For the past several months I have been taking chemo dosages to stem the growth of tumors I have in the liver and pancreas. So far, the chemo seems to be helping. Taking chemo is not without trepidation. The sheet they gave me to review BEFORE I took a chemo dose was so damned intimidating. The side effects seem to be never-ending, but the benefits appear to be just one — slow or reduce the growth of tumor cells. Nothing more than that.

The fog of chemo can be a good thing ...

The fog of chemo can be a good thing …

One of the items on the list of  potential side effects was the “fog” of chemo. Sounds a bit like fog of war, doesn’t it? Well, it is a bit like fog of war. Every time I hear fog of war, I tend to think of the Vietnam war, LBJ, Robert McNamara and any of those other folks where that term may have derived. Plus that term seemed to be used to avoid any prosecution for any decisions made during wartime. At least, that’s what it seemed to me.

Well, I am no politician, but I think I have a handle on fog of chemo. I think it is a good excuse for cancer-boy here to get out of something he doesn’t want to do. Kinda like — just plain forgetting! It’s on the sheet and Patti read the sheet just like I did. So, when the trash needs to be taken out and I don’t feel like doing it, I can just give everyone this blank stare, like I am a little dizzy, or a little distracted on my feet, and one of the kids will jump pretty quickly to dispense with the trash.

As they say about Momma not raising any fools, well, my fog of chemo excuse has worked just once — with the trash. Other times when I truly felt some fog (like not being able to come up with a fact or use the correct word or finish a story) none of the family members seemed to think I was foggy. They just figured I was using the excuse of just plain getting older. “Dad’s telling that story about JD and Casey again!” “Honey, you have a glass of water right there next to you.” “Your pills are where they always are — in the cabinet. Duh.”

I say this just to offer a sage bit of advice who may be taking chemo. Fog of chemo will likely work, maybe, once, but there is an even more likelihood that fog of senioritis will never work at all.