Hodgkin's at 20. Needs Provigil (From Kelly)

I would like to begin this email by conveying my RELIEF at seeing this book on the shelf. Chemobrain ("PCCI") really needs to be brought into the forefront and stuck under the collective nose of the oncology community at large, including the NIH and the FDA.

I suppose I should tell you "my story" first so you can understand the impetus for writing this. I had always been "academically-inclined" and top of my class. I was the valedictorian of my high school. I had won countless honors, awards, and scholarships. I had scored a 790 on the SAT verbal, just 1 question shy of a perfect score. My brain DEFINED me. I went to Villanova and I LOVED it. Every moment of it. My mind was finally being opened and challenged in ways it had never experienced. The world was my oyster. I excelled in languages AND science. I was torn between pursuing the law, medicine, or scientific journalism. I had the opportunity to pursue any one of them.

I Appreciate Your Book (From Lori, Esq.)

I would like to tell you how much I appreciate your book - I bought it yesterday, read it all night, with a highlighter, crying.

My breast cancer was diagnosed on October 12, 2006, so about 2 and 1/2 years ago, at the age of 44. There was no history of breast cancer in our family, I was healthy, an avid exerciser, married with children, and had just recently retired to be home more with the kids, after having been an attorney working in a major film studio, supervising a legal department for about a dozen years. I had a lumpectomy, chemo and radiation. I felt lucky to have been diagnosed at the right time, and I had a great attitude. Mentally, I was fine. Then I started with tamoxifen, and within a month, I had horrible menopause symptoms, including mental "fogginess" and disassociation, forgetfulness, and mental confusion (out of body feelings), as well as the horrible night sweats, bloating, etc. The doctors then decided to remove my tubes and ovaries, and switched me to femera.