Off The Pump

Wednesday February 24, 1993

Slept pretty well in spite of having a lot of pain in my shoulder and in my abdomen and left thigh. I turned off the pump for an hour and it seemed to help. I'm up at 7 to get ready to go to the doctor. I get a terrible stomach ache from my cereal. I don't feel well at all.

Dr. Semrad thinks I need 4 weeks vacation from the pump. I couldn't agree more. He disconnects me. It's great to leave the pump there. We stop for a taco. It's 12:30. We go to Woodland Hills to make a CT appointment for March 10. At home I relax and sleep off and on all day. My shoulder hurts a lot.

My stepmother died of cancer a few years ago. Her first symptom was shoulder pain. When I mentioned this to a nurse acquaintance, she said shoulder pain is often the first sign of cancer. How awful for Mom to be in such pain and to live in pain pills which upset her stomach. So glad she got to go off the "poison pump."

For those of you who follow my blog, I know it has been quite a while since my blog was published. Part of this is lack of time, but also it is emotionally painful for me to see Mom suffer, something she hid well from me when she was going through it. My mother-in-law was diagnosed with ovarian cancer a few months ago and has been through 4 months of chemotherapy. Her surgery is scheduled for May 20 to take a look to see if the cancer is gone, but from the imaging that has been done so far it appears that the chemo is working very well. Apparently, treatment using "genetic targeting" is becoming more common. The genetic makeup of the tumors is mapped and the chemo is customized to attack those particular cells. Carmen is 81 years old but in very good health. She was a nurse for many years and she knew it was important to pay attention to her symptoms. When she noticed some abdominal pain she called her doctor right away and they took good care of her with diagnostic tests and early treatment. Her cancer was caught early.

Last Camping Trip

Friday January 29, 1993

Slept well. Awake at 7. Ready to get up and ready to leave with our trailer to camp at Lake Casitas if Mom is OK. I call her at Kaiser Hospital. She's feeling good and her rectal bleeding has stopped. I feel it's OK to go camping. I'll call her from there.

We leave home about 1 p.m. and arrive at Casitas about 2:15. It's not far from home. Harold and Joan are there already. By 9:30 p.m. there are 12 RVs of our friends. It's been a beautiful day, but why do I have this thought that this is my last trip with our trailer? My shoulder is still hurting a lot.

Watched a movie Harold had.

OK, there it is. She is starting to realize and appreciate her "lasts". Mom always did enjoy their camping trips with their square dancing club. It was a big part of her social life. Having 12 RVs at the campground at Lake Casitas near Santa Barbara reminds me of a circle of wagon trains with a campfire and music in the middle. It does sound like fun.

Shoulder Pain

Thursday January 28, 1993

After taking Tylenol every 4 hours through the night for the pain in my right shoulder I awake surprisingly rested. I feel pretty good otherwise also. In the afternoon I go get the car washed and go to the bank. At home I make some spaghetti sauce. It tastes OK but I only have a little.

At 6:00 our friends start to arrive. By 6:30 all 8 of us are ready to load into 2 cars and drive to Moorpark to see the melodrama. We enjoy the melodrama from 7-10 p.m. My shoulder is aching all night even though I took a pain pill. I'm exhausted when we get home at 10:30.

I'm wondering if she asked Dr. Semrad yesterday about the reason for her shoulder pain. My dad's second wife died of cancer a few years ago and her first symptom was shoulder pain. I was told by a nurse friend that is frequently the first symptom of cancer. Perhaps because that joint is close to a major lymph node?