture.\u00a0 Get that brain working.\u00a0 It’s good for you.\u00a0 Why are you still reading this blog, you have studying to do!\u00a0 Go.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 5.\u00a0 There was a fifth one, but I have already forgotten it.\u00a0 Whatever.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So there you have it.\u00a0 My recipe for fighting chemo brain and forgetfulness.\u00a0 I’m not sure if mine is better, or if I just manage it well.\u00a0 Either way, life is just a little bit easier.\u00a0 And in the end, isn’t that the idea?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For more hacks and good info, check us out at\u00a0Driven to survive<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of my favorite side effects is chemo brain.\u00a0 It’s great.\u00a0 You can’t remember anything, so there are no worries!\u00a0 You won’t remember this in five minutes anyway.\u00a0 \u00a0And words.\u00a0 What are those?\u00a0 I routinely blank out in the middle of sentences and can’t remember a word I need.\u00a0 It’s\u2026 Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,11,4],"tags":[9,16,84,85,86,87,88,33,89,90,19,91],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/pexels-photo-261735.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1037"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1049,"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037\/revisions\/1049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.driventosurvive.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}