Fingerprints can be affected by chemotherapy!

This is one of those trippy things no one tells you. Fingerprints help you grip things. Less so post chemo if you had a taxane based chemo.

I have been fingerprinted a few times, for work assignments, background checks, etc. I once waited an hour behind a woman who they just could not get prints for. Then I walked in and the officer said, “If you are going to commit a crime, wear gloves. These prints are sooooo distinctive.” I wonder if that is still true.

A month or so into chemo the fingerprint sensor on my phone stopped working. Initially I thought it must be getting old. I did not even consider my prints were changing.  I was watching a TV show where the plot line was about biometrics no longer matching because of changes caused by chemo. Of course I had to google that straight away and found it was a thing for a chemo I was on.

I was talking with Gemma Blezard one day. She had nearly dropped her tea cup as it slipped in her hand. She commented about being more clumsy with cups since treatment. I said, “No, it is the chemo removing some of the stickiness of our fingerprints!” We then proceeded to have a 20 minute chat about the difficulty of opening jars and holding on to glasses and mugs post treatment. The jar thing is more about a decrease in grip and less about a decrease in strength, however, it is frustrating if you have no clue why it is happening. You definitely feel better having a reason for the silliness.

Did you have fingerprint challenges? Did you know why?

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