During treatment, my brain didn’t work the way it normally does. I forgot questions I meant to ask. I lost track of details I would usually hold easily. Some days, thinking felt heavy. 

Chemo brain is real. It’s not just forgetfulness. It’s mental fatigue layered on top of physical exhaustion, and pretending it wasn’t happening didn’t help me cope. Writing things down helped. Not in a poetic or inspirational way. In a practical one. I wrote questions before appointments because I couldn’t trust myself to remember them. I wrote down symptoms when I had the energy so I wouldn’t have to recall them later. I made lists because my brain needed somewhere else to put things. Writing became a way to offload what I couldn’t hold. It also gave me back a small sense of control. When so much of treatment happens to you, having one place where information lived made things feel more manageable. 

The guided journal grew out of that need. I was already writing things down. I just wanted one place to keep it all together. This isn’t about becoming a journal person. It’s about supporting a tired brain during a demanding time. If writing things down helps you feel a little more organized or less overwhelmed, it’s doing its job.

The One in Eight Guided Journal is available here if it’s useful to you.