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Medical Edge: Breast cancer memory loss

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CINCINNATI (Liz Bonis) -- You may recall Local 12 News reported about a seminar for cancer and memory loss in September 2015. A young breast cancer survivor shared her story. She had a side effect and doctors at the UC Cancer Institute said more women need to know about it. Lisa Elliott said it was the little things she values more than ever right now. Not just going shopping again but actually remembering all the items on her shopping list. Just a few years ago Lisa was diagnosed December 2010 at age 29, I had taken off my bra one day and I saw a little bit of blood, and I thought, Oh, I must have had a bug bite that I scratched? It turned out she had breast cancer. After surgery, radiation and the medication for prevention, Tamoxifen, she did hear from health care providers about a lot of the expected side effects. But one of the things that they didn't talk about was a sort of foggy brain feeling. And she started noticing that. Her foggy brain however turned into a whole lot more, My friends would tease me. I would start to tell them a story and they would say, You just told me this yesterday! Full blown short and long-term memory loss, Dr. Luke Pater, a radiation oncologist, said his team has been looking into the after effect for years, It's seen with a lot of different therapy but most of the studies have resided with breast cancer and with patients with brain tumors. He said the treatments can definitely impact memory; sometimes short term and sometimes long term or even that foggy thinking. The good news is that it means that research shows patients are living longer. Lisa Elliott said people should consider these things and she wants other survivors to know the side effect is real. It doesn't make you feel better because you still forget things. But it makes you feel better that you are not crazy and it's important for me to share my story or experiences so other people don't feel like they are the only ones, said Lisa. Follow Liz Bonis on Twitter @lbonis1, and LIKE her on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @Local12 and LIKE us on Facebook for updates!

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