Lately, Mary Jo and I have been kidding each other when we encounter one of our frequent mental lapses. It is a known fact that one of the side effects of some chemo drugs are cognitive lapses in some patients called "chemo brain." So now rather than blaming our forgetfulness on our advancing years, we have a new scapegoat- chemo.
Even though, I, the caregiver, never had any chemo enter my body. I have taken the liberty of calling my senior moments "chemo brain", too by virtue of the close association that I have had with the chemo recipient.
Now, we have found something else that we can blame on chemo. We are calling it "chemo teeth".
When we went to Vanderbilt a couple of weeks ago, one of the instructions from the nurse practioner at the transplant center was for Mary Jo to make an appointment with her dentist.
Dentist-chemo! I never made the connection. I have read a lot about cancer in general, non-hodgkins lymphomas, chemo drugs, etc. before and since Mary Jo's lymphoma became aggressive. Somehow, I missed that one.
One website sponsored by Colgate says you should go to the dentist 2 weeks before you start chemo. We didn't have that much lead time. Mary Jo was admitted to the hospital on a Tuesday, and her first treatment began on Friday of that week back in October. The website says that even if you have started chemo treatments that you should go to the dentist, as soon as possible.
Luckily, Mary Jo had actually went to the dentist on her own shortly before her first treatment. When she went to the dentist today, she found out that she had developed a couple of cavities because of the effect the chemo has on the salivary glands, and the balance between the beneficial bacteria and harmful bacteria in the mouth that allows the harmful bacteria to take over.
Mary Jo's dentist told her that she should have been given some sort of mouth wash during the treatments to counteract the effect of the chemo drugs. That didn't happen. It's easy to see how things could fall in the crack sometimes with the number of drugs, chemo and other drugs, antibiotics, steriods, etc. that are part of the chemo treatments. Although, it should never happen.
From our experience, it is definitely beneficial for the caregiver and patient, if possible, to read and learn, as much as possible, about the drugs, procedures, etc. that will be a part of the patient's treatment regimen.
Do not be afraid to question doctors or nurses about what they are doing, or not doing, if you do not understand something that is going on. Even the best doctor or nurse is capable of overlooking something, or making a mistake.
All of the doctors and nurses that cared for Mary Jo at Baptist Health were happy to take the time to answer any questions that we had. If you are a caregiver, it definitely helps if it is obvious to the doctor or nurse that you have done your homework.
Remember, one of the most important duties of your job as a caregiver is being your patient's advocate.
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