Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Chemo Brain


In a way this blog is really good for me. It gives me something to do and I need to have things to do. I feel an obligation to write in it. That sounds negative but I like this feeling of obligation. I have very few responsibilities at the moment beyond show up for chemo and don’t lick doorknobs. Just a few months ago, I was very busy. I was responsible for school work, showing up for my job, and managing the only illnesses I was aware I had at the time. I enjoyed my level of stress to a certain extent and felt staying busy kept me happy. So I treasure this one small “responsibility” I have made for myself. However, this blog is also a source of some grief. I am highly aware that the chemotherapy and the exhaustion it has caused have dulled me down mentally. As I’m typing, I forgot how to spell words I would normally have no trouble with at all, will type the wrong word entirely, and make stupid grammatical errors. This is extremely frustrating for me and I reread my posts on average 3 times before I post them. Yet I have still have gone back and found errors later. I suppose I don’t need them as much at the moment, but losing my wits is painful for me. My mind feels like a Jackson Pollock painting sometimes. 

I guess when all this is “over” (I was told it won’t really be over for a long time), I get to call myself a cancer survivor. Sounds really dramatic to me. I might try to think of something else. “I had ovarian cancer but they got that shit out and now I’m minus one ovary” is a bit too long probably. 

I blew through 6 seasons of Weeds pretty quickly and I’m not trying to figure out how I can watch the seventh season without paying $21.99. For now, I started watching the series TEDTalks: Sex, Secrets & Love. “Would you die for love? Would you lie for love? These presenters' insights on sex, secrets and love are as surprising as they are delightful. Experts and humorists speak candidly about desire and attraction to illustrate the wonder of love.” The first episode was “Mary Roach: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Orgasm.” It was interesting and I definitely learned a few things. She talked about a woman who for some odd reason would have an orgasm every time she brushed her teeth. I think some women might find this to be a fantastic discovery; but unfortunately, this woman was a religious zealot and felt she was possessed by the devil. She stopped brushing her teeth and switched to just mouthwash. Disgusting. I think it’s a shame that some people still view sexuality as something taboo. I guess for this women, brushing her teeth is a form of masturbation and she would rather let her teeth rot out of her head than masturbate. It’s very hard for me to try to see things from the perspective of someone like this. I feel sorry for her. 

I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed emotionally lately and hanging out with a depressed dog all day isn’t helping (I’m probably not good for her either) so I have an appointment with a new counselor next week. I hope she is much better than the last one… 


3,6,9
standin real fine
move it to you sing it to me one mo time
Get low
Get low
Get low
Get low
Get low
Get low
Get low
Get low
To the window, to the wall,
To the sweat drip down my balls
To all these bitches crawl
To all skeet skeet motherfucker
all skeet skeet goddamn

I have no idea if those are the correct words. Wow, that song really takes me back to a much simpler time… :-D

3 comments:

  1. Never heard of the toothbrush orgasm (outside of that Amy character on The Big Bang Theory--but that was conventional masturbation and she named her electric toothbrush Gerard), but there was an article I saw a few years ago about a woman that had some kind of nerve disorder where changing direction too fast would cause one.

    We're talking: subway train leaves station = orgasm, subway train stops at next station = orgasm. Imagine having that nerve disorder and having to drive anywhere that isn't a perfectly smooth, gradually graded road (hell, imagine how embarrassing that commute would be, as crowded as subway trains usually are). :/

    Going off my memory of the article here (trying to Google to find it again, which isn't working too well), but I think the interview they had with her said that after the first couple incidents in a given day it stops feeling good and becomes extremely painful.

    Maybe the toothbrush lady ran into that pleasure/pain threshold really fast and couldn't deal with it, on top of the religious conditioning?

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    Replies
    1. I doubt it was an issue of pain for her. Brushing your teeth is a twice daily ritual. She's just a nut with disgusting teeth.

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    2. Eh, depends on how easy it was to trigger. It makes you wonder how she could actually eat food to begin with if simply brushing her teeth could trigger it.

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