Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Chaplin


Friday January 15, 1992

I feel pretty good. I eat a good breakfast and am too full still for lunch. At 1 p.m. we go to the movies to see Chaplin. It's good. We rent a movie to watch later. At home Gary calls to say they are going to Happy Hour and the boys will call us if they need us. We go to dinner at Millie's. I really enjoy my chicken fried steak dinner. After dinner we take our movie and go to Gary's. We stay until Gary and Maria get home about 9:30.

I'm tired of my chest hurting. Even my breast aches tonight. Do I have an infection? Maybe I should disconnect for awhile.

Robert Downey Jr. makes a pretty good Charlie Chaplin.

Decorations for the Dance


Thursday January 14, 1992

I eat a good breakfast. I feel pretty good all day. In the evening Frank goes to Bill and Sue's to make decorations for the dance Saturday night. Quite a few show up. He has a good time for a couple of hours.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Quality of Life


Wednesday January 13, 1993

Don't feel well. Didn't sleep well. Take a pain pill. Arrive at doctor in Hollywood about 9. It's a long morning. We finally see Dr. Semrad about 12:00. He thinks my tumors have softened and shrunk. He expects to see a big difference in 3 weeks. However, he would take me off the pump if I thought the quality of my life is so poor due to my side effects. I say no. I can live this way with pain pills.

I am hungry and nauseous on the way back to Simi for lunch at Subway. I feel better after I eat. I take a pain pill. Later, I eat a piece of pizza for dinner.

I think it is admirable that Dr. Semrad opened up a discussion about the quality of Mom's life. I'm sure it is not a topic that is easy to broach. I wonder if most doctors, specifically oncologists, assume that their patients want to keep fighting for their life, no matter the side effects of their treatment.. I found this interesting Quality of Life model for cancer survivors on the internet. In the top box Physical Wellbeing & Symptoms, Mom is definitely beginning to struggle with pain, fatigue, lack of sleep, nausea and constipation, but she is determined to keep fighting for functional ability. In the second box Psychological Wellbeing she seems to struggle very little with anxiety and depression and still seems to be enjoying her life for the most part. She always put on a brave face in person, but a journal is the place to write down real feelings and so far her feelings and attitude seem to be positive. In the third box Social Wellbeing she exceeds most of us in that she has very strong relationships with family members and friends, received lots of affection and support from her loving husband Frank, took pride in her appearance, and seemed to have no financial problems whatsoever. In the fourth box Spiritual Wellbeing she continued to put her faith and hope in God. So in the psychological, social and spiritual realms Mom receives much of her strength, even while her body is beginning to betray her.