Feeling Terrible

Tuesday October 27, 1992

I awake feeling terrible. Decide to stay in bed today. I can't stay awake. Sleep most of the morning.

Frank makes an appointment for me at the local clinic at 2:30. At 2:30 he takes me. They seem real concerned. They run all kinds of tests including chest x-rays, EKG and blood tests. At 5 p.m. I'm finally sent home. I'll take all the test information to Dr. Semrad tomorrow, my weekly visit for my pump.

I eat a little dinner. Gary comes by to pick up Joe's birthday present.

I'm in bed at 10:00, still feeling terrible.

I Now Have a Cold

Thursday March 26, 1992

I slept well last night thanks to a codeine/Tylenol tablet. Upon waking I believe my body aches have subsided but I still have chest pain and cough. I'm weak and when I take my shower I get so hot and sweaty it takes 45 minutes to cool down enough to put make-up on. The sweat just streams from my hair and face.

At 2:00 I see a doctor in Simi clinic. She orders a chest X-ray, blood test and 2 EKGs one hour apart. She says I'm OK, but my blood (white cells) count is down to 2.5 when 5-10 is normal. She gives me codeine cough medicine and antibiotics as preventative. About 7 p.m. my nose starts to run like a faucet. I now have a cold! I pray for a healing so I can get ready for our trip on Tuesday.

Uncle Ricky isn't doing very well. I pray for his recovery if that be God's will.

Oh no, I imagine it's going to be hard for her body to fight off a cold when her white cell count is so low. I did a little research on the subject, and it turns out that chemotherapy is one of the causes of low white cell count, as is cancer, and as are viral infections. She's dealing with all of these at once. I hope Mom will just take a rest from her busy life.

Sweating for 45 minutes after a shower doesn't sounds normal. After all that sweating she probably wanted to take another shower. It doesn't appear to be a symptom of either cancer or chemotherapy, but could have been a menopausal symptom caused by her hysterectomy.

Chemo #9 + EKG

Wednesday March 4, 1992

Up feeling pretty good. We go out to breakfast at 9 a.m. At 10:50 we are at Kaiser for my chemo. Dr. Swartz is very concerned and I have an EKG which is normal. He says if I have another episode like yesterday I should call 911.

We do some shopping at Fallbrook Mall and drive home about 3 p.m. I am exhausted. I wonder if I have enough energy to go to Monterey this weekend for the Jazz Festival. I sure hope I start feeling better soon. I need a whole lot more energy to enjoy life.

We have a quiet evening at home.

Sandy Dennis (actress) died from ovarian cancer yesterday.

Sandy Dennis, the star of the 1967 movie "Up The Down Staircase" about a teacher in Harlem, died at the very young age of 54. I notice that for the past two nights she ends with "We have a quiet evening at home." I presume that means she passed on square dancing. I wonder what is the reason for her exhaustion and chest pains. I'm sure having chemotherapy is not going to make her feel better, and will probably make her feel worse.