Jet Lag

Wednesday October 14, 1992

I don't sleep much from 2-4 a.m. We arise about 8 a.m. I don't feel too bad. Frank feels great! He goes into high gear. I rest alot during the day, sleeping off and on. I feel pretty good about 5:30 p.m. so get up and have a light meal. Frank does too. Then at 7:30 we go to round dance class. I do pretty good though I still have the pain under my ribs on the right when I strain or cough or take a deep breath.

We're home by 10 and I'm ready for bed again.

Gary called at 5:30 p.m.

It seems like Mom and Frank didn't have much trouble with jet lag either direction. With my limited experience with flying, I have noticed that the adjustment is easier going from east to west, where you are gaining time, and harder when flying west to east, where you are losing time. I feel sleepy for a couple of days when we turn our clocks forward for Daylight Savings Time, much less flying halfway around the globe!

Katakolon, Greece

Friday October 2, 1992 Katakolon, Greece

Slept in til 8 a.m. Had 9 a.m. breakfast on the back of the ship. Ate too much. Terrible stomach pains again. Now I feel I want to sleep again. We are anchored out from the Greek island of Katakolan. It's a quiet little village and houses built right on the water. Looks like a high tide would flood them. We take the tender to the village where there are a few shops. It's a lovely day.

I don't feel well at all. We decide to cancel our 9-hour trip for tomorrow and change to a 5-hour trip. I must see the doctor to cancel. He gives me some antibiotics and sends me to bed, willingly. He says take the pain pills Dr. Schwartz gave me. I couldn't eat lunch or dinner today. I can hardly walk.

Doctor says I have a fever. Frank tells our table companions I have cancer at dinner while I'm in bed.

With all those tumors on her abdominal wall there must be tremendous pressure on her stomach. No wonder she can only eat small portions.

Katakolon is the gateway to Olympia, where the ancient Greeks flocked every four years for more than a millennium to celebrate the sacred games dedicated to Zeus. I would love to see that site some day. Too bad Mom wasn't up to the short ride to Olympia. Like I said earlier, both time I have been to Europe I spent the first week sick in bed from exhaustion and jet lag. Mom's immune system is already compromised from fighting cancer. No wonder she is sick. I think if I was ever to take a Mediterranean cruise, I would arrive in Europe a week early to adjust to the time zone.

Los Angeles, California to Venice, Italy

Monday September 28/29, 1992 "Long Day"

Up at 7 a.m. to get ready to leave at 9:15 for the fly-away where we catch the 10:00 bus for LAX. At LAX we have a 2 hour wait to fly out at 1 p.m. for Paris, France. The flight is almost 11 hours. They feed us too much too often. We try to sleep, but only rest. We arrive in Paris at 10:10 a.m. (8 hours ahead). At 11:40 we fly Alitalia Airline to Venice, Italy, almost 2 hours. They feed us again.

We're picked up by bus and wisked to our Star Princess cruise ship. Our room is large and lovely. The ship is huge. We nap for 3 hours.

At dinner we are seated with 3 couples in their 60s. They are all outgoing and friendly. Lovely dinner. We take the boat to see Venice at night. It is all lighted up and quite lovely. We retire about 11 exhausted.

I have kept Mom's passport all these many years. It was issued January 5, 1987 for the ski trip to Innsbruck, Austria that I took with Mom and Frank. Surprisingly, the passport does not show a stamp for Austria, but it does have a stamp dated February 15, 1987 when we arrived at Heathrow Airport in London for an extra excursion after our ski trip. The next stamp is dated February 20, 1987 when they returned to Los Angeles.

Page 2 of the passport shows a stamp for Gatwick Airport in London in April 1990 and Page 3 shows they arrived in Venice September 29, 1992, Barcelona on October 11, and back to Los Angeles on October 13. There are 18 blank pages after these entries that should have been filled with exciting ports-of-call visited during her golden years that were stolen from her. Mom loved to travel and I know she would have taken many more trips in the past 20 years.

It cracked me up when Mom complained about being fed too much and too often on their flights. 20 years later, all we get from the airlines is non-alcoholic beverages and a bag of nuts on a flight!

I have only flown to Europe twice in my lifetime, that trip to Austria in 1987 and a 10-week trip to 14 European countries in 1974 when I graduated from college. Both times the exhaustion and jet lag put me in bed sick the first week. Will Mom adjust to the major time zone change? I can't believe she stayed up til 11 p.m. this first night!