Reading with Cancer

The fatigue of cancer treatment made it hard for me at times to watch a movie let alone read a book.  I also often suffered from cancer brain fog and a racing mind from thyroid hormone replacement.  I interviewed in my book, Everything Changes, young adult cancer patients who have ADD like symptoms from chemo brain.  Each of these circumstances can make it hard to follow the content of a great non-fiction tomb or a long novel, and lend themselves well to the cyclical, mind-numbing loop of facebook, youtube, and super trashy reality TV.  At first these can feel like a great salve.  Cancer brings so much stress and checking out from the intensity of life can feel healing.  But there is only so much quick fix social media and addictive reality TV I can take before I start feeling even more depressed about my brain turning into a trash can. I am a person with intellectual inklings.  I like to read and learn, even when my body and mind aren’t in their prime.  Once while waiting an excruciatingly  long time for test results that would decide if I needed more surgery, I began reading short stories.  They have become my go-to reading ever since.  I have come to deeply appreciate the craft of short stories because every word counts.  No image, plot line, or detail is frivolous.  Everything matters.  This subtle sense of urgency in writing helps to keep my mind more engaged.  There are fewer avenues down which my mind can wander.  I like feeling this sense of focu...
Source: Everything Changes - Category: Cancer Authors: Tags: Uncategorized chronic illness memory loss autoimmune disease Source Type: blogs