A Test

Let's see if you can figure this out. I'll give you a few minutes to think about it. No cheating ;)

What is the letter in the alphabet which comes before the letter coming after the fourth consonant in the word "metamorphosis"?

....
....
....
....
....
....

Let's see if you answered correctly:

Was your answer the letter "R"?
....
....
Then your answer is wrong.


Was your answer the letter "P"?
....
....
Then your answer is wrong.


Was your answer the letter "O"?
....
....
Then your answer is CORRECT!!! :)

Reasons:
The consonants in the word metamorphosis are: M, T, M, R
The letter after the fourth consonant is: P
The letter in the alphabet which comes before the letter after the fourth consonant is "O".

Did you get it right? This was a test or an exercise given to us at the brain fog workshop I'm attending. Thanks to Heather, our teacher and who specializes in cognitive rehabilitation, for letting me share this test with you.

So what do you think about the test? Was it too easy for you? Did you find the question confusing or a brain twister? If you were confused or had a hard time figuring out the question, then this will give you a pretty good idea what it feels like to have chemo brain or brain fog. The question above is quite simple but how it was worded and phrased made it tricky to an average person, moreso to cancer patients. This is what most cancer patients or survivors "suffer" or "experience" almost on a regular basis when we are on, or have finished, chemotherapy, and that is chemo brain or brain fog.

A simple task can be confusing, daunting or overwhelming at times for cancer patients (during or after treatment) or for cancer survivors. Sometimes we have to take a step back, think, re-think, consider, re-consider tasks, words or facts/figures post upon us or stuff we have to say or do. It could be writing a simple email where you thought you typed in the word but when you read the email again, the word(s) is(are) not there. Or trying to come up with a simple word in a regular conversation that for the life of you can't figure out what that word is at that moment.

It can be frustrating, annoying, depressing and sometimes you don't feel like your old self. You feel inadequate, useless and sometimes dumb. But this brain fog is one of the side effects of chemo. It has not been medically proven that it is linked or caused by chemotherapy but a lot of cancer patients experience brain fog or temporary memory loss.

But there is hope, the workshop I signed up for said that it will last 2-5 years and with a lot of work, patience and improving your memory skills, our brain will be back to normal. :) What a relief!

Anyway, I just wanted to share this test so that you will know what I'm going through right now. I hope it is an eye opener. I hope that you will be more understanding when the time comes I talk to you and I'm at a loss for words. I hope you will understand when I send you an email or a comment and it is out of context and doesn't make sense.

(PS - I was the only one in our class who had the correct answer. I was quite proud of myself!)