Does My Husband Have Chemo Brain?

[Texas22]

My husband finished chemotherapy on the 9th April and for the past two weeks has been very confused. He remembers things such as my name, his kid's names, date of birth, where he lives, etc, but not day-to-day things such as how to make his porridge for breakfast or how to make a cup of tea, what he has to do at what time, sometimes even how to get dressed.

I have had to write him a spreadsheet so he can tick off when he has taken his medication when he has had breakfast, lunch etc.

He was so confused on Sunday, I took him to A&E and they ran tests but just decided he was slightly anemic and nothing more. They said there is nothing wrong with his mind because he could remember family names, dates etc.

He is very weak and has been prescribed protein drinks. He is diabetic...his blood sugar levels have been crazy.

He just has all of this going on as well as cancer treatment. He is supposed to start radiotherapy on 9th May. Is his confusion normal and will it go away? He was a bright, funny, articulate man until a couple of weeks ago, it is now like he has dementia!

[RoyCastleHelpline Partner Ask the Nurse Roy Castle]

HI Texas22

Sorry to hear about the worry of your husbands confusion, and it sounds like he is experiencing some impaired cognitive function along with changes in memory. This can happen for some people that have been on chemotherapy, which can be quite challenging for the person and their loved ones. It is called chemo brain, but they are not sure what causes this and there could be a number of factors involved.

This link from Cancer Research UK details this well and how to cope with this: cancerresearchuk.org/about-...

It would be advisable to discuss this with his oncology team/specialist nurse in case he needs reassessment. Hope you both have plenty support and if you would like to discuss this you can email ask the nurse at [e-mail] or call our free phone nurse led helpline (although you may incur charges if you are calling abroad) on 0800 358 7200 Mon -Thur 0900-1700 and Friday 0900-1600

Kind regards

The Roy Castle Support Team

[JanetteR57]

Sorry to read about your husband's current issues - there are several potential causes for confusion - including dehydration, disturbed sleep patterns and infection especially UTIs as well as a few others - do explain to his consultant what's happened in case they want to do any precautionary scans. A&E are mainly to deal with emergencies and aren't always up to speed on impacts of existing anti-cancer treatments and their side effects for some patients. My partner is diabetic and I have also noticed a lot of forgetfulness, searching for words and recognise what's going on as my mum's had Alzheimer's for many years and we have a granddaughter with learning disabilities so the brain reactions are similar. In my partner's case it seems to be worse if he hasn't eaten regularly and as he hasn't had diabetic checks with the nurse during the pandemic and his blood test results show his sugar levels are really not under control, I'm putting his down to this - he does not have any cancer so the combination of the treatment with your husband's diabetes may warrant more surveillance by his diabetic nurse as well as oncology team. good luck.